Murrell Library Research Guides: African-Americans &amp; the Black Experience: Audio &amp; Music

Amos and Andy Radio Show via Old Time Radio Network(1928-1955) : Amos 'n Andy was a situation sketch comedy show based on the African-American community that ran from the 20's throughout the 50's. Amos 'n Andy was one of the earliest comedy series, first broadcast in 1928, and it inspired many of the comedy duos that followed. The series ran nightly from 1928 to 1943, and weekly from 1943 to 1955. Amos 'n Andy was the first radio program distributed by syndication. The voices of Amos 'n Andy were provided by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, who were not African American themselves. The stories revolved around the humorous adventures of two friends, Amos Jones and Andy Brown, who left a farm in Georgia to find a better life in Chicago, where they started a company called the Fresh Air Taxi Company (because the car they bought had no roof!) Amos was gullible and naive but hardworking, and Andy was a bumbling dreamer. Another character, George 'The Kingfish' Stevens, was a friend of the duo who was trying to lure them into get rich quick schemes. For more information about the Amos and Andy Radio and Television shows, visit Wikipedia or the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

An Imperfect Revolution: Voices from the Desegregation Era. American RadioWorks. September 2007 : In the 1970s, for the first time, large numbers of white children and black children began attending school together. It was an experience that shaped them for life. Courtesy of Public Radio.

The Living Legacy: Black Colleges in the 21st Century. American Radioworks, August 2015. Before the civil rights movement, African Americans were largely barred from white-dominated institutions of higher education. And so black Americans, and their white supporters, founded their own schools, which came to be known as Historically Black Colleges and Universities. HBCU graduates helped launch the civil rights movement, built the black middle class, and staffed the pulpits of black churches and the halls of almost every black primary school before the 1960s. But after desegregation, some people began to ask whether HBCUs had outlived their purpose. Yet for the students who attend them, HBCUs still play a crucial — and unique — role. In this documentary, we hear first-person testimony from students about why they chose an HBCU; and we travel to an HBCU that’s in the process of reinventing itself wholesale.

Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) Slavery Narratives Collection.

Oh Freedom Over Me. American RadioWorks. February 2001 : In the summer of 1964, about a thousand young Americans, black and white, came together in Mississippi for a peaceful assault on racism. It came to be known as Freedom Summer, one of the most remarkable chapters in the Civil Rights Movement. Courtesy of Public Radio.

Radio Fights Jim Crow. American RadioWorks. February 2001 : During the World-War-II years a series of groundbreaking radio programs tried to mend the deep racial and ethnic divisions that threatened America. Courtesy of Public Radio.

Say It Plain, Say It Loud : A Century of Great African American Speeches. American RadioWorks. February 2005 : Public speech making has played a powerful role in the long struggle by African Americans for equal rights. This collection, for the ear and the eye, highlights speeches by an eclectic mix of black leaders. Their impassioned, eloquent words continue to affect the ideas of a nation and the direction of history Courtesy of American RadioWorks, January 2011.

Slave and Revolutionary War Spy James Lafayette. Katherine Egner Gruber talked about slave and Revolutionary War spy James Lafayette. Working for French General Marquis de Lafayette, enslaved volunteer James Lafayette posed as an escaped slave to infiltrate British camps. Ms. Gruber described how Lafayette gained the trust of Benedict Arnold and British General Cornwallis, and how the information he gathered helped the American cause at the decisive Battle of Yorktown in 1781.

Thurgood Marshall Before the Court. America RadioWorks. May 2004 : In 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first African American appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. But Marshall had already earned a place in history, as the leader of an extraordinary legal campaign against racial segregation in America. Courtesy of Public Radio.

Voices from the Days of Slavery : Former Slaves Tell Their Stories. The almost seven hours of recorded interviews presented here took place between 1932 and 1975 in nine Southern states. Twenty-three interviewees, born between 1823 and the early 1860s, discuss how they felt about slavery, slaveholders, coercion of slaves, their families, and freedom. Several individuals sing songs, many of which were learned during the time of their enslavement. It is important to note that all of the interviewees spoke sixty or more years after the end of their enslavement, and it is their full lives that are reflected in these recordings. The individuals documented in this presentation have much to say about living as African Americans from the 1870s to the 1930s, and beyond. All known recordings of former slaves in the American Folklife Center are included in this presentation. Some are being made publicly available for the first time and several others already available now include complete transcriptions. Unfortunately, not all the recordings are clearly audible. Although the original tapes and discs are generally in good physical condition, background noise and poorly positioned microphones make it extremely difficult to follow many of the interviews. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, American Memory Project.

