8．
阅读理解
People from Europe (欧洲）and America brought Africans (非洲人)to America
as slaves (奴隶) before and during the 19th century. These
Africans brought their music with them. After the American Civil War (美国内战), the African-American people in the U. S. A were hot slaves. Their
music became famous. It started in the south, then it traveled to the North (北方). Music became blues (布鲁斯) and then jazz.
Blues and jazz became very popular in the 20th century. A person sang the
blues when he or she felt sad. Usually, he or she lost something—a person or
maybe money or their work. Blues express (表达) sad feelings, sometimes in a funny way. People
played blues first with only one or two instruments, for example, a guitar, a
harmonica (口琴) or a piano. Sometimes they sang without
any instruments. Some famous blues musicians are Bessie Smith, John Lee Hooker
and B. B. King.
Jazz came soon after blues. Composers used more musical instruments. Jazz
can be happier and is often faster. Some famous jazz musicians are Duke
Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Wanton Marsalis.
Musicians change the music to show their emotions(情感) when they play blues and jazz. They
play the music differently each time. Today people all over the world still
like to listen to blues and jazz because all people have strong feelings
sometimes.
