List of composers of African descent

H. Leslie Adams

• Michael Abels, USA (born 1962)
• Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah, Egypt (born 1962)
• Muhal Richard Abrams, USA (1930–2017)
• H. Leslie Adams, USA (born 1932)
• Eleanor Alberga, Jamaica (born 1949)
• Alcione, Brazil (born 1947)
• Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge (Montague Ring), England (1866–1956)
• Kenneth Amis, USA (born 1970)
• Thomas Jefferson Anderson (TJ), USA (born 1928)
• Lil Hardin Armstrong, USA (1898–1971)

• David Baker, USA (1931–2016)
• Leon Bates, USA, pianist
• Catalina Berroa, Cuba (1849–1911)
• Eubie Blake (James Hubert Blake), USA (1883–1983)
• James A. Bland, USA (1854–1911)
• Margaret Allison Bonds, USA (1913–1972)
• John William Boone, USA (1864–1927)
• Anthony Braxton, USA (born 1945)
• George Bridgetower, Poland (1779–1860), violinist and composer
• Leo Brouwer, Cuba (born 1935)
• James Tim Brymn, USA (1881–1946)
• Harry Burleigh, USA (1866–1949)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor c. 1893

• Billy Childs, USA (born 1957)
• Robert Allen "Bob" Cole, USA (1868–1911)
• Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, England (1875–1912)
• Ornette Coleman, USA (1930–2015)
• Alice Coltrane, USA (1937–2007)
• John Coltrane, USA (1926–1967)
• Geraldine Connor, UK (1952–2011)
• Will Marion Cook, USA (1869–1944)
• Roque Cordero, Panama (1917–2008)
• Arthur Cunningham, USA (1928–1997)

• William L. Dawson, USA (1899–1990)
• Anthony Davis, USA (born 1951)
• Gussie Lord Davis, USA (1863–1899)
• Edmond Dédé, USA (1827–1903)
• Leonard De Paur, USA (1914–1998)
• Robert Nathaniel Dett, Canada (1882–1943)
• John Thomas Douglass, USA (1847–1886)
• Rudolph Dunbar, Guyana (1907–1988)
• Leslie Dunner, USA (born 1956)

Duke Ellington at the Hurricane Club, Broadway, NYC

• Julius Eastman, USA (1940–1990)
• Justin Elie, Haiti (1883–1931)
• Duke Ellington (Edward Kennedy Ellington), USA (1899–1974), jazz big band leader
• Mercer Ellington, USA (1919–1996)
• Joseph Antonio Emidy, Guinea (1775–1835)
• Akin Euba, Nigeria (born 1935)
• James Reese Europe, USA (1881–1919)

• Donal Fox, USA (born 1952)

• José Maurício Nunes Garcia, Brazil (1767-1830)
• Philip Gbeho, Ghana (1904–1976)
• Kerry J. Gilliard, USA (born 1972)
• Harry P. Guy, USA (1870–1950)

• Adolphus Hailstork, USA (born 1941)
• W. C. Handy (William Christopher Handy), USA (1873–1958), blues
• Edward W. Hardy, USA (born 1992), composer, violinist & violinist
• Robert A. Harris, USA (born 1938)
• Henry Hart, USA (1839–1915)
• Scott Hayden, USA (1882–1915), ragtime
• Talib Rasul Hakim, USA (1940–1988)
• Fletcher Henderson, USA (1897–1952), jazz big band leader
• Ernest Hogan, USA (1865–1909)
• Moses Hogan, USA (1957–2003)
• David Hurd, USA (born 1950)

• Abdullah Ibrahim, South Africa (born 1934)

Scott Joplin

• Michael Jackson, USA (1958–2009), singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, choreographer, musician, businessman
• Tony Jackson, USA (1876–1921), pianist
• Leroy Jenkins, USA (1932–2007)
• Jose Julian Jiménez, Cuba (1823–1880)
• Lico Jiménez (José Manuel Jiménez Berroa), Cuba (1851–1917)
• Francis Johnson, USA (1792–1844)
• Hall Johnson, USA (1888–1970)
• James Price Johnson, USA (1894–1955)
• J. Rosamond Johnson, USA (1873–1954)
• Victor C. Johnson, USA (born 1978)
• Scott Joplin, USA (1868–1917)
• Quincy Jones, USA (born 1933)
• Joe Jordan, USA (1882–1971)

• Ulysses Simpson Kay, USA (1917–1995)