We Shall Overcome. Address by Lyndon Baines Johnson to a Joint Session of Congress on Voting Legislation delivered March 15, 1965, Washington, D.C.

Who Speaks for the Negro? In 1965, the writer Robert Penn Warren wrote a thoughtful book titled "Who Speaks for the Negro?" To prepare for the writing of this volume, Warren traveled across the United States to interview dozens of people involved with the civil rights movement, including James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael, Ralph Ellison, Vernon Jordan, and Malcolm X. This wonderful resource created at Vanderbilt University features some of these conversations, digitized from their original reel-to-reel recordings. Visitors can get started by clicking on the "Listen to Interviews" area. Here they can search the interviews by keyword, or just browse the collection by interviewee or subject. For people looking for insights into American history, the civil rights movements of the 1960s, or the African-American experience, this site is one that will warrant numerous return visits.

Photography of Billie Holiday from the Gottlieb Jazz Photo collection on Flickr courtesy of the Library of Congress.

African-American Musicians Biographies. Internet Public Library pathfinder designed for individuals interested in finding biographical information on African-American musicians involved in all musical forms and styles. It includes print resources such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and books, as well as databases, web sites, and related Internet Public Library resources. It is suggested that you ask the librarian at your library for assistance in finding more resources since this pathfinder contains just a sampling of resources.

African American Sheet Music, 1850-1920. This collection consists of 1,305 pieces of African-American sheet music dating from 1850 through 1920 from the collections of Brown University. The collection includes many songs from the heyday of antebellum black face minstrelsy in the 1850s and from the abolitionist movement of the same period. Numerous titles are associated with the novel and the play Uncle Tom's Cabin. Civil War period music includes songs about African-American soldiers and the plight of the newly emancipated slave. Post-Civil War music reflects the problems of Reconstruction and the beginnings of urbanization and the northern migration of African Americans. African-American popular composers include James Bland, Ernest Hogan, Bob Cole, James Reese Europe, and Will Marion Cook. Twentieth century titles feature many photographs of African-American musical performers, often in costume. Unlike many other sorts of published works, sheet music can be produced rapidly in response to an event or public interest, and thus is a source of relatively unmediated and unrevised perspectives on quickly changing events and public attitudes. Particularly significant in this collection are the visual depictions of African Americans which provide much information about racial attitudes over the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Part of the Library of Congress American Memory Project.

AfriClassical : African Heritage in Classical Music. Here you will meet 52 composers, conductors and instrumental performers - Africans, African Americans and Afro-Europeans.

Afrocentric Voices in "Classical Music". Afrocentric Voices focuses on African American performers and composers and on the vocal music forms they influenced, specially opera, art songs and spiritual arrangements

Archives of African American Music and Culture. Established in 1991, the Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC) is a repository of materials covering a range of African American musical idioms and cultural expressions from the post-World War II era. The collections highlight popular, religious, and classical music, with genres ranging from blues and gospel to R&B and contemporary hip hop. The AAAMC also houses extensive materials related to the documentation of black radio. Courtesy of Indiana University.

Biography.Com Collection of Notable African American Musicians.

Black Music Milestones from Boombox: Boombox gives you access to a wide array of Black music news stories, video premieres, and information on urban recording artists.

Columbia College Chicago Center for Black Music Research. The CBMR offers a variety of online resources for researchers, Associates Members, teachers, students, and authors, including definitions and information on styles and genres, bibliographies and music lists, a discography of music of black composers, resources for teachers, the CBMR Style Guide, and a list of current jobs in the field.

