List of composers of African descent

*Michael Abels, USA (born 1962)
*Muhal Richard Abrams, USA (born 1930)
*William J. Accooe, USA (died 1904)
*Alton Augustus Adams, Sr. USA (1889-1987)
*Leslie Adams, USA (born 1932)
*Eleanor Alberga, Jamaica (born 1949)
*Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge (Montague Ring), England (1866-1956)
*Thomas Jefferson Anderson (TJ), USA (born 1928)
*William Appo, USA (c.1808-ca.1878)
*William Banfield, USA (born 1961)
*David Baker, USA (born 1931)
*Basile Jean Barès, USA (1845-1902)
*Leon Bates, USA, pianist
*James Hubert Blake Eubie Blake, USA (1883-1983)
*James Allen Bland, USA (1854-1911)
*John William Boone, USA (1864-1927)
*William Brady, USA (died 1854)
*Anthony Braxton, USA (born 1945)
*James T. Brymn, USA (1881-1946)
*Harry Burleigh, USA (1866-1949)
*Billy Childs, USA (born 1957)
*Robert Allen Cole Bob Cole, USA (1868-1911)
*Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, England (1875-1912)
*Aaron J. R. Conner, USA (died 1850)
*Will Marion Cook, USA (1869-1944)
*Roque Cordero, Panama (born 1917)
*Arthur Cunningham, USA (born 1928)
*William L. Dawson, USA (1899-1990)
*Anthony Davis, USA (born 1951)
*Gussie Lord Davis, USA (1863-1899)
*Edmond Dédé, USA (1827-1903)
*John Thomas Douglass, USA (1847-1886)
*Robert Nathaniel Dett, Canada (1882-1943)
*Julius Eastman, USA (1940 - 1990)
*Edward Kennedy Ellington (Duke Ellington), USA (1899-1974), jazz big band leader
*James Reese Europe, USA (1881- 1919)
*Donal Fox, USA (born 1952)
*Harry P. Guy, USA (1870-1950)
*Adolphus Hailstork, USA (born 1941)
*William Christopher Handy (W.C. Handy), (1873-1958), USA blues
*Henry Hart, USA (1839-1915)
*Isaac Hazzard, USA (1804-c.1864)
*John Leubrie Hill, USA (1869-1916)
*Bobby McFerrin (Robert McFerrin Jr.), USA (born 1950) jazz, unique vocalise, sacred, classical, multitalented composer-vocalist-conductor
*Billy Strayhorn (William Thomas Strayhorn), USA (1917-1967) one of the most highly regarded jazz & big band composers & arrangers; Ellington's friend and arranger
*Talib Rasul Hakim, (1940-1988)
*James Hemmenway, USA (1880-1849)
*Fletcher Henderson, USA (1897- 1952), jazz big band leader
*Ernest Hogan, USA (1865-1909)
*Moses Hogan, USA (1957-2003)
*Justin Holland, USA (1819-1887) Classical Guitarist
*Tony Jackson, USA (1876- 1921), pianist
*Leroy Jenkins, USA (born 1932)
*Francis Johnson, USA (1792-1844)
*Hall Johnson, USA (1888-1970)
*Scott Joplin, USA (1868-1917)
*Joe Jordan, USA (1882-1971)
*Ulysses Kay, USA (1917-1995)
*Fela Anikulapo Kuti , Nigeria (born 1938)
*Charles-Lucien Lambert, USA (c.1828-1896)
*Sidney Lambert, USA (born 1838)
*Tom Lemoinier, USA (1870-1945)
*Sam Lucas, USA (1850-1916)
*Wynton Marsalis (born 1961)
*Richard James Milburn, USA (born c.1814)
*Roscoe Mitchell, USA (born 1940)
*Thelonious Monk, USA (1917-1982)
*Undine Smith Moore, USA (1905-1989)
*Jeffrey Mumford, USA (born 1955)
*William Joseph Nickerson, USA (1865-1928)
*Jose Nunes-Garcia, Brazil (1767-1830)
*Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, USA (1932-2004)
*Armand John Piron, USA (1888-1943)
*Joseph William Postlewaite, USA (1837-1889)
*Walter Robinson, (born 1952)
*Edward de Roland, USA, (1803-1894)
*Chevalier de Saint-Georges (c.1739 - 1799)
*Ignatius Sancho, England, (c.1729-1780)
*Jacob J. Sawyer, USA (born c.1859)
*James Scott, USA (1886-1938)
*Alvin Singleton, (born 1940)
*Chris Smith, USA (1879-1949)
*Hale Smith, USA (born 1925)
*H.L. Smith, II, USA (born 1952) Classical Organist, Composer
*Fred S. Stone, USA (1873-1912)
*William Grant Still, USA (1895-1978)
*Howard Swanson, USA (1907-1978)
*Thomas Million Turpin, USA (1873-1922)
*George Walker, USA (born 1922)
*Fats Waller, USA (1904-1943), singer, jazz musician
*Horace Weston, USA (c.1825-1890)
*Joseph White, Cuba (1835-1918)
*Thomas Wiggins (Bethune) or Blind Tom, (1849-1908)
*Clarence Williams, USA (1893-1965), publisher, jazz musician
*Henry F. Williams, USA, (1813-1903)
*Olly Wilson, USA (born 1937)
*John Wesley Work III, USA (1901-1967)
*Stevie Wonder, (born 1950)
*Fonta Tanka Emmanuel,Cameroon, (born 1966),composer, multi-instrumentalist
*Clarence Williams, USA (1898-1965)
*Henry F. Williams, USA (1813-1903)
*Julius P. Williams,USA(born 1954)
*Kerwin Young, USA (born 1970)
*Nathaniel L. Mitchell Jr., USA (born 1975)

Dates of birth and death are unknown for several composers whose music, published during the nineteenth century, is described in . These composers include Harry Bloodgood, Samuel Butler, Dudley C. Clark, Harry Davis, Pete Devonear, Fred C. Lyons, Henry Newman, James S. Putnam, and Francis V. Seymour.

External links

* [http://www.schirmer.com/repertoire/afro-american.html Orchestral Music of African-American Composers]
* [http://www.cbmr.org/lib/records.htm Discography of Center for Black Music Research: Music by Black Composers]
* [http://astro.temple.edu/~rgreene/BlackComp/ Classical Music Recordings of Black Composers: a reference guide]
* [http://imslp.org/wiki/User:Clark_Kimberling/Historical_Notes_1 Historical Notes on African-American Melodies and Composers]
* [http://imslp.org/wiki/User:Clark_Kimberling/Historical_Notes_11 Historical Notes on African Melodies and Composers]
* [http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/History.html Black History and Classical Music]
* [http://myrtlehart.org/ Myrtle Hart Society]
* [http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Others.html Composers of African Descent]
* [http://www.sibeliusmusic.com/cgi-bin/user_page.pl?url=MEGADACTYL]

References

Tim Brooks, "Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919," University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago, 2004.

Samuel A. Floyd, Jr., editor, "International Dictionary of Black Composers," Center for Black Music Research, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago, two volumes, 1999.

Eileen Southern, "Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians," Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1982.

Lester Sullivan, "Composers of Color of Nineteenth-Century New Orleans: The History Behind the Music, "Black Music Research Journal," vol. 8, no. 1 (1988) 51-82.

ee also

*List of African-Americans