Music

Music Genres

• Jazz in the Jim Crow era - Jazz, Ken Burns film
• How Jazz Helped Hasten the Civil Rights Movement - WSJ
• PBSKidsGo! Jazz
  • The Blues – PBS
• Mississippi Blues - Mississippi History Now
  • American Roots Music - the Artists
  • Blues & Rhythm, the Gospel Truth magazine
  • Living Blues Magazine
  • History of Gospel Music - Crosscurrents

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) - American jazz trumpeter and singer. One of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross-over."

• Louis Armstrong - American Masters
• The Day Louis Armstrong Made Noise - NY Times
  • Louis Armstrong Broke Silence on Civil Rights in 1957 - Queens Gazette
  • Louis Armstrong House Museum - Queens, New York

James Brown (1933-2006) - Known as the "Godfather of Soul," Brown took strong public stands on issues of race during the 1960s and 1970s.

• James Brown - American Masters
• James Brown - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
• The Night James Brown Saved Boston - review of documentary film about James Brown's televised concert in Boston the night after the assassination of Martin Luther King - and how it helped prevent the rioting that tore up cities across the country.

Duke Ellington

• Duke Ellington - American Masters on PBS
• Duke Ellington biography - Jazz a Film by Ken Burns
• Duke Ellington - Biography.com
• Notable Black Washingtonians - Duke Ellington's Washington

Aretha Franklin

• Aretha Franklin - American Masters on PBS
  • Bio of Aretha Franklin - Rck & Roll Hall of Fame

Lena Horne - Born in Brooklyn in 1917, Lena Horne became one of the most popular African American performers of the 1940s and 1950s.

• Lena Horne - American Masters on PBS
• International Civil Rights Walk of Fame: Lena Horne
• American Masters - Lena Horne - PBS
• NY Times Obituary of Lena Horne (2010)

Mahalia Jackson

• Mahalia Jackson - Yahoo! links
• Mahalia Jackson - Gale Black History Biographies
• Mahalia Jackson - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame biography
• Mahalia Jackson: Voice of the Civil Rights Movement

B.B. King

• B.B. King - National Visionary Project
• B.B. King bio (Official site)
• B.B. King - Academy of Achievement - includes profile, biography, and interview
• B.B. King, King of the Blues - Mississippi History Now

Jimi Hendrix

• Jimi Hendrix and the Chitlin' Circuit
• 'West Coast Seattle Boy' sheds brilliant light on Jimi Hendrix's early R&B - Frost Illustrated

Staple Singers & Mavis Staples

• Staple Singers - from WWTW-TV
  • Talks about the Staples meeting Martin Luther King and reflections by Jesse Jackson on the Staples Singers and their music.
  • Soul Singer Mavis Staples Vocalizes Civil Rights Movement - Gospel and soul singer Mavis Staples sang freedom songs throughout the civil rights movement. She discusses her role in the movement and the impact it has had throughout her career.
• Mavis Staples: From Stax, to Prince, to an acclaimed Civil Rights album - Cross Rhythm
• Staple Singers - Rock Hall of Fame