Here's a very interesting article entitled Muslim roots of the blues: The music of famous American blues singers reaches back through the South to the culture of West Africa. Excerpt:

Sylviane Diouf knows her audience might be skeptical, so to demonstrate the connection between Islam and American blues music, she'll play two recordings: The Muslim call to prayer (the religious recitation that's heard from mosques around the world), and "Levee Camp Holler" an early type of blues song that first sprang up in the Mississippi Delta more than 100 years ago.

Send comments to: Tim