List of composers of African descent

A

Michael Abels, USA (born 1962)

Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah, Egypt (born 1962)

Muhal Richard Abrams, USA (born 1930)

Leslie Adams, USA (born 1932)

Eleanor Alberga, Jamaica (born 1949)

Alcione, Brazil (born 1947)

Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge (Montague Ring), England (1866–1956)

Kenneth Amis, USA (born 1970)

Thomas Jefferson Anderson (TJ), USA (born 1928)

Lil Hardin Armstrong, USA (1898–1971)

B

David Baker, USA (1931-2016)

Renee C. Baker USA born 1957

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)

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)

C

Billy Childs, USA (born 1957)

Robert Allen "Bob" Cole, USA (1868–1911)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, England (1875–1912)

Ornette Coleman, USA (1930-2015)

Alice Coltrane, USA (1937–2007)

John Coltrane, USA (1926–1967)

Geraldine Connor UK (1952–2011)

Will Marion Cook, USA (1869–1944)

Roque Cordero, Panama (1917-2008)

Arthur Cunningham, USA (1928-1997)

D

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)

John Thomas Douglass, USA (1847–1886)

Rudolph Dunbar, Guyana (1907–1988)

Leslie Dunner, USA (born 1956)

Elliott Owen Denson, USA (born 1983)

E

Julius Eastman, USA (1940–1990)

Justin Elie, Haiti (1883–1931)

Duke Ellington (Edward Kennedy Ellington), USA (1899–1974), jazz big band leader

Mercer Ellington, USA (1919–1996)

Joseph Antonio Emidy, Guinea (1775–1835)

Akin Euba, Nigeria (born 1935)

James Reese Europe, USA (1881–1919)

F

Donal Fox, USA (born 1952)

G

Philip Gbeho, Ghana (1904–1976)

Kerry J. Gilliard, USA (born 1972)

Harry P. Guy, USA (1870–1950)

H

Adolphus Hailstork, USA (born 1941)

W. C. Handy (William Christopher Handy) (1873–1958), USA blues

Robert A. Harris USA (born 1938)

Henry Hart, USA (1839–1915)

Scott Hayden, USA (1882–1915), ragtime

Talib Rasul Hakim, USA (1940–1988)

Fletcher Henderson, USA (1897–1952), jazz big band leader

Ernest Hogan, USA (1865–1909)

Moses Hogan, USA (1957–2003)

Paris L. Holley, USA (born 1952)

I

Abdullah Ibrahim, South Africa (born 1934)

J

Michael Jackson, USA (1958–2009), singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, choreographer, musician, businessman

Tony Jackson, USA (1876–1921), pianist

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)

K

Ulysses Simpson Kay, USA (1917–1995)

L

Eric Lacy, USA (born 1969)

Charles Lucien Lambert, USA (c. 1828–1896)

Lucien-Léon Guillaume Lambert, France (1858–1945)

Sidney Lambert, USA (born 1838)

Ludovic Lamothe, Haiti (1882–1953)

Tania León, Cuba (born 1943)

John Lewis, USA (1920–2001)

Melba Liston, USA (1926–1999)

Sam Lucas, USA (1850–1916)

M

Bobby McFerrin (Robert McFerrin Jr.), USA (born 1950), jazz composer-vocalist-conductor

Wynton Marsalis, USA (born 1961)

Arthur Marshall, USA (1881–1968), ragtime

Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky, USA (born 1970)

Harold C. Mims, USA (born 1958)

Charles Mingus, USA (1922–1979)

Roscoe Mitchell, USA (born 1940)

Thelonious Monk, USA (1917–1982)

Undine Smith Moore, USA (1905–1989)

Jeffrey Mumford, USA (born 1955)

Diedre Murray, USA (born 1951)

N

Oliver Nelson, USA (1932–1975)

J. H. Kwabena Nketia, Ghana (born 1921)

P

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)

Florence Beatrice Price, USA (1887–1953)

Prince, USA (1958–2016)

R

Amadeo Roldán, Cuba (1900–1939)

Sonny Rollins, USA (born 1930)

S

Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Guadeloupe (c. 1739–1799)

Ignatius Sancho, England, (c. 1729–1780)

James Scott, USA (1886–1938)

Wayne Shorter, USA (born 1933)

Alvin Singleton, USA (born 1940)

Chris Smith, USA (1879–1949)

Hale Smith, USA (born 1925)

Fela Sowande, Nigeria (1905–1987)

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 and big band composers and arrangers; Ellington's friend and arranger

T

Shirley Thompson, English-born composer of Jamaican descent

Henry Threadgill, USA (born 1944), jazz composer

W

George Walker, USA (born 1922)

Fats Waller, USA (1904–1943), singer, jazz musician

Pete Wentz, bassist of the band Fall Out Boy

Randy Weston, USA (born 1926)

Clarence Cameron White, USA (1880–1960)

Joseph White (José Silvestre White Lafitte) Cuba (1835–1918)

Thomas Wiggins (Bethune) or "Blind Tom", USA (1849–1908)

Clarence Williams, USA (1898–1965)

Julius Penson Williams, USA (born 1954)

Mary Lou Williams, USA (1910–1981)

Olly Wilson, USA (born 1937)

John Wesley Work III, USA (1901–1967)

Stevie Wonder, (born 1950)

Z

Pamela Z, USA (born 1956)

Dates of birth and death are unknown for several composers whose music, published during the 19th 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.