This is a list of composers of African ancestry.

A

Michael Abels Michael Abels (born October 8, 1962) is an American composer best known for the opera '' Omar'', co-written with Rhiannon Giddens, and his scores for the Jordan Peele films ''Get Out'', '' Us'' and '' Nope''. The hip-hop influenced score for ''U ...

, US (born 1962) *

Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah (; born 1962) is an Egyptian composer of contemporary classical music and educator. He is a member of Egypt's third generation of classical composers. Biography Abdelfattah was born in Giza. He graduated with a ...

, Egypt (born 1962) *

Muhal Richard Abrams Muhal Richard Abrams (born Richard Lewis Abrams; September 19, 1930 – October 29, 2017) was an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the free jazz medium. He recorded and toured the Uni ...

, US (1930–2017) * H. Leslie Adams, US (1932–2024) *

Eleanor Alberga Eleanor Deanne Therese Alberga (born 30 September 1949) is a Jamaican contemporary music composer who lives and works in the United Kingdom. Her most recent compositions include two Violin Concertos, a Trumpet Concerto and a Symphony. Career E ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

(born 1949) *

Alcione Alcione may refer to: * ''Alcione'', a 1638 literary work by Pierre du Ryer * ''Alcione'', a 1787 musical drama by João de Sousa Carvalho * ''CANT Z.1007 Alcione'', World War II Italian bomber aircraft * ''Alcione'' (opera), a 1706 opera by Ma ...

, Brazil (born 1947) *

Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge, also known as Amanda Ira Aldridge (10 March 1866 – 9 March 1956), was a British opera singer and teacher who composed love songs, suites, sambas, and light orchestral pieces under the pseudonym of Montag ...

(Montague Ring), England (1866–1956) *

Kenneth Amis Kenneth Amis (born 1970) is a Bermudian tuba player and composer best known for his association with the Empire Brass. He is also the assistant conductor of the MIT Wind Ensemble, a group he has been involved with since its creation in 1999. I ...

, US (born 1970) * Thomas Jefferson Anderson (TJ), US (born 1928) *

Lil Hardin Armstrong Lillian Hardin Armstrong (née Hardin; February 3, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and bandleader. She was the second wife of Louis Armstrong, with whom she collaborated on many recordings in t ...

, US (1898–1971)

B

* David Baker, US (1931–2016) *

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

, US, pianist, bandleader * Leon Bates, US, pianist * Catalina Berroa, Cuba (1849–1911) *

Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. Blake began his career in 1912, and during World War I he worked in partnership with the singer, drum ...

(James Hubert Blake), US (1887–1983) *

James A. Bland James Alan Bland (October 22, 1854 – May 5, 1911) was an African American musician, songwriter, and minstrel performer. He is best known for the song " Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" which was the official state song of Virginia from 1940 ...

, US (1854–1911) *

Margaret Allison Bonds Margaret Allison Bonds (March 3, 1913 – April 26, 1972) was an American composer, pianist, arranger, and teacher. One of the first Black composers and performers to gain recognition in the United States, she is best remembered today for her po ...

, US (1913–1972) *

John William Boone John William "Blind" Boone (May 17, 1864 – October 4, 1927) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime music. Early life Boone was born in a Federal militia camp near Miami, Missouri, May 17, 1864, to a contraband slave, Rachel, who used ...

, US (1864–1927) * Brittney Boykin, US, pianist *

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chi ...

, US (born 1945) *

George Bridgetower George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (11 October 1778 – 29 February 1860) was a British musician, of African and Polish descent. He was a virtuoso violinist who lived in England for much of his life. His playing impressed Beethoven, who ...

, Poland (1779–1860), violinist and composer *

Courtney Bryan Courtney Jamaal Bryan (born October 2, 1984) is a former American football safety. He was born in San Jose, California, and played college football at New Mexico State. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He ...

