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Nolan Williams
Person Name: Nolan Williams, Jr. b. 1969 Arranger of "OVER MY HEAD" in African American Heritage Hymnal
Nolan Williams
J. Jefferson Cleveland
1937 - 1986 Arranger of "[Over my head I hear music in the air]" in The New Century Hymnal Judge Jefferson Cleveland (1937-1986) was one of the most important scholars and editors of African-American congregational song of the 20th century. Along with Verogla Nix, he edited what is arguably the most groundbreaking collection of African-American song in the last half of the 20th century, Songs of Zion (1981/1982).
Lutheran hymnologist Marilyn Stulken provides a biographical sketch of Cleveland’s life and accomplishments. Born in Georgia, Cleveland graduated from Clark College (Atlanta), Illinois Wesleyan University and received his doctorate in education from Boston University.
He served on the faculty of three historically black Christian colleges: Claflin College (South Carolina), Langston University (Oklahoma), and Jarvis Christian College (Texas), before teaching at the University of Massachusetts and Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.
Cleveland’s musical arrangements, historical research and scholarship on the performance practice of African-American song have proven invaluable for the advancement of black gospel song, not only among African Americans, but also in Anglo hymnals to the present day. For example, Cleveland’s essay, “A Historical Account of the Hymn in the Black Worship Experience,” in Songs of Zion is a helpful introduction for laypersons and scholars alike.
In addition to serving as a hymnody consultant for the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship, he toured the United States and Africa in 1981 and Europe in 1984 as a teacher, lecturer and performer.
--www.umportal.org/
J. Jefferson Cleveland
Kenneth Morris
1917 - 1989 Arranger of "[Over my head I see music in the air]" in The New National Baptist Hymnal Kenneth Morris (b 28 Aug. 1917, Jamaica, NY | d 1 Feb. 1989, Chicago, IL), son of Ettuila White and John Morris, studied music at the Manhattan Conservatory of Music, initially drawn to jazz. His jazz band traveled to the World’s Fair in Chicago, and Morris stayed. He worked for the Lillian Bowles House of Music publishing firm (succeeding Charles H. Pace) and took the position of organist and choir director of First Church of Deliverance. Through the church’s radio ministry and recording sessions with Mahalia Jackson, Morris introduced the electric Hammond to gospel music. With Sallie Martin, he formed the Martin & Morris Music Studio (1940). He premiered many of his songs at National Baptist Convention annual meetings. As a publisher, he eventually acquired the catalogs of Lillian Bowles, Roberta Martin, and Theodore Frye. At the time of his death, his business was described as “the last black gospel music store still going in Illinois.”
—Chris Fenner, Hymns & Devotions for Daily Worship: African American Edition (2025)
Kenneth Morris
Verolga Nix
1933 - 2014 Arranger of "[Over my head I hear music in the air]" in The New Century Hymnal Verolga Nix (Apr. 6, 1933-Dec. 9, 2014) Born in Cleveland, Verolga moved with her family at an early age to Philadelphia. She studied for two years at New England Conservatory of Music and then earned a music degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1955. She was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Bennett College in 2000. After retiring from twenty years as a full-time music teacher in Philadelphia public schools she served as minister of music at several churches in Philadelphia, trained and conducted many choirs and served as a seminar leader nationwide. She was a member of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), National Association of Negro Musicians and the Hymn Society in U.S. and Canada. In 1980 the United Methodist Church asked her to co-edit with J. Jefferson Cleveland the supplemental hymnal Songs of Zion. She published nearly 200 original songs an arrangements.
(further details in The Philadelphia Tribune, Dec.19, 2014 obituary).
Mary Louise VanDyke
Verolga Nix
Denise Soulodre
Translator (French) of "Over My Head (Au-d'suus de moi)" in More Voices
Denise Soulodre
Stephen Lee
Arranger of "[Over my head, I hear music in the air]" in More Voices Stephen Lee is an African-American composer and scholar of African-American spirituals.
Stephen Lee
Horace Clarence Boyer
1935 - 2009 Person Name: Horace Clarence Boyer, 1935- Arranger of "REEB" in Singing the Living Tradition Horace Boyer (b. Winter Park, Flordia, July 28, 1935; d. Amherst, Massachusetts, July 21, 2009) was professor of music at the University of Massachussetts, Amhurst, editor of the African American hymnal Lift Every Voice and Sing, Lift Every Voice and Sing II, and author of How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel (Elliot & Clark, 1995).
Sing! A New Creation
Horace Clarence Boyer
