New Nashville museum memorializes Black music s origin story TODAY 2/2/2021 Deon J. Hampton
Take in Louis Armstrong’s trumpet. Or legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald’s Grammy. Or an outfit that the late TLC member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes once performed in.
The history of Black music and its influence on the world are brought to life through seven galleries at the new National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee.
The galleries opened publicly over the weekend, chronicling Black musical traditions starting in the 1600s.
“We’re not focusing on one genre of music or one type of artist, we’re really taking a look at what was the impact on African Americans once they entered the country, and how did that birth what we know now as Black music,” museum spokeswoman Tuwisha Rogers-Simpson said.