James Reese Europe

about

James Reese Europe (22 February 1881 – 9 May 1919) was an American ragtime and early jazz bandleader, arranger, and composer. He was the leading figure on the African American music scene of New York City in the 1910s. Europe was born in Mobile, Alabama. His family moved to Washington, D.C. when he was 10 years old. He moved to New York in 1904. In 1910 Europe organized the Clef Club, a society for African Americans in the music industry. In 1912, they made history when they played a concert at Carnegie Hall for the benefit of the Colored Music Settlement School. The Clef Club Orchestra was the first jazz band to play at Carnegie Hall. It is hard to overstate the importance of that event in the history of jazz in the United States. It was 12 years before the Paul Whiteman and George Gershwin concert at Aeolian Hall and 26 years(!) before Benny Goodman's famed concert at Carnegie Hall. In the words of Gunther Schuller, Reese "...had stormed the bastion of the white establisment and made many members of New York's cultural elite aware of Negro music for the first time." [1] His "Society Orchestra" became nationally famous in 1912 accompanying theater headliner dancers Vernon Castle and Irene Castle. In 1913 and 1914 he made a series of phonograph records for the Victor Talking Machine Company. These recordings are some of the best examples of the pre-jazz hot ragtime style of the U.S. North-East of the 1910s. [2] Neither the Clef Club Orchestra nor the Society Orcjestra were

top songs

albums

Lieut. Jim Europe's Anthology

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Rumba Jazz 1919-1945, The History Of Latin Jazz & Dance Music From The Swing Era

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American Pop: An Audio History (disc 1)

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That Devilin' Tune: A Jazz History (1895-1950), Vol. 1 (1895-1927)

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Black Manhattan: Theater and Dance Music of James Reese Europe, Will Marion Cook, and Members of the Legendary Clef Club

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James Reese Europe - Castle House Rag

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Featuring Noble Sissle

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That Devilin' Tune - A Jazz History, 1895-1950 Volume 1 (Disc 2)

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Popular Music In America 3rd Ed.

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The Age of Ragtime

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American Pop: An Audio History

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That Devilin' Tune: A Jazz History (1895-1950) Vol. 1

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