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