Detroit Public Library, E. Azalia Hackley Collection : The E. Azalia Hackley Collection was created in 1943 by a gift of material to the Detroit Public Library from the Detroit Musicians Association, a branch of the National Association of Negro Musicians. The Hackley was the first archive to document the contributions of Blacks to the performing arts. This collection of sheet music from the Hackley consists of over 600 pieces of 19th and 20th century sheet music published between 1799 and 1922. Song themes cover early 19th century plantation life in the American South, the Civil War period, including abolitionism, emancipation and Reconstruction, early 20th century popular music, and the stereotypical themes associated with black face minstrelsy. The minstrel songs of Detroit born composer Harry Von Tilzer are largely represented, as well as the songs of African American and Detroit based composers Fred Stone and Harry P. Guy. Other African American composers include: James Bland, Ernest Hogan, Cecil Mack, Shelton Brooks, Will Marion Cook, Bob Cole, James Reese Europe, Creamer & Layton, Williams & Walker, and W.C. Handy. Piano music of marches, quadrilles and other dances are also included.

Heart and Soul : A Celebration of African American Music. African Americans have played a tremendous role in American music. Almost all popular music contains elements of African American rhythms and culture. Black spirituals are one of the best known and earliest forms of American music. These religious songs eventually gave birth to the blues. Jazz, which began in the late 1800's, grew out of black folk blues and ballads. And musicians in the mid-1900's combined spirituals, blues, and jazz styles to develop rock and roll. In the late 1900's, a new American musical form called rap emerged. World Book editors have assembled a look at some of the most famous African American musicians and the impact they have made on different forms of music. The articles in this feature were taken from World Book. There are also numerous links to Web sites that provide more information on influential African American musicians and compositions. Still available thanks to the Internet Archive.

International Association of African American Music. International Association of African American Music provides information on Black musicians.

Women and the Blues. Although the origins of blues music are difficult to trace completely, the blues movement is said to have grown from African American song and culture throughout the South. Women were an influential part of this development with several female blues singers driving the movement throughout the United States. In 1920, Perry Bradford brought Mamie Smith into the spotlight with her performance of “Crazy Blues,” which was the first commercial blues record ever recorded. The influence of Mamie Smith, Bessie Smith, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, and Ida Cox can still be heard in more contemporary artists like Toni Braxton, Gladys Knight, and others. Courtesy of Melissa Jacobs and the Digital Public Library of America.

Deep Soul The Up Rising of Otis Redding - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6,

Marian Anderson - God Bless America at the Lincoln Memorial. After the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow Marian Anderson sing at Constitutional Hall, Eleanor Roosevelt persuades the Secretary of Interior Hicks to allow her to sing at the Lincoln Memorial, with over 75,000 in attendance (1939).

Marian Anderson with the Detroit Symphonic Orchestra - Deep River (1939).

Nat King Cole Show on NBC. In the 1950s Nat King Cole was in the mainstream of American show business and had already produced several records that had sold millions of copies each. Cole was a regular guest star on many variety shows on national television including those of Perry Como, Milton Berle, Ed Sullivan and Jackie Gleason. Nat was a natural on television he was offered his own show by NBC which premiered in 1956. Cole was nervous about being the first major black performer to host his own show on network television and at the time said "It could be a turning point, so that Negroes may be featured regularly on television. For more information about Nat King Cole, visit Wikipedia.

Willie Dixon plays Little Boy Blue courtesy of WolfgangsVault.com

Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong - The Blues are Brewin'

John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom, Boogie Chillin, Hobo Blues, I'm In the Mood (with Bonnie Raitt), One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer, and Tupelo.

Robert Johnson - Crossroad, Me and the Devil Blues, Sweet Home Chicago, all examples of Delta Music Blues. The grandfather of rock and roll?

B. B. King - Blue Boys Tune, How Blue Can You Get, Lucille, Sweet Sixteen (with T-Bone Walker at the 1967 Monterey Jazz Festival) The Thrill is Gone (with Gary Moore). Why B. B. King's guitar is named Lucille. For more information about B.B. King, visit Wikipedia. For more information about T. Bone Walker, visit Wikipedia.

Leadbelly - House of the Rising Sun, Pick a Bale of Cotton (1945).

Paul Robeson - Deep River, Let My People Go, Ol' Man River.

