Justin Holland, guitarist, pianist, flutist, composer, and civil-rights activist was born on July 26, 1819, to Exum Holland, a free Black farmer in Norfolk, Virginia. He had two brothers and five sisters. He demonstrated considerable talent when he was eight by using a small book … Read MoreJustin Holland (1819-1887)
Revella Hughes was a soprano singer, composer, musician, recording artist, and the first female choral director for a Broadway production. She was known as The Colored Nightingale, The Prima Donna of the Musical Stage, and The Sophisticated Lady of the Organ. Revella Hughes was born to … Read MoreRevella Hughes (1895-1987)
Mance Lipscomb was a blues singer, guitarist, and songster, born Beau De Glen Lipscomb on April 9, 1895, to an African American father and an African American and Native-American mother in Navasota, Texas. Lipscombs father left the family when he was a young child, resulting in … Read MoreMance Lipscomb (1895-1976)
Andy Razaf was a philosopher–poet, composer, and prolific musical lyricist of over five hundred songs, comprising some of the greatest hits from the Tin Pan Alley (New York) era. During his professional lifetime, Razaf worked with composers such as Fats Waller, Eubie Blake, Don Redman, … Read MoreAndy Razaf (1895-1973)
Image Ownership: G.D. Hackett/Pictorial Parade (Fair Use) Ulysses Simpson Kay, Jr., was one of the leading black composers in the classical music industry in the 20th Century. Born in Tucson, Arizona, Kay grew up in a musically talented family. His mother, Elizabeth Kay, was a … Read MoreUlysses S. Kay (1917-1995)
Composer, scholar, and pioneer of musical notation, Saint Yared was born in Axum, Ethiopia on April 25, 505 AD. Little is known regarding his family background but scholars suggest he was part of the Axum priesthood. Yared studied intermittently throughout his life starting at the … Read MoreSaint Yared (505-571)
James Reese Europe, one of the first African Americans to record music in the United States, was born on February 22, 1881 in Mobile, Alabama to Henry and Lorraine Europe. When he was ten, his family moved to Washington D.C. where he began to study … Read MoreJames Reese Europe (1881-1919)
Oscar Peterson was born on August 15, 1925 in Montreal, Quebec. He grew up in Place St-Henri, a bustling Montreal district with a small but close knit black community. Considered by many to be one of the great jazz piano players of all time, Peterson … Read MoreOscar Emmanuel Peterson (1925-2007)
Bernice Johnson Reagon, singer/ composer, cultural historian, author, and producer, was born on October 4, 1942 in Dougherty County, Georgia, to Reverend Jessie Johnson and Beatrice Johnson. The third child of eight, she began singing at the age of five in her father’s church. As … Read MoreBernice Johnson Reagon (1942- )
Born on August 15, 1875 to a physician from Sierra Leone and an Englishwoman, musical composer and conductor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor grew-up in Holborn, England. He revealed his musical talents at the age of five, began studying the violin at the age of seven, and entered … Read MoreSamuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)
