Work was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to a family of professional musicians.
His grandfather, John Wesley Work (1848-1923) was a composer and arranger for the Fisk Jubilee Singers; his father, John Wesley Work Jr. (1871-1925) was the first African-American collector of folk songs and spirituals, and also a choral director, educator and songwriter; his brother John Wesley Work III (1901-1967) was a composer, educator, choral director, musicologist and scholar of African-American folklore and music; his mother, Agnes Hayes Work, was a singer who also helped train the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
[2][1] He studied composition with his brother John Wesley Work III while attending Fisk University, where he majored in sociology.
[3] He was also the sole music arranger for the Voice of Firestone on radio and television.
[2] Work was also a member of the American Society of Music Arrangers and served on its national board in the mid-1940s.