Black and African American Music Resources

Black and African American Music Resources

Black and African American music resources across the internet that focus on music that is used, created, or performed by Black and African Americans.

  • The African-American Mosaic
    Library of Congress resource guide for the study of black history and culture.
  • African Music Encyclopedia
    An online encyclopedia of African music, World Music, and International music.
  • Black and African American Art Song Alliance
    Founded in 1997, this is the home of interchange between performers and scholars interested in art Song by African-American composers. Here you will find information and links to assist with your discovery of our contribution to Song.
  • Black and African American Music - Smithsonian Institution
    A selection of the Smithsonian's wide range of collections preserving the material history of Black and African American musical history.
  • African-American Band Music & Recordings, 1883 to 1923
    The core of this presentation consists of "stock" arrangements for bands or small orchestras of popular Songs written by Black and African Americans. In addition, we offer a smaller selection of historic sound recordings illustrating these Songs and many others by the same composers (the arrangements might not necessarily be the same as those on the stocks). Educational materials include short biographies of composers and performers of the time and historical essays.
  • The African Diasporic Music Project
    A Compilation of original works by composers in the African Diaspora. All research associated with this project is owned and presented by Dr. Louise Toppin and Videmus. Their vision is 1) to create a repository for the concert works (those intended for the concert stage; aka classical works) of composers of the African Diaspora. (The African Diaspora in this context is defined as those composers throughout the world descended from people of West and Central Africa), 2) to provide access to scores, recordings, and programmatic information about these composers and their extant works for students, teachers, professionals and presenters, 3) to encourage the research, exploration and performance of these works, and 4) to assist students who wish to enter the George Shirley Black and African American Art Song and Operatic Aria Competition with appropriate repertoire choices.
  • AfriClassical.com - African Heritage in Classical Music
    Here you will meet 52 composers, conductors and instrumental performers - Africans, Black and African Americans and Afro-Europeans. Many are alive today, but one lived 500 years ago! These artists are unknown to most of us, yet are so numerous this site can present only a fraction of them. They have made enduring contributions to Classical Music.
  • Afrocentric Voices in “Classical” Music
    Afrocentric Voices in “Classical” Music was launched in February 1998 by soprano and researcher Randye Jones. The site started small, with a handful of biographies on musicians such as composer H. T. Burleigh and contralto Marian Anderson as well as a bibliography of relevant music resources. However, since Afrocentric Voices moved to its current domain in December 1999, it has seen the addition of several features, including the 2001 addition of a chronology of achievements by Black and African American vocalists, composers and publishers, and a gallery of pictures of internationally renowned Black and African American singers and composers of vocal music, which has now become a Pinterest page that shares the nameAfrocentric Voices.
  • Archives of Black and African American Music and Culture
    At the AAAMC, you will find materials covering a range of Black and African American musical idioms and cultural expressions primarily from the post-World War II era. Their collections highlight popular, religious, and classical music, with genres ranging from blues and gospel to R&B and contemporary hip hop. The AAAMC also houses extensive materials related to the documentation of black radio.
  • The Art of the Negro Spiritual
    The Art of the Negro Spiritual (ANS) is a research project that is looking into the rich history of the Negro spiritual as written for solo vocal performance. The research is centered around the development of spirituals from the folk music of enslaved Africans in the United States to the art Songs set for performance on the concert stage.
  • Black Grooves
    Online newsletter from the Archives of Black Music and Culture at Indiana University.
  • Black History Month Magazine
    Articles and opinion pieces from across the Black diaspora, as well as listings for events.
  • Black Music History Library
    This is a living collection of books, articles, documentaries, series, podcasts and more about the Black origins of traditional and popular music dating from the 18th century to present day. Resources are organized chronologically and by genre for ease of browsing.
  • Black Singers and Folk Ballads
    Resource pack from the English Folk Dance & Song Society (EFDSS). This new Black History resource written by musician and singer Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, reflects thoughtfully on music-making among enslaved people in former British colonies in the Southern United States and the Caribbean. It explores how songs have been adapted and yet remained very similar across the Atlantic.
  • Black Sailors and Sea Shanties
    Resource pack from the English Folk Dance & Song Society (EFDSS). This pack explores the influence of black sailors on sea shanties and presents three songs with accompanying sheet music, recordings and activities - arranged by artists Adriano Adewale and Hazel Askew.
  • Center for Black Music Research
    Center for Black Music Research (CBMR) holds materials highlighting the role of black music in world culture with materials originating or representing black music in the United States, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean in a variety of formats: personal papers, scores, sheet music, audio-visual materials, photographs, books, periodicals, and commercial recordings.
