It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives it most distinctive characteristics.
James Weldon JohnsonBut I must own that I also felt stirred by an unselfish desire to voice all the joys and sorrows, the hopes and ambitions, of the American Negro, in classic musical form.
James Weldon JohnsonAny musical person who has never heard a Negro congregation under the spell of religious fervor sing these old songs has missed one of the most thrilling emotions which the human heart may experience.
James Weldon Johnson