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RR 2011/234 Blues, Funk, Rhythm and Blues, Soul, Hip Hop and Rap: A Research and Information Guide Eddie S. Meadows Routledge London and New York, NY 2010 xxviii + 388 pp. ISBN 978 0 415 97319 8 (print); ISBN 978 0 203 85472 1 (e-book) £90 $150 Routledge Music Bibliographies
Keywords Music, Popular culture, Research
Review DOI 10.1108/09504121111145500
Noted jazz scholar and professor of ethnomusicology, Eddie S. Meadows has a considerable reputation in African-American music. His publications include Jazz Research and Performance Materials (Meadows, 1995) and Jazz, Scholarship and Pedagogy (Meadows, 2006), the latter published as part of the Routledge Music Bibliographies (genres) series, a series to which the work being reviewed also belongs. Although expert particularly in the field of jazz, this work extends Meadow's expertise into the wider area of other African American musical styles, covering blues, funk, rhythm and blues (R&B), soul, hip hop and rap. Described as a "research and information guide", this publication seeks to address a particular research gap, namely, that this is the first attempt at a scholarly annotated compilation of this combination of African American contemporary music styles. It is therefore a welcome and necessary addition to a field that traditionally has had limited reference resources. African American music styles such as rap, R&B and hip hop are global phenomena, recognized and popularized throughout the world, notes Meadows, "the breadth and depth of the research is reflective of a global interest in African American popular music".
The approach of the book is traditional in terms of layout and feel. As a scholarly information guide, I suppose one would not expect photographs, or design features perhaps like timelines, but this does in my view give a rather "catalogue" feel to the book. There is little appeal in this resource for the common reader - students, researchers and scholars of music, ethnomusicology,...