An informative biography of jazz singer Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990 CE) is presented highlighting her long musical career.

PBS profiles American jazz singer and actress Lena Horne's life and music. Includes video.

Provides early childhood education activities that engage African American culture. Poetry, music, foods, and more are included.

This site offers dozens of reviews of African recordings, new and re-released. Well-known musicians Zap Mama and Femi Kuti, as well as up and coming ones, are reviewed. Links to individual Web sites and audio files are also featured here.

This encyclopedia entry extols Queen Latifah as the most influential female rap singer. You can read about her evolution as a rap singer and actress.

This lesson could serve as the basis of a curriculum unit on slavery and/or the Civil War. Spirituals are analyzed, especially their cultural implications.

Learn of the historical contributions of jazz musician, band leader, and Pennsylvania native, Billy Eckstine in this succinct biography.

This alphabetized list of musical forms and styles briefly defines and describes the types of musical sounds and genres created throughout history.

Find out about the contributions African slaves and African American slaves made to not only their culture, but American culture in general. See what words have African roots, how African culture influenced food and music, and how there...

This eight-page tutorial on jazz answers several basic questions (what is jazz, how did it develop) and keeps the topic of the tutorial focused within the realm of the African American understanding of jazz and focusing on its impact on...

The Great Migration for African Americans began during World War I as blacks left the segregated south to find jobs in the north. Read about how segregation followed them into their northern neighborhoods. See also how the Harlem...

Uncover biographical facts about African American jazz musician, Fletcher Henderson, who formed the first big band orchestra in the early 1920s.

Explore relationship between music and poetry in this African-American history lesson on Langston Hughes, the Harlem Renaissance, and other artists such as Bessie Smith, John Hammond, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones.

Library of Congress provides materials from the WPA Collections, 1937-1942. Selections include narratives and songs from ethnic and cultural groups, including African Americans, Bahamian Americans, Cuban Americans, American Indians, and...

If you are interested in the music for the Cakewalk, come check out the Jenkins' Orphanage Band. They played a mix of ragtime and march. Lots of cool photos.

General overview of African American pop-culture in the mid 20th-century highlighting music, art, theater, and sports.

This entry from Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Black History features Taj Mahal, an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and one of the pioneers of what came to be called world music. He combined blues and other African-American...

This site offers the first chapter of Ted Gioia's book, "The History of Jazz." This chapter focuses on the prehistory of jazz, including the Africanization of American music, country blues and classic blues, and Scott Joplin and Ragtime.

Using primary documents, oral histories, and other historical resources, discover how the arts of Africa, Europe, and pre-Civil War America influenced the culture of enslaved African Americans.

Provides biographical details on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2008 inductee "Little Walter". Known for his sound of blues harmonica, he was a key contributor to the music of Muddy Waters. Includes timeline and song list.

An explanation of the origins and spread of gospel music from the producers of "This Far by Faith," a series on African-American spiritual journeys, which premiered on PBS stations in June 2003.

Africlassical profiles musicians and composers of African descent since the time of Mozart.

Red Hot Jazz outlines the origins of jazz, taking a look at the blend of cultures that existed in New Orleans at the turn of the century when jazz first emerged as a unique musical form. Includes links to additional information about...

This is a brief encyclopedia biography of the ragtime composer, Scott Joplin, whose music was influential in the growth of jazz.