Koko Taylor - I'm A Woman. Koko Taylor was born Cora Walton on September 28, 1935 in Memphis, TN. She got the nickname "Koko" because of her love of chocolate. Accurately dubbed "the Queen of Chicago blues" (and sometimes just the blues in general), Koko Taylor helped keep the tradition of big-voiced, brassy female blues belters alive, recasting the spirits of early legends like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Big Mama Thornton, and Memphis Minnie for the modern age.

Muddy Waters - Champagne & Reefer, I'm the Hoochie Coochie Man,

Muddy Waters Blues Band - Stormy Monday, courtesy of the WolfgagsVault.com.

Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, and James Cotton : I'm Ready courtesy of the WolfgagsVault.com.

Marian Williams, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord - One of the finest voices of the 20th Century.

'Princess' Nina Simone: The Voice Of A Movement. excerpt from Princess Noire courtesy of NPR.

Deep Soul The Up Rising of Motown - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6. : The Barry Gordy Story by Mark Anthony.

Deep Soul The Up Rising of Otis Redding - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6,

Deep Soul the Up Rising of Sam Cooke - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.

Sampling Soul, March 17, 2010. Duke University class discussion of Nas' Illmatic. Guests include: 9th Wonder and James Peterson. Faculty host is Mark Anthony Neal

ThoughtCo.Com's R&B and Soul Music News.

Shall We Gather at the River. A sample of African American sacred music from the State Library and Archives of Florida.

Negro Spirituals. Covers general history, singers, songs, and composers.

Blind Boys of Alabama - Amazing Grace, Wade in the water.

Sam Cooke, This Little Light of Mine, Live at the Copa 1964.

Billie Holiday sings Strange Fruit courtesy of YouTube. Recorded in 1939 and 1944 ‘Strange Fruit’ became one of Billy Holiday's signature songs. Holiday would end all her shows with the song and one of her accompanists, Bobby Tucker, said she would break down every time after singing it. In 1999, Time Magazine named ‘Strange Fruit’ the song of the century, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978 and in the list Songs of the Century put together by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information about Billie Holiday, visit Wikipedia. For additional performances by Billie Holiday, visit Jazz on the Web.

Norman Hutchins - Jesus on the Mainline

Mahalia Jackson - The Queen of Gospel. Amazing Grace, the Battle of Jericho, Steal Away, and We Shall Overcome (1971). The last link also provide a narrative story.

Paul Robeson - Deep River, Let My People Go, Ol' Man River.

Nina Simone sings Four Women courtesy of YouTube. “Four Women” was first recorded by Nina Simone on her album Wild is the Wind in 1965. The song tells the story of four African-American women, each verse representing a different women’s experience in America. The first character is named Aunt Sarah who is a representative of the times of slavery and Nina focuses on her strength in the face the long term suffering endured. The second character is names Saffronia and is a woman of mixed race and identity and focuses on the experience of black Americans being at the will of white people in power. The third woman is named Sweet Thing, who is a prostitute that is able to find acceptance from both black and white people alike. Though her acceptance by white men is based on the sexual gratification she provides them. The last woman is named Peaches and most likely reflects Nina Simone herself. Peaches is a product of generations of racism and oppression and is filled with bitterness and rage.

Nina Simone sings Mississippi Goddamn courtesy of YouTube.

Nina Simone performs "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free" via YouTube. One of the most popular anthems of the Civil Rights Movement, written by Billy Taylor in 1954 and made famous in the 1960s by Nina Simone.

Marian Williams, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord - One of the finest voices of the 20th Century.

'Princess' Nina Simone: The Voice Of A Movement. excerpt from Princess Noire courtesy of NPR.

Davey D's Hip Hop Daily News. History and commentary from hip hop journalist and scholar Davey D.

The Hiphop Archive at Harvard University. The Hiphop Archive was officially established in 2002 under the direction of Marcyliena Morgan. Since the early 1970s, Hiphop has become the most influential artistic, educational and social movement for youth and young adults. From The Hiphop Archive's inception, students, faculty, artists, staff and other participants in Hiphop culture have been committed to supporting and establishing a new type of research and scholarship devoted to the knowledge, art, culture, materials, organizations, movements and institutions developed by those who support and follow Hiphop. In response to this movement The Hiphop Archive organizes and develops collections, initiates and participates in research activities, sponsors events and acquires material culture associated with Hiphop in the U.S. and throughout the world.

