Muslim Influence On The Blues

The Saudi Armco World, (Click HERE)has an interesting article about Muslim influence on the blues. At this point I am not sure what to make of it. Certainly Islam was around Africa at the time Europeans were gathering West Africans and transporting them to the Americas. However, I do believe the author is making one mistake comparing a call to prayer song, and a work song as evidence. The work song that they have certainly sounds similar to the call to prayer, but it is also an anomaly as a work song. In other words, it has the structure of a work song, but its melody and vocal are different from a lot of the work songs that I have heard. Yet, anything is possible when dealing with a music that has roots so far down, and so long ago, that it is probably impossible to tell where they start.