, US (born 1982/1983), pianist and composer *

James Tim Brymn James Timothy Brymn (October 5, 1874 or 1881 – October 3, 1946)

, US (1881–1946) *

Harry Burleigh Harry Burleigh (born Henry Thacker Burleigh, December 2, 1866 – September 12, 1949) was an American classical composer, arranger, and professional singer known for his baritone voice. The first black composer who was instrumental in dev ...

, US (1866–1949)

C

Billy Childs William Edward Childs (born March 8, 1957) is an American composer, jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California, United States. Early life When he was 16, Childs attended the Community School of the Performing Arts sponsored ...

, US (born 1957) * Robert Allen "Bob" Cole, US (1868–1911) *

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (15 August 18751 September 1912) was a British composer and conductor. He was particularly known for his three cantatas on the epic 1855 poem ''The Song of Hiawatha'' by American Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Coler ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(1875–1912) *

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

, US (1930–2015) *

Alice Coltrane Alice Lucille Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known as Swamini Turiyasangitananda () or simply Turiya, was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and Hindu spiritual leader. An accomplished pianist and one o ...

, US (1937–2007) *

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, US (1926–1967) * Geraldine Connor, UK (1952–2011) *

Will Marion Cook William Mercer Cook (January 27, 1869 – July 19, 1944), better known as Will Marion Cook, was an African-American composer, pianist, orchestrator, lyricist, violinist, and choral director.Riis, Thomas (2007–2011)Cook, Will Marion ''Grove Music ...

, US (1869–1944) * Roque Cordero,

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

(1917–2008) * Arthur Cunningham, US (1928–1997)

D

* William L. Dawson, US (1899–1990) *

Anthony Davis Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. (born March 11, 1993), nicknamed "AD" and "the Brow", is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Davis, a Power forward (basketball), power f ...

, US (born 1951) * Gussie Lord Davis, US (1863–1899) *

Edmond Dédé Edmond Dédé (November 20, 1827 – January 5, 1901) was an American musician and composer. A Free Negro, free-born Louisiana Creole people, Creole, he moved to Europe in 1855. He worked in Bordeaux for more than forty years, first as assistant ...

, US (1827–1903) *

Leonard De Paur Leonard Etienne De Paur (November 18, 1914 – November 7, 1998) was an American composer, choral director, and arts administrator. Early life Leonard De Paur was born in Summit, New Jersey to Hettie Carson de Paur and Ernst Leonard. He moved ...

, US (1914–1998) *

Robert Nathaniel Dett Robert Nathaniel Dett (October 11, 1882 – October 2, 1943), often known as R. Nathaniel Dett and Nathaniel Dett, was a Canadian-American composer, organist, pianist, choral director, and music professor. Born and raised in Canada until the a ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

(1882–1943) *

John Thomas Douglass John Thomas Douglass (1847–1886) was an American composer, virtuoso violinist, Conducting, conductor and teacher. He is best known for composing ''#Virginia's Ball, Virginia's Ball'' (1868), which is generally regarded as the first opera writ ...

, US (1847–1886) *

Rudolph Dunbar Rudolph Dunbar (26 November 1907 – 10 June 1988) was a Guyanese conductor, clarinetist, and composer, as well as being a jazz musician of note in the 1920s.Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

(1907–1988) *

Leslie Dunner Leslie Byron Dunner (born January 5, 1956) is an American composer, conductor, clarinetist, and college professor. He was born in New York City and attended the University of Rochester Eastman School of Music, graduating in 1978 with a B.A. degre ...

, US (born 1956)

E

Duke Ellington at the Hurricane Club 1943

Julius Eastman Julius Eastman (October 27, 1940 – May 28, 1990) was an American composer. He was among the first composers to combine the processes of some minimalist music with other methods of extending and modifying his music as in some experimental music. ...

, US (1940–1990) * Justin Elie, Haiti (1883–1931) *

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

(Edward Kennedy Ellington), US (1899–1974),

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

big band leader *

Mercer Ellington Mercer Kennedy Ellington (March 11, 1919 – February 8, 1996) was an American musician, composer, and arranger. His father was Duke Ellington, whose band Mercer led for 20 years after his father's death. Biography Early life and education Elli ...

