A personal reminiscence by Keller Whalen Read the full story →
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Harry ‘Father’ White
The trombone expert in Jitterbug
An overview of the bandleader’s appearances on private and commercial postcards from the collection of Keller Whalen. Read the full story →
PART 2: THE COTTON CLUB REVUES (by Keller Whalen) The Sepia Mae West, Copper-Colored Mae West, Creole Mae West, Scarlett O’Hara from Lennox Avenue, Gypsy Rose Lee in Bronze, Rainy Day Sadie, the Duchess of Yorkville, the Chick with the Limber Timbre, and Miss Atomic Blues. These are all sobriquets given to Mae Johnson, forgotten star of the Cotton Club. Read the full story →
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The Lady With The Fan
The song about the Cotton Club chorus line girl, Amy Spencer. Naughty, naughty song...
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Clarification: Cootie Williams joined the band at some date between 16 Jan 1929 and 1 March 1929 (these being dates of Ellington recording sessions; Cootie was on the second date but not the first). Juan Tizol was, according to his recollection (NEA Jazz Oral History Project interview with Patricia Williard, tape held at IJS/Rutgers), hired just as the band began work on the Broadway musical "Show Girl" for which rehearsals began 3 June 1929.The photo of the Ellington band with Harry White was thus taken sometime after Williams joined, and sometime before Tizol joined. The exact dates White worked with Ellington's band aren't known, but since he was fired and then replaced by Tizol, I suppose it must have been circa May 1929. Per Joe Nanton (interview with Inez Cavanaugh, Metronome, Feb 1945, p. 26, reprinted in Mark Tucker's "The Duke Ellington Reader," p. 467): ..."around 1929. Harry White came into the band for four or five weeks. [....] Father's jitters got everyone jittery and he was replaced by Juan Tizol."
Posté par steven_lasker -
Je suis une amie de Jean Claude Ferrand qui m'a beaucoup parlé de Gilles Pétard , de leur jeunesse, et de leur intérêt commun de ce genre de musique.
Posté par jeanneperquis -
What a shame that segregation robbed these beautiful African American performers of great visibility on larger stages and on film throughout entertainment history. Very few glimpses of their enormous talent was provided during a brief nightclub scene during a song or dane routine in major Hollywood productions. Shameful racism at play then, and sadly has much really changed?
Posté par rmarkdesjardins