Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues (also known as R&B; or RnB) is a popular music genre combining jazz, gospel, and blues influences, first performed by African American artists. Writer/producer Robert Palmer defined "rhythm & blues as a catchall term referring to any music that was made by and for black Americans." He has used the term R&B; as a synonym for jump blues. Lawrence Cohn, author of Nothing but the Blues, writes that rhythm and blues was an umbrella term invented for industry convenience. According to him, the term embraced all black music except classical music and religious music, unless a gospel song sold enough to break into the charts. In 1947, the term rhythm and blues was coined as a musical marketing term in the United States by Jerry Wexler of Billboard magazine. It replaced the term race music, which originally came from within the black community, but was deemed offensive in the postwar world. In that year, Louis Jordan dominated the top five listings of the R&B; charts with... full article at wikipedia