“Bach? Beethoven? We’ve got better,” Mandela once said of the musician who just turned 90.

An African American composer and pianist known as one of the greatest musicians of the 19th century, Thomas Wiggins (1849-1908) was blind from birth and likely autistic. Although born into slavery ...

The African oral tradition of work chanting ... Meanwhile, the blues and the electric guitar would pave the way for Black American musicians to invent rock ‘n’ roll. By the 1970s, Black ...

At piano “cutting contests,” everyone had to know “Maple Leaf.” Ragtime became the first African-American music heard in ...

Describing the African-American influence on American music in all of its glory an d variety is an intimidating—if not impossible—task. African American influences are so fundamental to American music ...

On stage, South African pianist/vocalist Nduduzo Makhathini is less interested in playing music than in repairing the world, performing sonic rituals that nurture, heal and transform audiences and ...

Most black urban musicians practiced their trade in less formal settings. African American fiddlers were popular fixtures in dance halls, where they spun out the jigs and reels that kept white ...