This first volume of Music in Black American Life collects research and analysis that originally appeared in the journals American Music and the Black Music Research Journal, and in the University of Illinois Press's acclaimed book series Music in American Life. In these selections, experts from a cross-section of disciplines engage with fundamental issues in ways that changed our perceptions of Black music. The topics includes the culturally and musically complex Black music-making of colonial America; string bands and other lesser-known genres practiced by Black artists; the jubilee industry and its audiences; and innovators in jazz, blues, and Black gospel.

Eclectic and essential, Music in Black American Life, 1600-1945 offers specialists and students alike a gateway to the history and impact of Black music in the United States.

Contributors: R. Reid Badger, Rae Linda Brown, Samuel A. Floyd Jr., Sandra Jean Graham, Jeffrey Magee, Robert M. Marovich, Harriet Ottenheimer, Eileen Southern, Katrina Dyonne Thompson, Stephen Wade, and Charles Wolfe

About the Author
Laurie Matheson is the director of the University of Illinois Press and longtime editor of the series Music in American Life.

Reviews
"Although the essays in this volume provide a selective history of early Black American music, they illustrate a desire to extend and enrich our understanding of Black musicking. As such, they have fulfilled the editorial goals of their original publications while contributing to new narrative strategies for American music history."--Sandra Jean Graham, from the Introduction



Book Information
ISBN 9780252044571
Author Laurie Matheson
Format Hardback
Page Count 288
Imprint University of Illinois Press
Publisher University of Illinois Press
Weight(grams) 454g