A bit about music...

Rhythm and blues, one of the first genres in America to break away from the jazz powerhouse and be recognized as its own thing, was predominantly influenced through blues, jazz, and gospel music.
In the 1940s, though, the distinction between it and jazz was almost unnoticeable. In fact, the term was coined by Billboard magazine in 1949 to describe some artists’ performances at the time,
which were combining jazz and blues, and to replace what was previously known as “race music.” Many of the first R&B musicians were also jazz musicians, consequently influencing jazz by
helping to push its transition from bebop to hard-bop, which incorporated elements of R&B.

-Excerpt from my MUS262 essay