, US (1919–1996) *

Joseph Antonio Emidy Joseph Antonio Emidy (c. 1775 – 23 April 1835) was a Guinean-born British musician who was enslaved by Portuguese traders in his early life. He was later freed and resided in Portugal before being impressed into the Royal Navy. He was eventu ...

, Guinea (1775–1835) *

Akin Euba Olatunji Akin Euba (28 April 1935 – 14 April 2020) was a Nigerian composer, musicologist, and pianist. Career Born on 28 April 1935 in Lagos, Nigeria, Akin Euba studied composition with Arnold Cooke at the Trinity College of Music, London, obt ...

, Nigeria (1935–2020) *

James Reese Europe James Reese Europe (February 22, 1880 – May 9, 1919) was an American ragtime and early jazz bandleader, arranger, and composer. He was the leading figure on the African-American music scene of New York City in the 1910s. Eubie Blake called him ...

, US (1881–1919)

F

* Donal Fox, US (born 1952)

G

José Maurício Nunes Garcia José Maurício Nunes Garcia (September 20, 1767 – April 18, 1830) was a Brazilian composer and priest, who is known as one of the greatest exponents of Classicism in the Americas. Born in Rio de Janeiro to bi-racial parents, Nunes Garcia l ...

, Brazil (1767–1830) *

Philip Gbeho Philip Comi Gbeho (14 January 1904 – 24 September 1976) was a Ghanaian musician, composer and teacher. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Arts Council of Ghana and was a director of music and conductor of the National Symphony Or ...

, Ghana (1904–1976) * Kerry J. Gilliard, US (born 1972) * Harry P. Guy, US (1870–1950)

H

Adolphus Hailstork Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork III (born April 17, 1941) is an American composer and educator.De Lerma, Dominique-Rene"African Heritage Symphonic Series" Liner note essay. Cedille Records CDR061. He was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in ...

, US (born 1941) *

W. C. Handy William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. He was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musician ...

(William Christopher Handy), US (1873–1958),

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

* Edward W. Hardy, US (born 1992), composer, violinist *

Robert A. Harris Robert A. Harris (born 1945) is an American film historian, archivist, and film preservationist. Life Robert A. Harris was born in 1945. Harris is often working with James C. Katz and has restored such films as '' Lawrence of Arabia'', ' ...

, US (born 1938) * Henry Hart, US (1839–1915) *

Scott Hayden Scott Hayden (March 31, 1882 — September 16, 1915) was an American composer of ragtime music. Life Born in Sedalia, Missouri, he was the son of Marion and Julia Hayden. Hayden is remembered today for the four rags he composed in collabor ...

, US (1882–1915),

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

* Talib Rasul Hakim, US (1940–1988) *

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musical ...

, US (1897–1952),

big band leader *

Ernest Hogan Ernest Hogan (born Ernest Reuben Crowdus; 1865 – May 20, 1909) was the first Black American entertainer to produce and star in a Broadway show, '' The Oyster Man'' in 1907, (shows at the African Grove Theatre preceded it by generations) and h ...

, US (1865–1909) *

Moses Hogan Moses George Hogan (March 13, 1957 – February 11, 2003) was an American composer and arranger of choral music. He was best known for his settings of spirituals. Hogan was a pianist, conductor, and arranger of international renown. His works ...

, US (1957–2003) *

David Hurd David Hurd (born 1950) is a composer, concert organist, choral director and educator. Education Hurd attended the High School of Music & Art, the Juilliard School, both in New York City, and Oberlin College. He holds honorary doctorates from Ber ...

, US (born 1950)

I

Abdullah Ibrahim Abdullah Ibrahim (born Adolph Johannes Brand on 9 October 1934), previously known as Dollar Brand, is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cap ...

