Southern was the first black woman to be appointed a full tenured professor at Harvard, and her book is a towering work of scholarship, drawing on memoirs, ledgers, slave advertisements in newspapers and other sources to reconstruct the history of African-American music-making from 1619 to the age of hip-hop. A musicologist, Southern is strong on both music and the history behind it, expertly shaping a story of exile, oppression and resistance.
Beginning with the arrival of the first Africans in the English colonies, Eileen Southern weaves a fascinating narrative of intense musical activity. As singers, players, and composers, black American musicians are fully chronicled in this landmark book. Now in the third edition, the author has brought the entire text up to date and has added a wealth of new material covering the latest developments in gospel, blues, jazz, classical, crossover, Broadway, and rap as they relate to African American music. Over 50 photographs
