Following in the footsteps of renowned authors like Alain Locke, Harold Cruse, and Amiri Baraka, Black Notes: Essays of A Musician Writing in A Post-Album Age, takes as its mission an important aesthetic inquiry, asking the compelling questions: How did we get where we are? What's next among this generation's artistic voices, concerns, and practices? What is the future of Black Popular Music? In this fascinating collection of essays, interviews, and notes, Author William C. Banfield celebrates and critiques the values of contemporary Black popular music through the exploration of both present and past voices and movements. From his unique vantage point as musician, artist, and writer, Banfield examines a variety of influences in the music world, from 17th-century composer/violinist Chevalier de St. Georges to jazz giant Duke Ellington; from producer Quincy Jones to pop legend Prince. Using a wide-angle lens, Banfield effectively draws from the academic world of cultural studies as well as a plethora of popular culture examples, including contemporary Black American composers, films, and television shows.