, South Africa (born 1934)

J

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, US (1958–2009), singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, choreographer, musician, businessman * Tony Jackson, US (1876–1921), pianist * Leroy Jenkins, US (1932–2007) * Jose Julian Jiménez, Cuba (1823–1880) * Lico Jiménez (José Manuel Jiménez Berroa), Cuba (1851–1917) * Francis Johnson, US (1792–1844) *

Hall Johnson Francis Hall Johnson (March 12, 1888 – April 30, 1970) was an American composer and arranger of African-American spiritual music. He is one of a group—including Harry T. Burleigh, R. Nathaniel Dett, and Eva Jessye—who had great success per ...

, US (1888–1970) * James Price Johnson, US (1894–1955) *

J. Rosamond Johnson John Rosamond Johnson (August 11, 1873 – November 11, 1954; usually referred to as J. Rosamond Johnson) was an American composer and singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he had much of his career in New York C ...

, US (1873–1954) * Victor C. Johnson, US (born 1978) *

Irving Jones Irving Jones (1873 – March 9, 1932) was an American comedian and songwriter who specialized in a ragtime musical genre known as coon songs during their heyday in the late 19th and early 20th century. He sold close to 50 songs, many of which bec ...

, US (1873-1932) ragtime composer * Trevor Jones, South Africa and United Kingdom (born 1949), film composer *

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the ...

, US (1868–1917) *

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

, US (1933–2024) * Joe Jordan, US (1882–1971)

K

Ulysses Simpson Kay Ulysses Simpson Kay (January 7, 1917 in Tucson, Arizona – May 20, 1995 in Englewood, New Jersey) was an American composer. His music is mostly neoclassical in style. Life and career Kay, the nephew of the classic jazz musician King Oliver, stu ...

, US (1917–1995) * Thomas Henderson Kerr Jr., US (1915-1988)

L

Vicente Lusitano Vicente Lusitano () was a Portuguese composer and music theorist of the late Renaissance. Some of his works on musical theory and a small number of compositions survive. Lusitano was for a time a Catholic priest and taught in several Italian citi ...

, Portugal, born in the early 1500s * Charles Lucien Lambert, US (c. 1828–1896) *

Lucien-Léon Guillaume Lambert Lucien-Leon Guillaume Lambert or Lucien Lambert, Jr. (1858–1945) was a French pianist and composer of African-American Creole descent. His family was noted for talent in music and gained international acclaim. Life and career Lucien-Leon Lambe ...

, France (1858–1945) * Sidney Lambert, US (1838–1905) *

Ludovic Lamothe Ludovic Lamothe (12 May 1882 - 4 April 1953) was a Haitian composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of Haiti's most important classical composers. Biography Early life A native of Port-au-Prince, he was born into a distinguished liter ...

, Haiti (1882–1953) *

Tania León Tania León (born May 14, 1943) is a Cuban-born American composer of both large-scale and chamber works. She is also renowned as a conductor, educator, and advisor to arts organizations. Early years and education She was born Tania Justina Leó ...

, Cuba (born 1943) *

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

, US (1920–2001) *

Melba Liston Melba Doretta Liston (January 13, 1926 – April 23, 1999) was an American jazz trombonist, arranger, and composer. Other than those playing in all-female bands, she was the first woman trombonist to play in big bands during the 1940s and 1960s, ...

, US (1926–1999) *

Sam Lucas Sam Lucas (August 7, 1840 – January 10, 1916) was an American actor, comedian, singer and songwriter. His birth year has also been reported as 1839, 1841, 1848 and 1850. Lucas' career began in blackface minstrelsy, but he later became one of ...

, US (1850–1916)

M

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and conductor (music), conductor. His Vocal pedagogy, vocal techniques include singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in Pitch (music), pitch—fo ...

(Robert McFerrin Jr.), US (born 1950), jazz composer-vocalist-conductor *

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

, US (born 1961) * Arthur Marshall, US (1881–1968),

* Paul D. Miller aka

DJ Spooky Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American Electronic music, electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". ...

, US (born 1970) *

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz Double bass, upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective Musical improvisation, improvisation, he is considered one of ...

