There are but a few of the resources available for downloading audio clips of African american music.
This resource provided on-demand streaming video for over 12,000 films including content from the BBC, PBS, and Critereon Collection. Public performance rights for educational use are included. Most videos are captioned. You can access individual titles from the library catalog or follow this link to see the entire collection.
The following link displays the results of a search using the keywords African American Musicians, then refined by documentaries, music, arts:
NOTE: Remote access requires your Cerritos College login. See the Off-Campus Login page for additional information.
Lost Joplin Piano Roll Found
"In April, May, and June of 1916, Joplin made seven hand-played piano rolls, six for the Connorized Company and one for Uni-Record... A sixth roll, Pleasant Moments, was advertised in the Connorized catalogue, but no copy has been found". (Berlin, Edward A. King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era. Oxford UP, 1994)
The roll was discovered by a collector in an Ebay purchase. It was in an incorrectly labeled box. The lost roll had been sought by collectors for more than forty years before its discovery. Visit the Pianola site to hear transcriptions of Joplin's piano rolls.
Listen to digital versions of piano rolls featuring Scott Joplin playing his own compositions Maple Leaf Rag, Weeping Willow, Something Doing, and Magnetic Rag at the Rag's Rag site.
Listed below are sources for viewing and/or listening to the music. These are but a few of the resources available. Youtube.com provides many videos that give you an opportunity to hear the music and see performances of the works by a few early African American composers and musicians. Some of the videos may be of professional quality and others not so, but nonetheless valuable for providing exposure to these composers and musicians of African American heritage. Use the youtube search utility to find the names of those you want to explore.