List of composers of African descent

African American composers include:

• Michael Abels, (born 1962)
• Muhal Richard Abrams, (born 1930)
• William Banfield, (born 1961)
• David Baker, (born 1931)
• Eubie Blake, (1883-1983)
• Anthony Braxton, (born 1945)
• Roque Cordero, (born 1917)
• Julius Eastman, (1940-1991)
• Duke Ellington, (1899-1974), jazz composer and musician
• Adolphus Hailstork, (born 1941)
• W.C. Handy, (1873-1958), blues composer
• Tony Jackson, (1876-1921), pianist & composer
• Leroy Jenkins, (born 1932)
• Scott Joplin, (1868-1917)
• Ulysses Kay, (1917-1995)
• Roscoe Mitchell, (born 1940)
• Thelonious Monk, (1917-1982)
• Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, (born 1932)
• Hale Smith, (born 1925)
• William Grant Still, (1895-1978)
• George Walker, (born 1922)
• Fats Waller, (1904-1943), composer, singer, jazz musician
• Joseph White, (1835-1918) Cuban born
• Clarence Williams, (1893-1965), composer, publisher, jazz musician

see also: List of African-Americans