Research Guides: Black History Month: Music &amp; Musicians

Black Music & Musicians

During the week of February 21, we highlighted the music of Black musicians on our display. In addition to the recommended books below, we also have a great selection of streaming music databases. For best results, search for musicians by name.

Streaming Music

Music and Performing Arts Channel This link opens in a new window
Non-peer reviewed. Videos. Music streaming.
This multidisciplinary collection specializes in music and performing arts content. Presents audio, reference, videos, and scores.
Music Online: Listening Plus This link opens in a new window
Non-peer reviewed. Music streaming.
This multidisciplinary music collection indexes audiovisual content. Includes thousands of albums, plus unique and valuable content from global producers and distributors.
Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new window
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Specializes in online music streaming. Allows users to stream classical music, jazz, opera, folk music, world music, and more.

Books

This list is just a sampling of books about Black music and musicians from our collection. If you'd like to find more, use the instructions below to find books about musicians and musical genres in OneSearch.

You can also find more book recommendations on our black music and musicians reading list.

Black Lives Matter and Music: Protest, Intervention, Reflection (Ebook) by Fernando Orejuela
Publication Date: 2018
Music has always been integral to the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, with songs such as Kendrick Lamar's "Alright," J. Cole's "Be Free," D'Angelo and the Vanguard's "The Charade," The Game's "Don't Shoot," Janelle Monae's "Hell You Talmbout," Usher's "Chains," and many others serving as unofficial anthems and soundtracks for members and allies of the movement. In this collection of critical studies, contributors draw from ethnographic research and personal encounters to illustrate how scholarly research of, approaches to, and teaching about the role of music in the Black Lives Matter movement can contribute to public awareness of the social, economic, political, scientific, and other forms of injustices in our society.
Chitlin Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll (Print Book) by Preston Lauterbach
Publication Date: 2011
Also available in print.
A definitive account of the birth of rock 'n' roll in black America, this book establishes the Chitlin' Circuit as a major force in American musical history...Charging from Memphis to Houston and now-obscure points in between, The Chitlin' Circuit brings us into the sweaty back rooms where such stars as James Brown, B. B. King, and Little Richard got their start. With his unforgettable portraits of unsung heroes including King Kolax, Sax Kari, and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Lauterbach writes of a world of clubs and con-men that has managed to avoid much examination despite its wealth of brash characters, intriguing plotlines, and vulgar glory, and gives us an excavation of an underground musical America.
Dreams to Remember : Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul (Print Book) by Mark Ribowsky
Publication Date: 2015
When he died in one of rock's string of tragic plane crashes, Otis Redding was only twenty-six, yet already the avatar of a new kind of soul music. The beating heart of Memphis-based Stax Records, he had risen to fame belting out gospel-flecked blues in stage performances that seemed to ignite not only a room but an entire generation. If Berry Gordy's black-owned kingdom in Motown showed the way in soul music, Redding made his own way, going where not even his two role models who had preceded him out of Macon, Georgia--Little Richard and James Brown--had gone. Now, in this transformative work, New York Times Notable Book author Mark Ribowsky contextualizes his subject's short career within the larger cultural and social movements of the era, tracing the crooner's rise from preacher's son to a preacher of three-minute soul sermons.
Hip Hop Family Tree (Print Book) by Ed Piskor (Artist)
Publication Date: 2015
Originally serialized on the hugely popular website Boing Boing, The Hip Hop Family Tree is an encyclopedic comics history of the formative years of hip hop capturing the vivid personalities and magnetic performances of old-school pioneers and early stars.
Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance (Print Book) by Mark Whitaker
Publication Date: 2019
Pittsburgh was the childhood home of jazz pioneers Billy Strayhorn, Billy Eckstine, Earl Hines, Mary Lou Williams, and Erroll Garner; Hall of Fame slugger Josh Gibson--and August Wilson himself. Some of the most glittering figures of the era were changed forever by the time they spent in the city, from Joe Louis and Satchel Paige to Duke Ellington and Lena Horne. Mark Whitaker's Smoketown is a captivating portrait of this unsung community and a vital addition to the story of Black America
Waiting for Buddy Guy: Chicago Blues at the Crossroads (Ebook) by Alan Harper
Publication Date: 2016
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, British blues fan Alan Harper became a transatlantic pilgrim to Chicago. "I've come here to listen to the blues," he told an American customs agent at the airport, and listen he did, to the music in its many styles, and to the men and women who lived it in the city's changing blues scene. Harper's eloquent memoir conjures the smoky redoubts of men like harmonica virtuoso Big Walter Horton and pianist Sunnyland Slim. Venturing from stageside to kitchen tables to the shotgun seat of a 1973 Eldorado, Harper listens to performers and others recollect memories of triumphs earned and chances forever lost, of deep wells of pain and soaring flights of inspiration. Harper also chronicles a time of change, as an up-tempo, whites-friendly blues eclipsed what had come before, and old Southern-born black players held court one last time before an all-conquering generation of young guitar aces took center stage.

OneSearch

OneSearch is the Fulton Library's main database. It allows you to search the library's articles, books, streaming media, and more. OneSearch includes resources on almost every topic, making it a great place to start your research!

To use OneSearch, go to the UVU Fulton Library Homepage link below. OneSearch is the main search box on the page. Enter search terms into the box, then hit enter or click the magnifying glass. Once your search runs, you can filter your results clicking the All Filters button that appears below the search box.

UVU Fulton Library Homepage
The library's main page. Access OneSearch, help options, library hours, and more.

Library Help

Call: 801.863.8840
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