Hip Hop Users Guide. Nearly all the books mentioned in the Research Guide by the Cornell University Library are also available at the Michigan State University Main Library.

The Original Hip-Hop (Rap) Lyrics Archive.

Thought.Co's Rap/Hip Hop News.

Louis Armstrong, jazz great, photograph originally appearing in New York World - Telegram and the Sun Newspaper, 1953. Image shared by Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Marian Anderson with the Detroit Symphonic Orchestra - Deep River (1939).

Louis Armstrong - Black and Blue, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen (1962), and What a Wonderful World. Louis Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans and was the grandson of slaves. Louis grew up in poverty in Uptown New Orleans and among other jobs would haul coal to Storyville where he got to see the likes of Joe "King" Oliver perform as a child. As Louis put it, "Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine -- I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans...It has given me something to live for." Armstrong was criticized by black people for being too cordial in the face of extreme prejudice including being constantly degraded by white people on tour, not being allowed to use the restroom or drinking fountains at clubs he was performing at and plenty more. Louis always responded from the heart, with a smile and eyes that showed compassion for those filled with hate and ignorance. And sometimes, Louis did speak out. In 1957 the Governor of Arkansas disobeyed an order of the Supreme Court to allow black children to attend a white school in Little Rock. Our president at time, Eisenhower, refused to intervene. Louis responded to the press "The way they are treating people in the South, the government can go to hell!" and "The President has no guts" which made national news. Armstrong was also one of the major financial supporters of Martin Luther King Jr and the FBI even had a file on him. The song performed in today's video is "Black and Blue" filmed live in Ghana in 1956. Armstrong is welcomed like a king in Ghana and you can get a sense of where New Orleans gets some of that flavor. The tune itself is about being black in a white world and Louis first recorded it in 1929. The lyrics tell the story.... For more information about Louis Armstrong, visit Wikipedia.

Harry Belafonte - Day O (Banana Boat Song), Man Smart, Woman Smarter

Blind Boys of Alabama - Amazing Grace, Wade in the water.

Oscar Brown Jr. was a singer, playwright and poet who fought for racial equality through politics and Art throughout his life. Visit "Dapo Torimira performs with Oscar Brown Jr. on TavisSmile" for another tune and more about Oscar Brown's accomplishments.

Sam Cooke, This Little Light of Mine, Live at the Copa 1964.

Dorothy Dandridge - Body and Soul and The Nearness of You

Miles Davis plays Directions, courtesy of WolfgangsVault.com

Willie Dixon plays Little Boy Blue courtesy of WolfgangsVault.com

Duke Ellington plays Satin Doll courtesy of YouTube. For more information about Duke Ellington, visit Wikipedia. For additional performances by Duke Ellington, visit Jazz on the Web.

Dizzie Gillespie performs "Blues After Dark" on Ralph Gleason's show Jazz Casual in 1961. Dizzy Gillespie wanted to change the course of America so badly he actually ran for President in 1964. Information about Gillespie's Presidential race is provided below the video. Visit Jazz on the Web for some more recordings of Dizzy Gillespie.

Herbie Hancock interview on PBS. Visit Jazz on the Web for some recordings of Herbie Hancocik.

Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong - The Blues are Brewin'

Billie Holiday sings What a Little Moonlight Can Do courtesy of YouTube. Billie has received many awards posthumously including over ten Grammy Awards and the Grammy Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame, Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame and many more. Billie Holiday remains one of the most popular Jazz singers even today and her intimate and personal approach to singing along with her unique and amazing phrasing make Billie one the greatest ever in Jazz. Her style continues to influence singers in various genres and while many try and imitate her, there will never be another Billie Holiday.

John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom, Boogie Chillin, Hobo Blues, I'm In the Mood (with Bonnie Raitt), One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer, and Tupelo.

Lena Horne - Stormy Weather (1943) and Moon River (1965)

Norman Hutchins - Jesus on the Mainline

Mahalia Jackson - The Queen of Gospel? Amazing Grace, the Battle of Jericho, Steal Away, and We Shall Overcome (1971). The last link also provide a narrative story.

Robert Johnson - Crossroad, Me and the Devil Blues, Sweet Home Chicago, all examples of Delta Music Blues. The grandfather of rock and roll?

