International Dictionary of Black Composers [Hardcover]

Although all genres of music are represented, close to half of the 185 entries are on classical composers. This is one of the strengths of the set because black composers of popular forms are more widely represented elsewhere. Eileen Southern's Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians (Greenwood, 1982) includes many composers, but the entries are much briefer. Her Music of Black Americans: A History (3d ed., Norton, 1997) has some detailed discussion of prominent African American composers and their work but not the detail or breadth of this collection. Other reference works, such as Afro-American Vocal Music: A Select Guide to Fifteen Composers (Van de Vere, 1991), Spreadin' Rhythm Around: Black Popular Songwriters 1880^-1930 [RBB Ag 98], and String Music of Black Composers: A Bibliography (Greenwood, 1991) are more narrow in scope.

The set is edited by Samuel A. Floyd, Director of the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College in Chicago and author of several books on black music in the U.S. The list of 105 contributors includes many distinguished scholars and musicians. Some, like William C. Banfield, are the subjects of entries themselves.

Entries are substantial, often accompanied by a photograph. Brief biographical paragraphs are followed by a music list by medium, including a selected discography and a publications list of selected printed works about (or by) the composer. Major archival holdings are noted. The long, signed essay on each composer (500^-1,000 words) provides critical evaluation of both the composer and some individual works. The essays are intended for educated lay readers, so notation examples are limited, but the commentary is not elementary. A reference list follows. Both the references and publication lists seem up-to-date, including works from the late 1990s.

The wide variety of black contributions in musical composition is in evidence, from jazz greats Ornette Coleman and Dizzy Gillespie; to ragtime's Scott Joplin; to gospel composer Dorothy Love Coates; to William Grant Still, the art music composer of the Harlem Renaissance. Leafing through the volumes, one finds prolific Afro-British classical composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor precedes John Coltrane; following Duke Ellington is the Nigerian composer of "neo-African art music," Akin Euba. Vernacular music composers from the Americas and Africa, such as Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Thomas Mapfumo, and Bob Marley, are included, not for their fame and talent as performers but for their compositional impact on the traditions in which they work. The essays focus primarily on the music and influence of the subjects but provide fascinating glimpses into the lives and context in which the work was done. The work does cry out for indexes by place and by genre. Very highly recommended for any library, high-school, public, or academic, with any interest in music.