Music of New York
Encyclopedia
New York
is part of the United States
, and its largest city, New York City
, is regarded as one of the major centers for music in the world. The music of New York City
includes a wide variety of hip hop
, soul
, salsa
, rock and roll
, punk
, metal
, electronic music
and pop music
, and crosses all (five) borough lines. Jazz
in the City, is in more isolated spots in the boroughs outside Manattan, but is mainly concentrated in the legendary Greenwich Village
mecca. The rest of the state includes cities like Albany
and Buffalo
, which have their own scenes in a variety of genres. The state is also home to many classical symphonies
, folk
groups and religious choirs
.
(founded 1931) as well as a local rock scene, which has produced bands like the pop punk
Count the Stars
, Wreckloose, Moonshine, Moving to Orange, and Aneurica.
. The local rock scene has produced artists like Goo Goo Dolls
, Ani DiFranco
, Cannibal Corpse
, Every Time I Die
, Blackest Red, Forgotten Dreams, Seven Day Faith, Joyryde, Mercury Rev
and Hit 'N' Run.
band, Taking Back Sunday
. Also from Amityville are emo and punk cousins, Brand New
, Straylight Run
, and Texas Is the Reason
. The Tin Pan Alley was a group of songwriter
s in New York who dominated the sheet music
industry for many years. Soon after, New York became a vital part of the burgeoning jazz
and blues
scenes and nascent record industries. Musical theater flourished in the city, especially on Broadway
.
By the 1950s, New York had become a home for Latin music in the United States
, as the city became a pan-Latin melting pot
of immigrants from across the Caribbean and South and Central America. They brought with them many styles of Cuban
, Dominican
, Colombian
and Puerto Rican music
. The result was a new style called salsa music
, derived primarily from Cuban and Puerto Rican styles in the early 1970s.
The 1970s also saw the evolution of hip hop in New York City. Hip hop was a cultural movement that included music as an integral part. Hip hop music
developed out of block parties
in The Bronx
, where DJs isolated the percussion breaks of popular funk
and disco
songs, and MC
s began rapping
over the beats. By the end of the decade, hip hop had spread across the country and was beginning its march across the world. New York City was still the center for popular recorded hip hop, especially a style called East Coast hip hop
. In the early 1990s, however, hip hop from the West Coast and elsewhere gain in popularity.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a number of bands from New York City were and are prominent in the garage rock
and post-punk
revivals that are considered a part of the increasingly popular indie rock
scene. These include The Strokes
, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
, Ben Kweller
, Grizzly Bear
, We Are Scientists
, The Bravery
, Liars
, TV on the Radio
, The Cloud Room
, MGMT
and Interpol
.
and the pop-rock band Honor Bright
.
Confederacy, which consisted of the "Five Nations", the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. Social songs were traditionally popular among these tribes, with songs being relaxed and featuring a wide vocal range and range of instrumentation. Solo flute was also popular. Musicians such as singer Joanne Shenandoah
in Syracuse
continue the tradition of Native American music
in New York.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
is part of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and its largest city, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, is regarded as one of the major centers for music in the world. The music of New York City
Music of New York City
The music of New York City is a diverse and important field in the world of music. It has long been a thriving home for jazz, rock and the blues...
includes a wide variety of hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
, rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, and crosses all (five) borough lines. Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
in the City, is in more isolated spots in the boroughs outside Manattan, but is mainly concentrated in the legendary Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
mecca. The rest of the state includes cities like Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
and Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, which have their own scenes in a variety of genres. The state is also home to many classical symphonies
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
groups and religious choirs
Religious music
Religious music is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence.A lot of music has been composed to complement religion, and many composers have derived inspiration from their own religion. Many forms of traditional music have been adapted to fit religions'...
.
Albany
Albany is the state capital and is home to the Albany Symphony OrchestraAlbany Symphony Orchestra
The Albany Symphony Orchestra is a professional symphony orchestra based in Albany, New York. The upcoming season will mark the orchestra's 78th....
(founded 1931) as well as a local rock scene, which has produced bands like the pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
Count the Stars
Count the Stars
Count the Stars was a four-piece pop punk band from Albany, New York that formed in 1995. After recording two albums, one with Chicago's Victory Records, the band split up in late 2003.-Biography:...
