Black pianists have made numerous meaningful contributions to piano music and music in general. This Black History Month, why not explore the lives and works of trailblazing Black musicians who have changed music history? You may even discover a few favorite tracks to listen to year-round.
Please note that this list of musicians is by no means exhaustive. The Black community has made an enormous impact on piano music (and music in general!), and we encourage you to explore Black artists beyond this list.
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(1867/68-1917)
Best known for: status as a ragtime icon and for creating the ice cream truck song
Scott Joplin is best known for his ragtime masterpieces “Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer” (a.k.a. the ice cream truck song). Joplin’s birthplace is contested, but he’s believed to have grown up in Texarkana, a town that straddles the Texas and Arkansas border. The young Joplin got his start on piano by playing one in his mother’s employer’s home. He would later study with Julius Weiss, who jump-started his interest in European classical music and opera.
Joplin made a career out of playing at social clubs and publishing sheet music, but his finances were sometimes unstable. He worked for years on his opera Treemonisha but didn’t live to see it performed. In the 1970s, there was a revived interest in ragtime and in Joplin’s music. Treemonisha finally premiered in Atlanta in 1972.
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📸 IMAGES OF THE ERA: Here’s a fascinating dive into the world of Scott Joplin with contemporary pictures of what the music and culture was like in his heyday.(1875-1912)
Best known for: compositions that gave him the nickname “Black Mahler”
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor is better known as a composer and as a violinist rather than a pianist. But the British composer sometimes dubbed “Black Mahler” did make gorgeous contributions to piano such as Forest Scenes and the Valse Suite for Piano. He also transcribed 24 Negro Melodies for the piano.
Coleridge-Taylor identified as Anglo-African. His mother was British and his father, who taught him how to play the violin, was from Sierra Leone. Coleridge-Taylor was also a fan of poetry, and his cantata trilogy The Song of Hiawatha was based on a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Despite the racism of the day, Coleridge-Taylor’s music was well-received and he was even invited to the White House by Theodore Roosevelt.
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(1887-1953)
Best known for: being the first Black woman to have a symphony played by a major American orchestra
Florence Price was the first Black woman composer to have a symphony played by a major national orchestra. Her Symphony No. 1 debuted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933. But while this inaugural performance gave her career an instant boost, Price would continue struggling for recognition. She once wrote: “I have two handicaps. I am a woman and I have some Negro blood in my veins.”
Nevertheless, Price’s career is nothing short of impressive. Nurtured by her mother, she gave her first recital at age four and graduated high school at age 14 as valedictorian. At 16, Price entered the New England Conservatory and double-majored in piano and organ.
Today, concert pianist and academic Dr. Karen Walwyn is working on preserving Price’s legacy by recording her works and sharing her achievements on florenceprice.com.
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📜 ABOUT BLACK HISTORY MONTH: February was chosen as Black History Month because both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass (historical icons of abolition) were born in February. However, many argue that Black history should be celebrated, shared, and taught year-round.
Each year, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History designates a theme for Black History Month. In 2022, the theme is Black Health and Wellness.
(1904-1984)
Best known for: the Count Basie Orchestra and the Basie Ending
Known affectionately as the “King of Swing,” William “Count” Basie is best known for the bands he led. His mother, a laundress, paid twenty-five cents per piano lesson for young Basie, who later earned back money by accompanying silent films at a local theatre.
The Count Basie Orchestra — perhaps Basie’s most successful ensemble — was led by the Count for nearly 50 years. In 1958, Basie became the first Black person to win a Grammy Award. He would go on to win nine Grammys in total. Interestingly, Basie originally wanted to become a drummer, but seeing Sonny Greer’s skill level intimidated him and made him “retreat” to the piano.
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(1909-1956)
Best known for: incredible technical prowess at the piano
One of the world’s legendary jazz pianists, Art Tatum was a legally blind prodigy from Toledo, Ohio. He taught himself music by memorizing piano rolls and playing what he heard on the radio.
Tatum’s most well-known performance is probably “Tea for Time.” His technical virtuosity is otherworldly, with sweeping runs and rich ornamentations, and he’s considered one of the most technically sophisticated pianists of any genre. Tatum rarely composed, but every performance of his can be framed as a composition because they are each so unique.
And while Tatum died relatively young at the age of 47, his legacy can still be felt today. For example, the smallest discernible unit of music is called a “tatum” in honor of him.
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🎹 HONORABLE MENTION: O.P.! If technical virtuosity is your cup of tea, another icon you should definitely check out is Oscar Peterson. Heavily influenced by Art Tatum, there’s a reason why his nickname is The Man With Four Hands.(1910-1981)
Best known for: arranging and composing
A prolific arranger and composer, Mary Lou Williams penned over 350 compositions in her lifetime. And while her name isn’t as instantly recognizable as other jazz greats, she’s had a hand in creating them. Her students include Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, and more.
Williams is perhaps most known for her work with Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy, for which she contributed composing and arranging work along with piano playing. She also helped usher in the genre of bebop.
Williams was also known for her deftness at musical notation. Jazz is not an easy genre to write down, but Williams figured out ways to communicate its swing rhythms and occasional dissonance on paper.
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Charmaine Li is a Vancouver writer who has played piano for over 20 years. She holds an Associate diploma (ARCT) from the Royal Conservatory of Music and loves writing about the ways in which music—and music learning—affects the human experience. Charmaine manages The Note. Learn more about Charmaine here.
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