Books and Articles on Black Music

Jennifer Ryan 

Articles on Black Music in North America and the Circum-Caribbean in Major Music Journals, 1990–2007

Included in this bibliography are articles on music created by or performed by people who identify themselves as "black" and who are from North America or the Circum-Caribbean. The bibliography reveals a great deal about the state of research on black music among scholars in North America and the United Kingdom (see Table 1). The methodological and topical focus of a particular journal can predict the coverage of black music. Of the three music theory journals examined, only two had published any articles on black music (two each), and Journal of Music Theory has published none. Journals whose methodological focus could be described as primarily music history or musicology were split between those with no or relatively little coverage and those with higher coverage. Among journals whose focus is ethnomusicological, Ethnomusicology included the most articles on black music during the period of focus. The vast majority of articles published on black music, however, can be found in journals that specialize in topics that focus on American music, popular music, and black music.