, Wreckloose, Moonshine, Moving to Orange, and Aneurica.
Buffalo
Buffalo is home to the Buffalo Philharmonic OrchestraBuffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Buffalo, New York. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Its regular concert season features gala concerts, classics programming of core repertoire, Pops...
. The local rock scene has produced artists like Goo Goo Dolls
Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls are a Grammy-nominated American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik and vocalist and bass guitarist Robby Takac. Since the end of 1994, Mike Malinin has been the band's drummer, a position previously held by George Tutuska...
, Ani DiFranco
Ani DiFranco
Ani DiFranco is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, guitarist, poet, and songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums, and is widely considered a feminist icon.-Biography:...
, Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band from Buffalo, New York. Formed in 1988, the band has released eleven studio albums, one box set, and one live album...
, Every Time I Die
Every Time I Die
Every Time I Die is a metalcore band from Buffalo, New York, formed in 1998. Their musical style is rooted in technical hardcore with strong southern metal and mathcore elements, and is also characterised by their cryptic, bitingly sarcastic lyrics. The band announced on July 14, 2008 that they had...
, Blackest Red, Forgotten Dreams, Seven Day Faith, Joyryde, Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...
and Hit 'N' Run.
Amityville
Amityville has one successful pop punkPop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
band, Taking Back Sunday
Taking Back Sunday
Taking Back Sunday is a rock band from Long Island, NY, formed in 1999 by guitarist Eddie Reyes. Current members of the band are Adam Lazzara , John Nolan , Eddie Reyes , Shaun Cooper and Mark O'Connell ....
. Also from Amityville are emo and punk cousins, Brand New
Brand New
Brand New is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. Formed in 2000, the band currently consists of vocalist/guitarist/lyricist Jesse Lacey, guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Vincent Accardi, bassist Garrett Tierney, drummer Brian Lane, and guitarist/keyboardist Derrick Sherman.In the late...
, Straylight Run
Straylight Run
Straylight Run was an indie rock band based in Baldwin, New York. Two of the members, Nolan and Cooper, had been members of Taking Back Sunday and have now rejoined that band. Their final releases are the EPs About Time and Un Mas Dos, preceded by the full-length album entitled The Needles The...
, and Texas Is the Reason
Texas Is the Reason
Texas Is the Reason was an American post-hardcore band founded by former Shelter guitarist Norm Arenas and 108 drummer Chris Daly in 1994. They disbanded in 1997...
New York City
New York City has long been a center for musical innovation, home to the popular music industry in the United States since Tin Pan AlleyTin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
. The Tin Pan Alley was a group of songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
s in New York who dominated the sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
industry for many years. Soon after, New York became a vital part of the burgeoning jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
scenes and nascent record industries. Musical theater flourished in the city, especially on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
By the 1950s, New York had become a home for Latin music in the United States
Latin music in the United States
Latin music has long influenced American popular music, jazz, rhythm and blues, and even country music. For an early example , the bridge to "St. Louis Blues"--"Saint Louie woman, with her diamond rings"--has a habanera beat, prompting Jelly Roll Morton to comment, "You've got to have that Spanish...
, as the city became a pan-Latin melting pot
Melting pot
The melting pot is a metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" into a harmonious whole with a common culture...
of immigrants from across the Caribbean and South and Central America. They brought with them many styles of Cuban
Music of Cuba
The Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a wide range of creolized musical styles, based on its cultural origins in Europe and Africa. Since the 19th century its music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world...
, Dominican
Music of the Dominican Republic
The music of the Dominican Republic is known primarily for merengue, though bachata, salsa and other forms are also popular. Dominican music has always been closely intertwined with that of its neighbor, Haiti .-Merengue:...
, Colombian
Music of Colombia
The music of Colombia is an expression of the Colombian culture, which contains diverse music genres, traditional and moderns according with the features of each geographic region; although it is frequent to find different musical styles in the same region...
and Puerto Rican music
Music of Puerto Rico
The music of Puerto Rico has been influenced by the Spanish, African, Taíno Indians, France, and the United States, and has become very popular across the Caribbean and across the globe...