• Charles Lucien Lambert, USA (c. 1828–1896)
• Lucien-Léon Guillaume Lambert, France (1858–1945)
• Sidney Lambert, USA (born 1838)
• Ludovic Lamothe, Haiti (1882–1953)
• Tania León, Cuba (born 1943)
• John Lewis, USA (1920–2001)
• Melba Liston, USA (1926–1999)
• Sam Lucas, USA (1850–1916)

Thelonious Monk at Minton's Playhouse, 1947

• Bobby McFerrin (Robert McFerrin Jr.), USA (born 1950), jazz composer-vocalist-conductor
• Wynton Marsalis, USA (born 1961)
• Arthur Marshall, USA (1881–1968), ragtime
• Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky, USA (born 1970)
• Charles Mingus, USA (1922–1979)
• Roscoe Mitchell, USA (born 1940)
• Thelonious Monk, USA (1917–1982)
• Carman Moore, USA (born 1936)
• Undine Smith Moore, USA (1904–1989)
• Jeffrey Mumford, USA (born 1955)
• Diedre Murray, USA (born 1951)

• Oliver Nelson, USA (1932–1975)
• J. H. Kwabena Nketia, Ghana (born 1921)

• Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, USA (1932–2004)
• Julia Perry, USA (1924–1979)
• Zenobia Powell Perry, USA (1908–2004)
• Marvin Peterson, USA (born 1948), jazz composer
• Armand John Piron, USA (1888–1943)
• Florence Beatrice Price, USA (1887–1953)
• Prince, USA (1958–2016)

• Amadeo Roldán, Cuba (1900–1939)
• Sonny Rollins, USA (born 1930)

Saint-Georges in 1768, aged 22

• Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Guadeloupe (c. 1739–1799)
• Ignatius Sancho, England, (c. 1729–1780)
• James Scott, USA (1886–1938)
• Wayne Shorter, USA (born 1933)
• Alvin Singleton, USA (born 1940)
• Chris Smith, USA (1879–1949)
• Hale Smith, USA (1925–2009)
• Fela Sowande, Nigeria (1905–1987)
• William Grant Still, USA (1895–1978)
• Howard Swanson, USA (1907–1978)
• Billy Strayhorn (William Thomas Strayhorn), USA (1917–1967), one of the most highly regarded jazz and big band composers and arrangers; Ellington's friend and arranger

• Shirley Thompson, English-born composer of Jamaican descent
• Henry Threadgill, USA (born 1944), jazz composer

George Walker at right

Fats Waller

• George Walker, USA (1922–2018)
• Fats Waller, USA (1904–1943), singer, jazz musician
• Pete Wentz, bassist of the band Fall Out Boy
• Randy Weston, USA (1926–2018)
• Clarence Cameron White, USA (1880–1960)
• Joseph White (José Silvestre White Lafitte) Cuba (1835–1918)
• Thomas Wiggins (Bethune) or "Blind Tom", USA (1849–1908)
• Clarence Williams, USA (1898–1965)
• Julius Penson Williams, USA (born 1954)
• Mary Lou Williams, USA (1910–1981)
• Olly Wilson, USA (1937–2018)
• John Wesley Work III, USA (1901–1967)
• Stevie Wonder, (born 1950)

• Pamela Z, USA (born 1956)

Dates of birth and death are unknown for several composers whose music, published during the 19th century, is described in "Historical Notes on African-American and Jamaican Melodies". These composers include Harry Bloodgood, Samuel Butler, Dudley C. Clark, Harry Davis, Pete Devonear, Fred C. Lyons, Henry Newman, James S. Putnam, and Francis V. Seymour.

• Lists of African Americans
• Negermusik

• Tim Brooks, Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890–1919, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2004.
• Samuel A. Floyd, Jr., editor, International Dictionary of Black Composers, Chicago: Center for Black Music Research, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, two volumes, 1999.
• Eileen Southern, Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1982.
• Lester Sullivan, "Composers of Color of Nineteenth-Century New Orleans: The History Behind the Music", Black Music Research Journal, vol. 8, no. 1 (1988), 51–82.

• Orchestral Music of African-American Composers
• Discography of Center for Black Music Research: Music by Black Composers
• Classical Music Recordings of Black Composers: a reference guide
• Historical Notes on African-American Melodies and Composers
• Historical Notes on African Melodies and Composers
• Black History and Classical Music
• Myrtle Hart Society
• Composers of African Descent
• Perspectives of Black Composers
• Afrocentric Voices in Classical Music