"Yes, the 'almost' was mistaken . . . . About as much as Bavarian beerhall music has in common with Mongolian throat singing."

Jack, I suspect you may be trolling, but I'll take the bait - there is a small mountain of literature exploring the relationship between African-American music and African antecedents. I do agree that African-American music is distinct to this continent (qualitively different than what you would hear on the other side of the Atlantic and down in Brazil, as well) but there are clear continuities. Just as there are connections between European music and the music of both black and white Americans (lots of stuff on this as well).