. The result was a new style called salsa music
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
, derived primarily from Cuban and Puerto Rican styles in the early 1970s.
The 1970s also saw the evolution of hip hop in New York City. Hip hop was a cultural movement that included music as an integral part. Hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
developed out of block parties
Block party
A block party is a large public party in which many members of a single neighbourhood congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which often involves closing an entire city block to vehicle traffic...
in The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, where DJs isolated the percussion breaks of popular funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
songs, and MC
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
s began rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
over the beats. By the end of the decade, hip hop had spread across the country and was beginning its march across the world. New York City was still the center for popular recorded hip hop, especially a style called East Coast hip hop
East Coast hip hop
East Coast hip hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in New York City, USA during the 1970s. Hip hop is recognized to have originated and evolved first in the East Coast...
. In the early 1990s, however, hip hop from the West Coast and elsewhere gain in popularity.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a number of bands from New York City were and are prominent in the garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
and post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
revivals that are considered a part of the increasingly popular indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
scene. These include The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complemented in live performances by second guitarist David Pajo, who joined as a touring...
, Ben Kweller
Ben Kweller
Ben Kweller is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.-Early life:Ben Kweller was born in San Francisco, CA in 1981. In 1982, his family relocated to Emory, Texas, where his father, Howard Kweller, became the town's first doctor. In 1986, the Kwellers moved to a much larger city,...
, Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear (band)
Grizzly Bear is a Brooklyn-based indie rock band, composed of Edward Droste , Daniel Rossen , Chris Taylor and Christopher Bear . The band employs traditional and electronic instruments...
, We Are Scientists
We Are Scientists
We Are Scientists is a New York-based indie rock band that formed in Berkeley, California in 2000. Originally formed of Keith Murray on drums, Chris Cain playing bass guitar and Scott Lamb providing vocals and guitar, before Michael Tapper became drummer and Keith became vocalist and guitarist...
, The Bravery
The Bravery
The Bravery is an American rock band from New York City that consists of Sam Endicott , Michael Zakarin , John Conway , Mike Hindert , and Anthony Burulcich...
, Liars
Liars (band)
Liars is a three-piece band formed in 2000 consisting of Angus Andrew , Aaron Hemphill , and Julian Gross...
, TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio is an American art rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York, whose music spans numerous diverse genres, from post-punk to electro and free jazz to soul music....
, The Cloud Room
The Cloud Room
The Cloud Room, named after the Prohibition-era speakeasy at the top of the Chrysler Building, is an American band based in Brooklyn, New York...
, MGMT
MGMT
MGMT is an American alternative rock band founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman, joined the core band in the studio...
and Interpol
Interpol (band)
Interpol is an American indie rock and post-punk revival band from New York City. Formed in 1997, the band's original line-up consisted of Paul Banks , Daniel Kessler , Carlos Dengler and Greg Drudy . Drudy left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Sam Fogarino...
.
Syracuse
Syracuse is home to legendary edge-core band Earth CrisisEarth Crisis
Earth Crisis is an American metalcore band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Their most recent record, To the Death, was released in May 2009 through Century Media....
and the pop-rock band Honor Bright
Honor Bright
Honor Bright was a 5-member Pop punk/rock band from Syracuse, New York. Their musical style has drawn comparisons to bands like Taking Back Sunday, Cartel, Mayday Parade and early Fall Out Boy.-History:...
.
Native American music
New York is the original home of the IroquoisIroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
Confederacy, which consisted of the "Five Nations", the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. Social songs were traditionally popular among these tribes, with songs being relaxed and featuring a wide vocal range and range of instrumentation. Solo flute was also popular. Musicians such as singer Joanne Shenandoah
Joanne Shenandoah
Joanne Shenandoah is an Iroquois singer, composer and acoustic guitarist. She is a member of the Wolf Clan of the Oneida Nation, of the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. Her music is a combination of traditional songs and melodies with a blend of traditional and contemporary...
in Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
continue the tradition of Native American music
Native American music
American Indian music is the music that is used, created or performed by Native North Americans, specifically traditional tribal music. In addition to the traditional music of the Native American groups, there now exist pan-tribal and inter-tribal genres as well as distinct Indian subgenres of...
in New York.