Music and Migration Lab

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Music and Migration Lab

The Music and Migration Lab at the Pratt Institute is a research consortium bridging migration and music studies.

We study how music is made through human mobility and we record and preserve oral histories. The Great Migration & jazz is our current focus.

05/28/2026

Today, Prof. Cisco Bradley finished phase 3 of our research which focuses on the ancestral origins of musicians of African descent born before 1920 who worked outside of blues and jazz.

Total musicians included in the study: 3,461
Migrational origin points catalogued: 16,163

Now we turn to Phase 4 which will form a sweep through nineteenth-century records to add lesser-known musicians to the study who we did not identify in the earlier phases.

05/19/2026

Last week we began are working on phase 3 which includes musicians of African descent who primarily played European classical music.

Total Musicians Researched: 3,139
Migrational Origins Catalogued: 15,749

04/27/2026

Today we completed phase 2 of the Black musical diasporas project which details the ancestral lineages and migratory origins of every blues musician of African descent active in the U.S. up to WWII. Combined with phase 1 which covered jazz, we now move into phase 3 to cover all known musicians who played other forms of music through the same time periods. We believe the growing database will fundamentally change our understanding of the historical geography and evolution of Black music in the U.S. and across the world.

04/24/2026

Yesterday we completed our research on Texas blues. Below is a peak at the origins of Texas blues and jazz musicians. Now we turn to finishing the final parts of the blues research on states less commonly affiliated with the genre such as Oklahoma, Florida, Kansas, Washington, California, Colorado, and Montana. That will wrap up phase 2 of the Black Musical Diasporas project.

Musicians Included in Study: 3,039
Migrational Movements Catalogued: 15,379

04/21/2026

We are closing in on finishing our blues research on Texas where approximately 10% of all blues musicians active before WWII were born. (If you’re wondering, it’s only exceeded by Mississippi where about 16% were born from the pre-war era).

04/14/2026

Today we finished our research on Kentucky and coded the data. We just have Texas left to complete our research on blues.

Musicians Included in Study: 2,919
Migrational Movements Catalogued: 14,917

04/13/2026

Today we finished our research on South Carolina blues musicians. Just two major states remain. Kentucky is next.

Musicians Included in Study: 2,893
Migrational Movements Catalogued: 14,828

04/10/2026

Today we finished our research on Georgia blues musicians and coded the data. Just three states remain. South Carolina is next.

Musicians Researched: 2,849
Migrational Origins Points Catalogued: 14,702

04/03/2026

This week we completed our research on Alabama blues musicians. We just have 4 states left. Georgia is next.

Musicians Researched: 3,128
Migrational Movements Catalogued: 14,512

03/29/2026

Today we finished coding our data for all blues and jazz musicians of African descent with connections to Louisiana who were active prior to WWII. We are mapping out the many migrations that contributed to Louisiana's musical culture including Caribbean connections (especially Haiti), forced movements of enslaved people, especially from Virginia and Kentucky, Native American connections with groups such as the Atakapa, and other connections.

03/26/2026

Today, we finished our research on Louisiana (and especially New Orleans). We will code the remaining data in the next few days and then move our focus to Alabama. Only four other states remain: Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Texas.

Musicians Researched: 3,062
Migrational Movements Catalogued: 13,803.

Address

200 Willoughby Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
11205

Telephone

+16085123400

Website

http://www.musicandmigration.com/

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