Black music brims with call-and-response, layers of syncopation, and this rougher element called “noise,” derived from unique sounds that arise from the particular hue and timbre of an instrument. Little Richard’s woos and knuckled keyboard zooms. The breathless flutter of Charlie Parker’s saxophone. Patti LaBelle’s emotional police siren. DMX’s scorched-earth bark. The misty wonder of Alberta Hunter and the wondrous hurt of Billie Holiday. The visceral stank of Etta James. The land-mine phrasing of Aretha Franklin. The pulpit ferocity of live-in-concert Whitney Houston. Prince committing
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