, US (1922–1979) *

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figure ...

, US (born 1940) *

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

, US (1917–1982) * Carman Moore, US (born 1936) *

Undine Smith Moore Undine Eliza Anna Smith Moore (25 August 1904 – 6 February 1989), the "Dean of Black Women Composers", was an American composer and professor of music in the twentieth century. Moore was originally trained as a classical pianist, but deve ...

, US (1904–1989) *

Jeffrey Mumford Jeffrey Mumford (born June 22, 1955) is a U.S. composer whose orchestral works have been performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Cincinnati S ...

, US (born 1955) *

Diedre Murray Diedre Murray is an American cellist and composer specializing in jazz and musical theater. She also works as a record producer and curator. As a performer she has worked with Leroy Jenkins, Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson, Henry Threadgill, Muhal ...

, US (born 1951) *

Billy Myles William Myles Nobles (August 29, 1924 – October 9, 2005), known as Billy Myles, was an American R&B songwriter and singer active in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for writing "Tonight, Tonight" recorded by The Mello-Kings, "(You Were Mad ...

(William Myles Nobles), US (1924–2005)

N

* Brian Raphael Nabors, US (born 1991) * Gary Powell Nash, US (born 1964) *

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signi ...

, US (1932–1975) *

J. H. Kwabena Nketia Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia (22 June 1921 – 13 March 2019) was a Ghanaian ethnomusicologist and composer. Considered Africa's premier musicologist, during his lifetime, he was called a "living legend" and "easily the most published and best ...

, Ghana (1921–2019)

P

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (June 14, 1932, Manhattan, New York or possibly (unconfirmed) Winston-Salem, North Carolina – March 9, 2004, Chicago) was an American composer whose interests spanned the worlds of jazz, dance, pop, film, televisi ...

, US (1932–2004) *

Julia Perry Julia Amanda Perry (March 25, 1924 – April 24, 1979) was an American classical composer and teacher who combined European classical and neo-classical training with her African-American heritage. Life and education Born in Lexington, Kentucky, ...

, US (1924–1979) *

Zenobia Powell Perry Zenobia Powell Perry (October 3, 1908 – January 17, 2004) was an American composer, professor and Civil and political rights, civil rights activist. She taught in a number of historically black colleges and universities and composed in a style ...

, US (1908–2004) *

Marvin Peterson Hannibal Lokumbe (born Marvin Peterson on November 11, 1948) is an American composer and jazz trumpeter. Career A native of Smithville, Texas, United States, he is sometimes known by the name "Hannibal". He attended high school in Texas City, Te ...

, US (born 1948), jazz composer * Armand John Piron, US (1888–1943) *

Florence Beatrice Price Florence Beatrice Price (née Smith; April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music, and was act ...

, US (1887–1953) *

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

, US (1958–2016)

R

Amadeo Roldán Amadeo Roldán y Gardes (Paris, 12 June 1900 – Havana, 7 March 1939) was a Cuban composer and violinist. Roldán was born in Paris to a Cuban mulatta and a Spanish father. It was his mother, the pianist Albertina Gardes, who initiated her ch ...

, Cuba (1900–1939) *

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

, US (born 1930)

S

Chevalier de Saint-Georges Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George(s) (; ; 25 December 17459 June 1799) was a French violinist, conducting, conductor, composer and soldier. Moreover, he demonstrated excellence as a Fencing, fencer, an athlete and an accomplished dancer. ...

, Guadeloupe (c. 1739–1799) *

Ignatius Sancho Charles Ignatius Sancho ( – 14 December 1780) was a British Abolitionism, abolitionist, writer and composer. Considered to have been born on a British slave ship in the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Sancho was sold by the British slave traders in ...

(c. 1729–1780) *

James Scott James Scott may refer to: Entertainment * James Scott (composer) (1885–1938), African-American ragtime composer * James Scott (director) (born 1941), British filmmaker * James Scott (actor) (born 1979), British television actor * James Scott (Sh ...

