History: African American Music History

This searchable filmography documents the work of some 1,000 major jazz and blues figures in over 25,000 cinema, television and video productions.

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.

This site features early recorded performances of music of African-American composers and performers such as George Gaskin, Bert Williams and George Walker.

A percussion instrument consisting of a hollow frame with a skin or other membrane stretched tightly across its opening, sounding when struck.

A musical instrument with a body generally shaped like a figure eight, a long fretted neck and usually six strings that are plucked or strummed.

Or pianoforte, musical instrument whose sound is produced by vibrating strings struck by felt hammers that are controlled from a keyboard.

Brass wind musical instrument of cylindrical bore, twice bent on itself, having a sliding section that lengthens or shortens it and thus regulates the pitch.

Brass wind musical instrument of part cylindrical, part conical bore, in the shape of a flattened loop and having three piston valves to regulate the pitch.

Jazz trumpeter and singer, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Musician, born in St Louis, Missouri, USA.

Singer, pianist, and composer, born in Albany, Georgia, USA. He lost his sight (from glaucoma) when he was six.

Musician, born in Montgomery, Alabama, USA.

Jazz trumpeter, born in Alton, Illinois, USA.

Singer, actor, and dancer, born in New York City, USA. He began his career tap-dancing in vaudeville with his father, and went on to solo performing and recording success in the 1950s and 1960s.

Musician, born in McComb, Mississippi, USA. He became one of the earliest black stars of rock ’n’ roll, making many television appearances and touring widely through the mid-1960s.

Soul singer, born in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

American jazz singer known for her scat singing and her interpretations of the work of important American songwriters. Her recordings include Ella Sings Gershwin (1950), The Intimate Ella (1960), and A Classy Pair (1979).

Jazz trumpeter and composer, born in Cheraw, South Carolina, USA.

Rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter, born in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Billie Holiday is considered one of the greatest jazz singers of all time.

Singer and film actress, born in Newark, New Jersey, USA.

Popular singer and songwriter, born in Gary, Indiana, USA.

Composer and pianist, born in Texarkana, Texas, USA.

Musician, born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, USA.

American musician and composer. A leader of the bop movement in jazz, Parker is best remembered for his smooth, moody improvisations.

U.S. soul singer and songwriter. His recordings include “Respect” (1965), Dictionary of Soul (1966), and “(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay” (1968).

Popular singer and film actress, born in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

Briefly one of the nineties most popular and controversial rap stars, Tupac (or 2Pac) Shakur mixed successful gangsta rap recordings with film work.

Musician, born in Saginaw, Michigan, USA.

U.S. blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His songs include “Rollin' Stone” (1948) and “Got my Mojo Working” (1954).

U.S. Motown singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His recordings include Up-Tight (1966), “Superstition” (1972), Innervisions (1973), Songs in the Key of Life (1976), and “I Just Called to Say I Love You” (1985).

Rap music is a central feature of hip hop culture, comprising just one of hip hop’s four basic elements: graffiti, break dancing, DJing and rapping (or MCing).

African-American music that originated in the work songs and Negro spirituals of the rural American South in the late 19th century.

American religious musical form that owes much of its origin to the Christian conversion of West Africans enslaved in the American South.

Traditional music, especially from rural areas, which is passed on by listening and repeating, and is usually performed by amateurs.

An eclectic, expanding collection of 20th century styles, principally instrumental and of black American creation.

A religious folk song of American origin, particularly associated with African-American Protestants of the southern United States.

Rap music is a central feature of hip hop culture, comprising just one of hip hop’s four basic elements: graffiti, break dancing, DJing and rapping (or MCing).