Top of page

Category: John Wesley Work III

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

John Wesley Work III: Documenting Musical Change

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

Folklorist John Wesley Work III lived in an extraordinary time in the development of African American music. He was in college as the Harlem Renaissance began. African American composers were developing traditional blues into elite compositions and the piano became an instrument for new styles such as jazz and boogie-woogie. Work, like his brother Julian, …