Black History Month 2026. Image courtesy of QView #220
In celebration of Black History Month and beyond, the Music Library is showcasing materials of different musical styles of Black Americans in the United States that are held here in the collection, concentrating on Classical, Blues, Free Jazz, and Opera.
ITEMS ON DISPLAY IN THE MUSIC LIBRARY:
Blueswomen : profiles of 37 early performers, with an anthology of lyrics, 1920-1945
Bourgeois, Anna Stong, author.
1996
ML54.6 .B79 B6 1996
Ma Rainey and the classic blues singers
Stewart-Baxter, Derrick, author.
1970
ML400 .S84
Angels of the night : popular female singers of our time
Mellers, Wilfrid, 1914-2008.
1986
ML400 .M44 1986
Ma Rainey’s black bottom.
Rainey, Ma, 1886-1939, performer.; Yazoo (Record company); Calt, Stephen.
1990
Circ CD 1976
Blues people : Negro music in white America
Baraka, Amiri, 1934-2014.
1963
ML3556 .J73
Blues : an anthology
Handy, W. C. (William Christopher), 1873-1958, composer, editor, arranger of music.; Nash, Will, composer.; Berlin, Irving, 1888-1989, composer.; Gershwin, George, 1898-1937, composer.; Gershwin, Ira, 1896-1983, lyricist.; Kern, Jerome, 1885-1945, composer.; Caldwell, Anne, 1867-1936, lyricist.; Handy, Lucile Marie, composer.; Phillips, William King, composer.; Carpenter, John Alden, 1876-1951, composer.; Herriman, George, 1880-1944.; McLaurin, Billie, composer.; Green, Eddie, 1891-1950, lyricist.; Booker, Charles H., composer.; Kemp, Clinton A., composer.; Gilbert, Mercedes, lyricist.; Clark, H. Qualli, composer.; Airoson, J. M. R., translator.; Reed, N. E., composer.; Neal, Ethel, composer.; Williams, Douglass, composer.; Garrett, Lloyd, 1886-1966, lyricist.; Wand, Hart A., composer.; Williams, Spencer, 1889-1965, composer.; Wheeler, C. E. (Clarence E.), 1885-1966, arranger of music.; Bowman, Euday L. (Euday Louis), 1887-1949, composer.; Bowles, George H., lyricist.; Elman, Dave, 1900-1967, lyricist.; Smith, Chris, 1879-1949, lyricist.; Niles, Abbe, writer of supplementary textual content.; Covarrubias, Miguel, 1904-1957, illustrator.; Hess, Cliff, 1894-1959, composer.
1926
M1630.18 .H26 B5 1926
Chicago blues : the city & the music
Rowe, Mike, author.
1981
ML3478 .R7 1981
Country blues songbook
Grossman, Stefan, compiler.; Calt, Stephen, compiler.; Grossman, Hal, compiler.
1973
M1630.18 .G759 C7
Liner notes for the revolution : the intellectual life of black feminist sound
Brooks, Daphne, author.
2021
ML3556 .B74 2021
Say it loud! : a celebration of Black music in America.
2001
Circ CD 5272
Blacks in opera : an encyclopedia of people and companies, 1873-1993
Smith, Eric Ledell, 1949-2008.
©1995
ML102 .O6 S6 1995
Black opera : history, power, engagement
André, Naomi Adele, author.
2018
ML1700 .A53 2018
L’incoronazione di Poppea
London Philharmonic Orchestra.; Glyndebourne Festival Chorus.; British Broadcasting Corporation. Television Service.; Glyndebourne Festival Opera Company.; NVC Arts (Firm); Warner Music Vision (Firm); Kultur International Films.; Busenello, Giovanni Francesco, 1598-1659, librettist.; Leppard, Raymond, conductor.; Ewing, Maria, performer.; Bailey, Dennis, 1943-2011, performer.; Clarey, Cynthia, performer.; Lloyd, Robert, 1940- performer.; Gale, Elizabeth, 1948- performer.; Duesing, Dale, performer.; Glover, Jane, conductor.; Hall, Peter, 1930-2017, director.; Lough, Robin, director.; Monteverdi, Claudio, 1567-1643.
2004?
Music DVD 85
And so I sing : African-American divas of opera and concert
Story, Rosalyn M.
©1990
ML 400 .S88 1990
Salome
Strauss, Richard, 1864-1949, composer.; Staatskapelle Dresden, performer.; Lachmann, Hedwig, translator.; Norman, Jessye, singer.; Witt, Kerstin, singer.; Morris, James, 1947- singer.; Raffeiner, Walter, singer.; Leech, Richard (Tenor), singer.; Ozawa, Seiji, 1935-2024, conductor.; Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900.
1994
Circ CD 9967
ADDITIONAL LIBRARY RESOURCES:
Right on : from blues to soul in black America
Haralambos, Michael, author.
1974
ML3556 .H295 R5
Mother of the blues : a study of Ma Rainey
Lieb, Sandra R., author.
1981
ML420 .R274 L5
Ma Rainey, first of the great blues singers.
Rainey, Ma, 1886-1939.
1950-?
LP 1627
Ragged but right : black traveling shows, “coon songs,” and the dark pathway to blues and jazz
Abbott, Lynn, 1946-; Seroff, Doug, author.
2007
ML3479 .A23 2007
The devil’s music : a history of the blues
Oakley, Giles.
1977, ©1976
ML3556 .O18 1977
The blues : a bibliographical guide
Hart, Mary L.; Eagles, Brenda M., 1951- author.; Howorth, Lisa, author.; Ferris, William, 1937-2000, writer of introduction.
1989
ML128 .B49 H3 1989
Blues fell this morning : meaning in the blues
Oliver, Paul, 1927-2017, author.; Wright, Richard, 1908-1960, writer of foreword.
1990
ML3521 .O42 1990
The story of the blues
Oliver, Paul, 1927-2017, author.
1969
ML3561 .J3 O47
Nothing but the blues : an illustrated documentary
Leadbitter, Mike, editor.
1971
ML55 .L25
Urban blues
Keil, Charles, author.
1966
ML3556 .K43
W.C. Handy : the life and times of the man who made the blues
Robertson, David, 1947 August 11-
2009
ML410 .H18 R63 2009
Early published blues and proto-blues (1850-1915)
Muir, Peter C., editor.
2024
Reference Score Main Floor ; M2 .R295 v.93/33
The country blues guitar.
Grossman, Stefan.
1968
MT582.G755 C7