  • The Colour of Music Festival, Inc.
    Since 2013, the Colour of Music Festival offers a musical kaleidoscope highlighting the impact and historical significance of black classical composers and performers on American and world culture. The Colour of Music Festival began with performances at various venues throughout historic Charleston, South Carolina and has grown to debut in cities across the country with artists from across the globe.
  • William and Gayle Cook Music Library
    The Cook Music Library, recognized as one of the largest academic music libraries in the United States with over 600,000 items, serves the world-renowned Jacobs School of Music and Bloomington Campus of Indiana University. The library’s Black Music Collection, established in 1970, includes over 3,000 books, scores, and recordings.
  • Early African-American Music: A Bibliography
    Although the purpose of this guide is to provide a bibliography for the study of African-American music, the following collections of sheet music, most of which do not exclusively contain music written by African-Americans, may be useful to both the scholar and performer.
  • Hip Hop Mixtapes
    In hip hop's earliest days, the music only existed in live form, and the music was spread via tapes of parties and shows. Hip hop mixtapes first appeared in the mid-1970s in New York City, featuring artists such as Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa. As more tapes became available, they began to be collected and traded by fans. In the late 70's into the early 80's DJs began recording mixtapes out of their homes, referring to them as House Tapes. DJs such as Harold G. (who later became known as Whiz Kid) and DJ Super V would create personalized House Tapes which would eventually circulate throughout New York City. In the mid-1980s, DJs, such as Brucie B, began recording their live music and selling their own mixtapes, which was soon followed by other DJs such as Kid Capri and Doo Wop. Ron G moved the mixtape forward in the early 1990s by blending R&B a cappellas with hip hop beats (known as "blends"). Blend tapes became increasingly popular by the mid-1990s, and fans increasingly looked for exclusive tracks and freestyles on the tapes. Also since the 1990s, it describes releases used to promote one or more new artists, or as a pre-release by more established artists to promote upcoming "official" albums. In the hip hop scene, mix tape is often displayed as a single term mixtape. It is now a word to generally describe full-length albums released for free, which is the modern form of mixtape that was made a popular following by 50 Cent and his group G-Unit in the early 2000s, sometimes containing all original music, other times composed of freestyles and remixes of popular tracks.
  • Music by Black Composers (MBC)
    Music by Black Composers (MBC) is dedicated to helping to bring greater diversity to the ranks of classical music performers, composers, and audiences by making the music of Black composers available to everyone.
  • Music Unites Jamaica Foundation
    Music Unites Jamaica Foundation seeks to expand the awareness of Jamaica's vast and long-standing musical heritage through the presentation of symposia, music workshops and exhibitions, as well as free concerts island- wide; and by sourcing scholarships and instruments for talented students with financial constraints. MUJF is committed to the research, preservation and promotion of the works of Jamaican composers of Classical, Patriotic, and Church music, as well music written for Theatre and Dance. The documentation of Jamaican Jazz musicians and Inter-cultural exchange activities are also part of their mission.
  • National Association for the Study & Performance of Black and African American Music
    NASPAAM exists as a non-profit professional organization whose members give freely and tirelessly of their time and service. The organization is dedicated to promoting, performing, and preserving all facets of African-American music. NASPAAM’S focus in the 21st Century includes effective ways and means to attract younger members in their mission.
  • The National Museum of Black and African American Music
    NMAAM is the only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the many music genres created, influenced, and inspired by Black and African Americans. The museum’s expertly-curated collections share the story of the American soundtrack by integrating history and interactive technology to bring the musical heroes of the past into the present.
  • Now What a Time: Blues, Gospel, and the Fort Valley Music Festivals, 1938 to 1943
    Consists of approximately one hundred sound recordings, primarily blues and gospel Songs, and related documentation from the folk festival at Fort Valley State College (now Fort Valley State University), Fort Valley, Georgia. The documentation was created by John Wesley Work III in 1941 and by Lewis Jones and Willis Laurence James in March, June, and July 1943. Also included are recording made in Tennessee and Alabama (including six Sacred Harp Songs) by John Work between September 1938 and 1941.
  • Oodles of Music – Black History Month Songs & Curriculum
    Black History Month songs to sing, songs for listening, musician and song database that's appropriate for kids, authentic research articles and information, and decor for bulletin boards and classroom doors.
  • Pegasus Opera Company
    Pegasus Opera Company provides opportunities for artists from African and Asian heritage, promoting opera among people of all ages in underserved and culturally diverse communities to expand their cultural horizons.
  • The Spirituals Database
    The Spirituals Database offers searchable access to recorded track information for concert Negro Spiritual settings performed by solo Classical vocalists. The resource contains a selection from a century of historic and contemporary concert spiritual recordings produced on compact discs, long-playing (33 1/3 rpm) albums, 78 rpm records, 45 rpm discs, audio cassettes and streamed audio files, as well as demonstration recordings from musical score collections.


Last updated: 9/28/2023