(ThyBlackMan.com) Duke Ellington, a giant in jazz history, was more than just a composer and bandleader—he was a cultural architect whose music told the stories of Black excellence, struggle, and ...

The Grammy Awards recognize all sorts of rising artists, but the Grammys also spotlight styles or subgenres or entire fields of music that are breaking through by forming new award categories. This ...

The history of jazz in South Africa is inextricably linked to the legacy of the struggle against apartheid. The first wave of jazz musicians who gained renown outside of the nation were forced into ...

Duke Ellington rejected it, Charles Mingus was ambivalent about it, and Wynton Marsalis is okay with it. For many African American musicians the word “jazz” is a double-edged term, sometimes ...

A ward-winning South African jazz artist Ernie Smith opens up about his creative journey and his latest offering, Heya, an introspective song that explores complexities of love.

On June 13 the sad news arrived that legendary South African drummer and composer Louis Moholo-Moholo had passed away at 85 after a long illness. Louis, “Tebogo,” Bra Louis, as he was variously and ...

She’s the first African woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award in a jazz category. She is also the first Rwandan or Ugandan to ever be nominated for a Grammy. And she is the first East African actor ...