Scott Joplin - The Entertainer (1902) and Maple Leaf Rag.

Eartha Kitt sings Santa Baby. A You Tube video celebrating her life.

Leadbelly - House of the Rising Sun, Pick a Bale of Cotton (1945).

Jelly Roll Morten - Hesitation Blues and King Porter Stomp. The first jazz musician?

Max Roach Interview. A fantastic hour long interview with Jazz Drum master Max Roach. Max talks about growing up in jazz, history of African culture and African-American culture today, and his own personal struggles and achievements. Max Roach and the j.C. White Singers - Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord) (1971)

Paul Robeson - Deep River, Let My People Go, Ol' Man River.

Nina Simone sings Mississippi Goddamn courtesy of YouTube. For more information about Nina Simone, watch this 1985 interview provided by EbonyJet.com In it she speaks specifically about "Mississippi Goddamn" and the effects the song had on her career as well as on the movement.

Bessie Smith - Baby Won't You Please Come Home (1923), Empty Bed Bludes (1928), Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (1929), St. Louis Blues (1929), and Yellowdog Blues

Billy Taylor and Nina Simone perform "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free" via YouTube. One of the most popular anthems of the Civil Rights Movement, written by Billy Taylor in 1954 and made famous in the 1960s by Nina Simone. For more information about Billy Taylor, visit Wikipedia.

Sarah Vaughan - Round Midnight and Send in the Clowns

Fats Waller - Ain't Misbehavin (1941), All that Meat and No Potatoes (1941), By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1942) Honeysuckle Rose, I'm Going to Sit Down and Write Myself a Letter, It's A Sin To Tell A Lie, Jitterbug Waltz (1943), This Joint is Jumpin, Your Feet's Too Big (1942)

Muddy Waters - Blues and Trouble, courtesy of the WolfgagsVault.com.

Muddy Waters - Champagne & Reefer, I'm the Hoochie Coochie Man, Rollin' Stone (1960), You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had

Muddy Waters Blues Band - Stormy Monday, courtesy of the WolfgagsVault.com.

Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, and James Cotton : I'm Ready courtesy of the WolfgagsVault.com.

Marian Williams, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord - One of the finest voices of the 20th Century.

Thought.Co's Jazz News

All About Jazz. The web's premier resource for jazz music since 1995. Access daily jazz reviews, interviews, news, forums, videos, downloads, photos, a regional calendar and much more.

America's Jazz Heritage. A ten-year initiative to research, preserve, and present the history of jazz through exhibitions, performances, recordings, radio, publications, and educational programs at the Smithsonian and across the nation.

Chicago Jazz Archive. Operated by the University of Chicago, presents online exhibits, research material, and educational material for children.

Jazz Music Library (part of Alexander Street Press's Music Online). The largest and most comprehensive collection of streaming jazz available online — with thousands of jazz artists, ensembles, albums, and genres. Access restricted to subscribers and the MSU community.

Jazz on the Screen. This searchable filmography by David Meeker at the Library of Congress documents the work of some 1,000 major jazz and blues figures in over 18,000 cinema, television and video productions.

Jazz on the Tube. Before the advent of the Internet and online video the only reliable way to SEE jazz was to go to a live show. This is still the best way to see the music, but if you want to see the many great musicians who are no longer with us (and the living ones who aren't playing tonight in your town), we've created Jazz on the Tube as the Internet's search engine for jazz videos. You can find videos two ways: 1) use the directory or 2) use the site's search engine.

PBS Jazz Biographies. This web site from PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, contains almost 100 African-American biographies mainly on jazz from the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz.

Red Hot Jazz Archive. Red Hot Jazz Archive features biographies, photos, sound clips, and discographies of jazz musicians.

The Official Web Site of the Jazz Legend Duke Ellington.

New York Times Feature Article on Duke Ellington.

'Princess' Nina Simone: The Voice Of A Movement. excerpt from Princess Noire courtesy of NPR.

The Golden Age of Motown Sound. Article by Vivian M. Baulch, The Detroit News, March 1, 2000.

Motown Historical Museum (Detroit).

The Motown Effect: Motown and Civil Rights. Short documentary on YouTube.

