Music of Africa

The Music Collection has books and CDs to help you explore the music of Africa.

For a start, check out the Garland Handbook of African Music, which comes with a CD. This book gives you an overview, with information about African musical ideals and individual regional styles.

The World Music Media Finder gives you the option to search for CDs of music of a region or specific country, or even a specific language.


African musical ideas are at the heart of African-American style. One book in the Music Collection links African aesthetics to the blues: Africa and the Blues. This book is also available online (From the CardCat Detailed view, click on the URL)

Slaves brought to the Western hemisphere came mainly from Western Africa. Call-and-Response musical styles in the U.S. are indebted to that practice brought to the West by slaves.

By the end of the twentieth century, African musicians began to incorporate African-derived American genres into African styles. Fela Kuti's "worldbeat" movement is an example of this. Other African musicians have adapted reggae and rap and made it their own.

Feel free to ask for help at the Music Collection Counter or over the phone (285-8188). The Music Collection is broad and diverse, and whatever music you want to explore "We can take you there."