“Jazz” and “Blues”

YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!! The terms “jazz” and “blues” came into widespread use in the late teens-early 1920s, but their meaning was not the same as they hold today.  There’s been ample discussion of the original of the words themselves, but it’s interesting to note that–just as today when a new style hits the …

In Bamville: Following on the Success of Shuffle Along

YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!! To follow up on the success of Shuffle Along, Sissle and Blake hoped to create a more “sophisticated” show that would feature even less of the comic stereotypes that had been a feature of their previous hit.  The show began its life titled In Bamville, and opened in Rochester, New …

Big Band Days and Singin’ the Blues

YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!!!! The early ‘30s was also the beginning of the so-called “big band” era, and many black composers/performers were beginning to achieve success leading bands, including Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and Cab Calloway. From his work in Shuffle Along and subsequent productions, Blake had established himself as a Broadway conductor, and …

Celebrating 100 Years of Shuffle Along

YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!!! May 23, 2021 will mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of Shuffle Along on Broadway, the groundbreaking musical scored by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake.  We’re celebrating here at the Eubie Blog all this spring with a special emphasis on the show, newly found material, and we hope soon …

Eubie’s First Ragtime Publications

YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!!!!! Eubie met several piano “professors” while working summers in Atlantic City from 190-1915, including  Charles “Luckey” Roberts.  Born in Philadelphia approximately the same year as Eubie (like Eubie, Roberts gave different stories at different times as to his actual birthdate), Roberts was one of the most accomplished of the East …

Sissle and Blake on Vaudeville

YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!!! Following Europe’s death, Pat Casey—the agent who had booked Europe’s band on vaudeville—asked Noble Sissle to continue touring with the Europe band as its leader: [Casey] wanted me to go on vaudeville and probably take 12 or 15 of the band. I said, “No, no, this band’s too great. We …

Daly’s 63rd Street Theater Music Hall

YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!! Once Shuffle Along was cast, coproducer John Cort agreed to provide the company with a place to stage the show–albeit one of the least-desirable theaters that he owned.  Located a half-mile from the northernmost point of Times Square, Daly’s 63rd Street Music Hall stood on the corner of Broadway.  It …

The Four Harmony Kings

YOUR DAILY DOSE OF EUBIE!!! In the summer of 1921, a close-harmony group, the Four Harmony Kings, were added to the production of Shuffle Along.  The Kings had been touring vaudeville successfully since the mid-teens, billing themselves as “A Symphony of Color.”  The group not only sang but played instruments and even did some comic …

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