rhythm and blues


Also found in: Thesaurus, Acronyms, Wikipedia.
Related to rhythm and blues: pop music

rhythm and blues

pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Abbr. R & B
A style of music developed by African Americans that combines blues and jazz, characterized by a strong backbeat and repeated variations on syncopated instrumental phrases.

rhythm and blues

n
(Pop Music) (functioning as singular) any of various kinds of popular music derived from or influenced by the blues. Abbreviation: R & B

rhythm′ and blues′


n.
a folk-based form of black popular music forerunning rock.
[1945–50, Amer.]

rhythm and blues

A very popular and wide-ranging style of music that emerged from traditional blues in the 1940s. R&B can be characterized by its use of blues chords played over a strong and consistent backbeat and by its emphasis on composition rather than the improvisation common in traditional blues. Hip hop, rap, soul, and disco are all categories of R&B and R&B also formed the foundation of rock and roll.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.rhythm and blues - a combination of blues and jazz that was developed in the United States by Black musicians; an important precursor of rock 'n' roll
R and B
African-American music, black music - music created by African-American musicians; early forms were songs that had a melodic line and a strong rhythmic beat with repeated choruses
popular music, popular music genre - any genre of music having wide appeal (but usually only for a short time)
References in periodicals archive ?
The new EP consists of four classic rhythm and blues tracks from our live set.
A QUICK ONE WITH THE STRYPES; ULTIMATE IRELAND
The Rhythm and Blues Festival takes place on May 2 and 3.
Bang the drum for festival; INBRIEF
Each musician from the Rhythm and Blues Orchestra took their turn to take centre stage and shine, and boy did they shine.
What's On: Swinging the Blues
About his beginning, Ertegun said that he spent ``hours in a rhythm and blues record shop in the black ghetto in Washington,'' when he was a college student.
ATLANTIC FOUNDER ERTEGUN CHANGED MUSIC INDUSTRY
In his appraisal of varied forms of cultural expression, Neal traces the ways that different styles of music, including the Blues, Soul, Hip Hop, and Rhythm and Blues (R&B), intersect with political agendas and social movements.
Mark Anthony Neal. Songs in the Key of Black Life: A Rhythm and Blues Nation
The new album features a host of lesser-known classics from the world of rhythm and blues, soul and rock and roll, as well as some of the duo's originals.
Jones goes Dutch with Holland for rocking celebration of hits
Although the voices of African Americans -- through the oral and expressive medium of music -- have often attracted white audiences, Brian Ward asserts that Rhythm and Blues was the first musical genre to infiltrate white culture successfully.
JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING: RHYTHM AND BLUES, BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS, AND RACE RELATIONS
As one of the founding members of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1988, she continues to fight for artists' royalty reform, financial assistance and recognition for a whole generation of R&B Artists to whom we owe so much.
Ray Benson, Ruth Brown, Bonnie Raitt and Jimmie Vaughan Join Forces to Raise Money For 2003 R&B Foundation Honorees
Root is still performing and they can see him perform again at the Rhythm and Blues Club.
IN BRIEF: Root visit is a blast from past
But Belushi and Aykroyd's real mission in making the film was to ``exploit their celebrity to focus the spotlight on these great rhythm and blues artists.
DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES
RHYTHM and blues band Nine Below Zero make their second journey to Blaenau Gwent next month, to play at the Beaufort Theatre, Ebbw Vale on Friday, January 18.
Theatre preview
Such seminal texts as Blues People (1963) and Black Music (1968) by the legendary poet, playwright, critic, and activist Amiri Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones), as well as such major and provocative books as Mystery Train (1975) by music critic and cultural historian Greil Marcus, Peter Gurainick's Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom (1986), Nelson George's acclaimed works Where Did Our Love Go?
[0] A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race and the Soul of America
Dictionary browser ?
Full browser ?