Editing Professor Longhair (section)

== Afro-Cuban elements ==
In the 1940s, Professor Longhair was playing with Caribbean musicians, listening a lot to [[Perez Prado]]'s [[mambo (music)|mambo]] records, and absorbing and experimenting with it all.<ref>Palmer, Robert (1979). ''A Tale of Two Cities: Memphis Rock and New Orleans Roll''. Brooklyn. p. 14.</ref> He was especially enamored with Cuban music. Longhair's style was known locally as "rumba-boogie".{{sfn|Stewart|2000|p=298}} Alexander Stewart stated that Longhair was a key figure bridging the worlds of boogie-woogie and the new style of rhythm and blues.{{sfn|Stewart|2000|p=297}} In his composition "Misery", Professor Longhair played a [[habanera (music)|habanera]]-like figure in his left hand. The deft use of triplets in the right hand is a characteristic of Longhair's style.

: <score sound="1" override_midi="Misery piano part professor longhair.mid">
    {
      \new PianoStaff <<
        \new Staff <<
            \relative c'' {
                \clef treble \key f \major \time 4/4
                \tuplet 3/2 { r8 f f } \tuplet 3/2 { f f f } \tuplet 3/2 { f f f } \tuplet 3/2 { f f f }
                r4 r8 <e g> <d f>4 \acciaccatura { c16 d } <c e>8 <bes d>
                \tuplet 3/2 { r8 f' f } \tuplet 3/2 { f f f } \tuplet 3/2 { f d bes } \tuplet 3/2 { f g gis }
                a
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \relative c, {
                \clef bass \key f \major \time 4/4
                f4 d'8 a c4 d8 a
                bes4. d8 f4 d8 a
                bes4. d8 f4 d8 e,
                f4
                }
            >>
    >> }
</score>

[[Tresillo (rhythm)|Tresillo]], the habanera, and related African-based single-[[cell (music)|celled]] figures have long been heard in the left hand-part of piano compositions by New Orleans musicians, such as [[Louis Moreau Gottschalk]] ("Souvenirs from Havana", 1859) and [[Jelly Roll Morton]] ("The Crave", 1910). One of Longhair's great contributions was the adaptation of Afro-Cuban two-celled, [[clave (rhythm)|clave]]-based patterns in New Orleans blues. Michael Campbell stated, "Rhythm and blues influenced by Afro-Cuban music first surfaced in New Orleans. Professor Longhair's influence was&nbsp;... far reaching. In several of his early recordings, Professor Longhair blended Afro-Cuban rhythms with rhythm and blues. The most explicit is 'Longhair's Blues Rhumba', where he overlays a straightforward blues with a clave rhythm."<ref>Campbell, Michael; Brody, James (2007). ''Rock and Roll: An Introduction''. Schirmer. p. 83. {{ISBN|0-534-64295-0}}.</ref> The [[guajeo]]-like piano part for the rumba-boogie "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" (1949) employs the [[clave (rhythm)|2-3 clave]] onbeat/offbeat motif.<ref>Kevin Moore: "There are two common ways that the three-side [of clave] is expressed in Cuban popular music. The first to come into regular use, which David Peñalosa calls 'clave motif', is based on the decorated version of the three-side of the clave rhythm. By the 1940s [there was] a trend toward the use of what Peñalosa calls the 'offbeat/onbeat motif'. Today, the offbeat/onbeat motif method is much more common." Moore (2011). ''Understanding Clave and Clave Changes''. Santa Cruz, California: Moore Music/Timba.com. p. 32. {{ISBN|1466462302}}.</ref> The 2–3 clave time line is written above the piano excerpt for reference.

[[File:Mardi gras in new orleans.tif|thumb|center|upright=2.5|Piano excerpt from the rumba boogie "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" (1949) by Professor Longhair. 2–3 clave is written above for rhythmic reference.]]

According to [[Dr. John]], the Professor "put funk into music&nbsp;... Longhair's thing had a direct bearing I'd say on a large portion of the [[funk]] music that evolved in New Orleans."<ref>Dr. John, quoted by {{harvnb|Stewart|2000|p=297}}.</ref> This is the syncopated, but straight subdivision feel of Cuban music (as opposed to [[Swing (jazz performance style)|swung]] subdivisions). Alexander Stewart stated that the popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through [[James Brown]]'s music, to the popular music of the 1970s," adding, "The singular style of rhythm & blues that emerged from New Orleans in the years after World War II played an important role in the development of [[funk]]. In a related development, the underlying rhythms of American popular music underwent a basic, yet generally unacknowledged transition from triplet or shuffle feel to even or straight eighth notes.{{sfn|Stewart|2000|p=293}} Concerning funk motifs, Stewart stated, "This model, it should be noted, is different from a [[bell pattern|time line]] (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."{{sfn|Stewart|2000|p=306}}