1939 - , One of the six original members of the Howard Poets. After graduating from Howard University; he earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in Folklore from the University of Pennsylvania. He taught until his retirement at Cheney University in PA. Fraser is the author of two books on Dizzy Gillespie; a biography; Dizzy (1980); and memoirs co-edited with Gillespie entitled Swing to Bop (1979). In addition; he wrote Jazzology: A Study of the Tradition in Which Jazz Musicians Learn to Improvise (1983). He published under the names Al Fraser and Wilmot Alfred Fraser.