Alexander Street Press recently debuted its newest music database, African American Song—the first online resource to document African American history as expressed through song. The product follows the successful launches of Classical Music Library and Smithsonian Global Sound for Librarie®.

African American Song will contain at completion at least 50,000 audio tracks (5,000 of which will be rare or previously unpublished), including collections of recordings by the top fifty names in the history of black American music (such as Ma Rainey, Lead Belly, Mahalia Jackson, Tampa Red, and William “Bunk” Johnson). In all, there will be more than 2,300 performers included in the collection. Blues, jazz, ragtime, gospel, and other forms of African American musical expression from the earliest recordings available to songs from the 1970s will be represented.

“This database is truly one of a kind,” said Tim Lloyd, Division President of Music and Video. “Not only does it include commercial tracks recorded in studios, but it also features unique and never-before-digitized field recordings—such as calls, hollers, and spirituals that were developed as methods of communication under slavery—that are really critical to the study of African American music. For example, we are sourcing field recordings of sacred music from churches around the country that, unlike studio recordings, place the songs in an invaluable context for scholars. This database will be of great value to those interested in history, sociology, religious studies, literature, and ethnic studies.”

In its first release of 12,000 tracks, African American Song features recordings from Document Records, the world’s largest collection of rare and vintage blues, jazz, spiritual, gospel, boogie-woogie, and country recordings. Blind Willie McTell, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and other artists from the first half of the 20th century are featured. Alexander Street is currently talking with a number of other labels in this subject area and has already licensed the full catalog from Rounder Records, America’s premier independent label with an unparalleled archive of roots music, and an extensive collection of Caribbean music, including calypso and reggae in addition to a vast amount of field recordings, blues and folk music. Alexander Street will also add the highly acclaimed WITNESS recordings performed by Vocal Essence, a collection of albums showcasing the music of trailblazing African American composers and arrangers such as William Grant Still, Undine Smith Moore, Harry T. Burleigh and Moses Hogan.

Using the same award-winning platform as Alexander Street’s other music products, African American Song enables users to identify the music and performances they want to hear, browsing by region, genre, instrument, artist, ensemble, time period, label, or album title. Key teaching tools, such as course folders, static URLs, and custom playlists make it simple for professors to direct students toward course-related music, and liner notes from each album provide a visual companion to the audio selections. Alexander Street’s deep indexing of multiple, combinable search fields enables users to find answers to complex questions.

More information about African American Song and Alexander Street’s other music products can be found at www.alexanderstreet.com/products/music. Interested librarians can also call 800-889-5937 or email sales@alexanderstreet.com.

Alexander Street Press, L.L.C., is an academic publisher of electronic full-text databases in the humanities, social sciences, and music. Founded in June 2000, the company publishes collections in history, literature, music, women’s studies, sociology, ethnic and diversity studies, popular culture, film studies, the arts, and other areas. Alexander Street Press is located in Alexandria, Virginia. EDITORS: For additional information on Alexander Street Press and its products, please contact Eileen Lawrence, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, 800-889-5937 ext. 211, email lawrence@alexanderstreet.com, or visit http://alexanderstreet.com.