, US (1886–1938) * Jacob J. Sawyer, US (1856–1885) *

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary comp ...

, US (1933–2023) *

Alvin Singleton Alvin Singleton (born December 28, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York) is a composer from the United States. Born and raised in New York City, he received his music education from New York University (B.A.), studying with Hall Overton and Charles Wuorin ...

, US (born 1940) * Chris Smith, US (1879–1949) *

Hale Smith Hale Smith (June 29, 1925 – November 24, 2009) was an American composer, arranger, and pianist.De Lerma, Dominique-Rene"African Heritage Symphonic Series" Liner note essay. Cedille CDR061. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he learned pian ...

, US (1925–2009) *

Fela Sowande Chief Olufela Obafunmilayo "Fela" Sowande MBE (29 May 1905 – 13 March 1987) was a Nigerian musician and composer. Considered the father of modern Nigerian art music, Sowande is perhaps the most internationally known African composer of works ...

, Nigeria (1905–1987) *

William Grant Still William Grant Still Jr. (May 11, 1895 – December 3, 1978) was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, and more than thirty choral works, art songs, chamber music, and solo works ...

, US (1895–1978) *

Howard Swanson Howard Swanson (August 18, 1907 – November 12, 1978) was an American composer. Swanson studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and was then taught by Nadia Boulanger in Paris.Liner notes - American Recording Society LP, "Three Contempo ...

, US (1907–1978) *

Billy Strayhorn William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take the ...

(William Thomas Strayhorn), US (1917–1967), one of the most highly regarded jazz and big band composers and arrangers; Ellington's friend and arranger

T

* Shirley Thompson, English-born composer of Jamaican descent *

Henry Threadgill Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944) is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He h ...

, US (born 1944), jazz composer * Dean Clay Taylor, US (born 1943), classical composer

W

George Walker George Walker may refer to: Arts and letters *George Walker (chess player) (1803–1879), English chess player and writer * George Walker (musician), English musician *George Walker (composer) (1922–2018), American composer * George Walker (il ...

, US (1922–2018) *

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star ...

, US (1904–1943), singer,

musician *

Pete Wentz Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician who is the bassist and lyricist for the rock band Fall Out Boy. Before the band's formation in 2001, Wentz was a fixture of the Chicago hardcore scene and was the lead si ...

, bassist of the band

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...

Randy Weston Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...

, US (1926–2018) * Clarence Cameron White, US (1880–1960) * Joseph White (José Silvestre White Lafitte)

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

(1835–1918) * Thomas Wiggins (Bethune) or "Blind Tom", US (1849–1908) * Clarence Williams, US (1898–1965) * Julius Penson Williams, US (born 1954) *

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

, US (1910–1981) * Olly Wilson, US (1937–2018) *

John Wesley Work III John Wesley Work III (July 15, 1901 – May 17, 1967) was an American composer, educator, choral director, musicologist and scholar of African-American folklore and music. Biography He was born on July 15, 1901, in Tullahoma, Tennessee, to a f ...

, US (1901–1967) *

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

(born 1950)

Z

Pamela Z Pamela Z (born 1956) is an American composer, performer, and media artist best known for her solo works for voice with electronic processing. In performance, she combines various vocal sounds including operatic bel canto, experimental extended ...

, US (born 1956) Dates of birth and death are unknown for several composers whose music, published during the 19th century, is described i
"Historical Notes on African-American and Jamaican Melodies"
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.

References

{{Reflist * Tim Brooks, ''Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890–1919'', Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2004. * Samuel A. Floyd, Jr., editor, ''International Dictionary of Black Composers'', Chicago: Center for Black Music Research, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, two volumes, 1999. * Eileen Southern, ''Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians,'' Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 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.

External links

Classical Music Recordings of Black Composers: a reference guide

Historical Notes on African-American Melodies and Composers

Historical Notes on African Melodies and Composers

Myrtle Hart Society

Afrocentric Voices in Classical Music
African

Composers A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and defi ...

composers A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and defi ...

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