Sampling Motown, February 26, 2010. Harry Weinger, vice president of A&R for Universal Music Enterprises and a 30-year veteran of the entertainment industry, is the guest speaker at this Sampling Motown class at Duke University.

Deep Soul The Up Rising of Motown - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6. : The Barry Gordy Story by Mark Anthony.

Deep Soul The Up Rising of Otis Redding - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6,

Deep Soul the Up Rising of Sam Cooke - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.

Sampling Soul, March 17, 2010. Duke University class discussion of Nas' Illmatic. Guests include: 9th Wonder and James Peterson. Faculty host is Mark Anthony Neal

ThoughtCo.Com's R&B and Soul Music News.

Ragtime:

Ragtime. Presents sheet music, essays, and video and sound clips related to ragtime. This distinctly American music appeared (in its published form) during the mid-1890s mainly in the South and Midwest, spread across the U.S. and to Europe, and influenced early jazz styles. Learn about Scott Joplin, one of the best known ragtime players. Hear segments of his classic "Maple Leaf Rag," which helped spread the ragtime craze. See more than 100 pieces of sheet music.

One Hundred Years of the Maple Leaf Rag.

Perhaps you’ve never heard of Detroit’s Hank Ballard, but you’ve almost certainly heard of his dance. Ballard wrote and recorded “The Twist” in 1958. Two years later, Chubby Checker had a hit with a cover of Ballard’s song. A Tale With a Twist By Bob Garrett, Archives of Michigan | February 9, 2010

Kathleen Battle - He's Got the Whole World in His Hands (with Jessye Norman), Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (with the Boys Choir of Harlem)

George Benson - Breezin', On Broadway, Take Five, and This Masquerade

Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode, Maybellene, My Ding-a-Ling, and Roll Over Beethoven

Mary J. Blige -I Am, Take Me As I Am, You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman

Blind Boys of Alabama - Amazing Grace, Go Tell It On the Mountain

Booker T and the MGs - Green Onions and Hip Hug Her courtesy of WolfgangsVault.com

James Brown - I Feel Good (1995) and Say it Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud

Peabo Bryson - All My Love, Beauty and the Beast (with Celine Dion), and Can You Stop the Rain

Tracy Chapman - Fast Car, Give Me One Reason, Talking About a Revolution (1988)

Ray Charles - Georgia on my Mind, Hit the road Jack!, Living for the City (with Stevie Wonder), and more recordings available via Jazz on the Web

Chi Lites - (For God Sake) Give More Power to the People and listen to Huey P. Newton talk about how U.S. Imperialism sold our own music back to us and to the world.

Sam Cooke - Chain Gang, A Change is Gonna Come, Cupid, This Little Light of Mine, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen, Wonderful World

Coolio Featuring L.V. - "Gangsta's Paradise" : a rap song by Coolio featuring L.V. from the movie Dangerous Minds (1995) (starring Michelle Pfeiffer). The song was later released on the albums Gangsta's Paradise and Dangerous Minds soundtrack in 1995. Coolio was awarded a Grammy for the song/album. The song was voted as the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll.

Bo Diddley - I'm a Man, "In His Prime"

Earth, Wind, and Fire - Boogie Wonderland (1979), Evil, and September.

Four Tops - Baby I Need Your Lovin' (1965), I Can't Help Myself, and Sugar Pie Honey Bunch.

Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly With His Song and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Aretha Franklin - Don't Play That Song for Me, I Say A Little Prayer (1970), Respect, You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman.

Marvin Gaye - Heard It Through the Grapevine, Mercy, Mercy Me, and Sexual Healing

Marvin Gaye Sings "What's Going On / What's Happening Brother". An excerpt from the recently released DVD of some of Marvin's greatest live performances on TV and film, "Real Thing: In Performance 1964-1981," This live performance comes from the long out-of-circulation 1973 film, "Save The Children" with James Jamerson on bass. Another version of What's Going On (original 36-minute Detroit mix).

Al Green - Ain't No Sunshine, People Get Ready (with Linda Jones and Wanda Neal)

Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower, And the Wind Cries Mary, Castles Made of Sand, Foxey Lady, Hey Joe, Little Wing, Purple Haze, and Voodoo Child