List of composers of African descent
- Michael Abels, USA (born 1962)
- Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah, Egypt (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)
- Emmanuel Gyimah Labi, Ghana (born 1950), Composer/theorist
- Samuel Akpabot, Nigeria (1932–2000)
- Eleanor Alberga, Jamaica (born 1949)
- Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge (Montague Ring), England (1866–1956)
- Kenneth Amis, USA (born 1970)
- Thomas Jefferson Anderson (TJ), USA (born 1928)
- William Appo, USA (c.1808-ca.1878)
- William Banfield, USA (born 1961)
- Ayo Bankole, Nigeria (1935–1976)
- David Baker, USA (born 1931)
- Renee C Baker (violist), USA (born 1957)
- Basile Jean Barès, USA (1845–1902)
- Leon Bates, USA, pianist
- Catalina Berroa, Cuba (1849-1911)
- Eubie Blake (James Hubert Blake), USA (1883–1983)
- James A. Bland, USA (1854–1911)
- Margaret Allison Bonds, USA (1913–1972)
- John William Boone, USA (1864–1927)
- William Brady, USA (died 1854)
- Anthony Braxton, USA (born 1945)
- George Bridgetower, Poland (1779–1860) violinist and composer
- Leo Brouwer, Cuba (born 1935)
- James Tim Brymn, USA (1881–1946)
- Harry Burleigh, USA (1866–1949)
- Naima Butler, USA (born 1962)
- Billy Childs, USA (born 1957)
- Robert Allen "Bob" Cole, USA (1868–1911)
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, England (1875–1912)
- Ornette Coleman, USA (born 1930)
- Aaron J. R. Conner, USA (died 1850)
- Will Marion Cook, USA (1869–1944)
- Roque Cordero, Panama (born 1917)
- Walter F. Craig, USA (1854–1920) violinist and composer
- 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)
- Leonard De Paur, USA (1914–1998)
- Robert Nathaniel Dett, Canada (1882–1943)
- Alia Dixon, USA (20th century) jazz
- John Thomas Douglass, USA (1847–1886)
- Leslie Dunner, USA (born 1956)
- Julius Eastman, USA (1940–1990)
- Justin Elie, Haiti (1883–1931)
- Duke Ellington (Edward Kennedy Ellington), USA (1899–1974), jazz big band leader
- Joseph Antonio Emidy, Guinea (1775–1835)
- Akin Euba, Nigeria (born 1935)
- James Reese Europe, USA (1881–1919)
- Thomas Flippin, USA (born 1983), Classical Guitarist
- Donal Fox, USA (born 1952)
- Harry P. Guy, USA (1870–1950)
- Adolphus Hailstork, USA (born 1941)
- W.C. Handy (William Christopher Handy), (1873–1958), USA blues
- Henry Hart, USA (1839–1915)
- Scott Hayden, USA (1882–1915), ragtime
- Isaac Hazzard, USA (1804-c.1864)
- Philip Herbert, English
- John Leubrie Hill, USA (1869–1916)
- Bobby McFerrin (Robert McFerrin Jr.), USA (born 1950) jazz, unique vocalise, sacred, classical, multitalented composer-vocalist-conductor
- 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
- Keith Jarrett, USA (born 1945)
- Occide Jeanty, Haiti (1860–1936)
- Leroy Jenkins, USA (born 1932)
- Jose Julian Jiménez, Cuba (1823-1880)
- Lico Jiménez (José Manuel Jiménez Berroa), Cuba (1851-1917)
- Francis Johnson, USA (1792–1844)
- Hall Johnson, USA (1888–1970)
- James Price Johnson, USA (1894–1955)
- J. Rosamond Johnson, USA (1873–1954)
- Scott Joplin, USA (1868–1917)
- Quincy Jones, USA (born 1933)
- Joe Jordan, USA (1882–1971)
- Ulysses Simpson Kay, USA (1917–1995)
- J. S. Mzilikazi Khumalo, South Africa (born 1932)
- Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Nigeria (born 1938)
- Charles Lucien Lambert, USA (c.1828-1896)
- Lucien-Leon G. Lambert, Jr., French (1858–1945)
- Sidney Lambert, USA (born 1838)
- Tom Lemoinier, USA (1870–1945)
- Ludovic Lamothe, Haiti (1882–1953)
- Tania Justina León, (b. 1943)
- Sam Lucas, USA (1850–1916)
- Wynton Marsalis (born 1961)
- Arthur Marshall, USA (1881–1968) ragtime
- Chevalier de J.J.O. Meude-Monpas, French, Late 18th century
- Richard James Milburn, USA (born c.1814)
- Nathaniel L. Mitchell Jr., USA (born 1975)
- Roscoe Mitchell, USA (born 1940)
- Michael Mosoeu Moerane, South Africa (1909–1981)
- Thelonious Monk, USA (1917–1982)
- Undine Smith Moore, USA (1905–1989)
- Jeffrey Mumford, USA (born 1955)
- Diedre Murray, USA (born 1951)
- William Joseph Nickerson, USA (1865–1928)
- Jose Nunes-Garcia, Brazil (1767–1830)
- Funsho Ogundipe, Nigeria
- Juwon Ogungbe, English of Nigerian descent
- Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, USA (1932–2004)
- Julia Perry, USA (1924–1979)
- Zenobia Powell Perry, USA (1908–2004)
- Marvin Peterson, USA (born 1948) jazz composer
- Armand John Piron, USA (1888–1943)
- Joseph William Postlewaite, USA (1837–1889)
- Alain Pierre Pradel, Guadeloupe (born 1949)
- Florence Beatrice Price, USA (1887–1953)
- Walter Robinson, (born 1952)
- Edward de Roland, USA, (1803–1894)
- Amadeo Roldán, Cuba (1900–1939)
- 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)
- Agboola Shadare, Nigeria (born 1970)
- Alvin Singleton, (born 1940)
- Chris Smith, USA (1879–1949)
- Hale Smith, USA (born 1925)
- H.L. Smith, II, USA (born 1952) Classical Organist, Composer
- Irene Britton Smith, USA (1907–1999)
- Sonelius Smith, USA (20th century) jazz
- Fela Sowande, Nigeria (1905–1987)
- Fred S. Stone, USA (1873–1912)
- William Grant Still, USA (1895–1978)
- Howard Swanson, USA (1907–1978)
- Billy Strayhorn (William Thomas Strayhorn), USA (1917–1967) one of the most highly regarded jazz & big band composers & arrangers; Ellington's friend and arranger
- Shirley Thompson English-born composer of Jamaican descent
- Henry Threadgill, USA (born 1944) jazz composer
- Thomas Million Turpin, USA (1873–1922)
- Joshua Uzoigwe, Nigeria (1946–2005)
- Solon Verret, Haiti
- George Walker, USA (born 1922)
- Fats Waller, USA (1904–1943), singer, jazz musician
- Horace Weston, USA (c.1825-1890)
- Clarence Cameron White, USA (1880–1960)
- Joseph White (José Silvestre White Lafitte) Cuba (1835–1918)
- Thomas Wiggins (Bethune) or Blind Tom, (1849–1908)
- Clarence Williams, USA (1898–1965)
- Henry F. Williams, USA, (1813–1903)
- Julius P. Williams, USA (born 1954)
- 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
- Kerwin Young, USA (born 1970)
- Pamela Z, USA (born 1956)
- Michael Jackson, USA (1958-2009) Singer-songwriter, Producer, Dancer, coreographer, Musician, Businessman
Dates of birth and death are unknown for several composers whose music, published during the nineteenth century, is described in 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
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.
External links
See also