A black and white photo of a man with his fingers on the keys of a grand piano lay atop a stack on a table filled with papers at the auction house. His skin was so light that I wasn’t sure if he was African American or not. I didn’t recognize him but figured he was someone famous.
Beneath the card-board photo were three others of African American musicians and singers. One showed a woman with wild hair: Who could not recognize Ma Rainey? I wasn’t sure about the young woman in another photograph, but I knew that face. Then it hit me: Bessie Smith.
The other two were photographs of bands. One bore the name ‘”Cook’ and his Dreamland Orchestra.” In the center was a small rectangular photo of the band and just above it was a photo of C.L. Cook. The other band was not identified, but the setup reminded me of a similar photo of Louis Armstrong and his first band, the Hot Five, from the 1920s.
The photos appeared to have been taken during the early 1920s when many of these singers and musicians were hot and the music genres of jazz and blues were toddlers. They appeared to be part of a series because they were numbered.
At one point in their careers in the 1920s, these singers/musicians – except Smith – spent some time in Chicago, which was a mecca for jazz. Most of them also recorded with each other.
Jelly Roll Morton at piano:
Morton was quite famous in the jazz world of the the ’20s. I knew his name but didn’t recall ever seeing a young photo of him before. Morton was a jazz composer, jazz innovator and band leader. He first recorded in 1923, and from 1926 to 1930 he had his own band, the Jelly Roll Morton Red Hot Peppers. He riled a few folks by declaring himself the inventor of jazz, although he is said to be the first to put his arrangements to paper.
Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith:
Gertrude “Ma” Rainey is the “Mother of the Blues.” She was eight years older and more experienced than Smith, and became the younger woman’s mentor. Smith was 14 years old and dancing in a traveling troupe when she met Rainey, who was the singer in the show. Both Rainey and her voice had a commanding presence.
They were two of the most important figures in jazz and blues. Both of their careers were tops in the 1920s, and they were picked up by Paramount and Columbia recordimg companies. By the decade’s end, Smith was said to be the highest paid African American performer in the world. Interestingly, her name is the most familiar of the two.
They separately recorded with Louis Armstrong, a master of the trumpet and cornet. Smith recorded composer/musician W.C. Handy’s famous “St. Louis Blues” with Armstrong. It is said to be one of jazz’s finest recordings.
Louis Armstrong in King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band:
That photo reminded me of one I had picked up at auction some years ago of Armstrong with his first band, the Hot Five, with pianist/arranger/composer Lil Hardin, whom he wedded in the 1920s.
This new photo featured Armstrong in King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band in Chicago, a city that was “the” place for jazz during that time. Joseph “King” Oliver, who had migrated there from New Orleans, had one of the best bands in the city. Oliver invited Armstrong, who was living in New Orleans, to come up and join his band as second cornet (Oliver was the first). Armstrong became Oliver’s protégé.
The photo was taken at the Lincoln Gardens nightclub in Bronzeville in Chicago sometime after Armstrong arrived in 1922. Armstrong is on his right knee in front. Joe Oliver is in the back playing the trumpet. The photo is from Daguerre Studio, Chicago.
“Doc” Cook and his Dreamland Orchestra:
Charles L. “Doc” Cook began composing music when he was 8 years old. He received music instruction from his mother, from playing in several bands and through formal study (he had a doctorate in music). He put together his first band in Chicago, and was the conductor and musical director at several ballrooms and clubs, including the Dreamland Ballroom from 1922 to 1927. He and his group recorded under several names, including one with my favorite cookie – Cookie’s Gingersnaps.
He later worked at Radio City Music Hall and RKO theater in New York. Cook was musical arranger for Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. He arranged music for the Broadway show “The Hot Mikado” featuring Robinson in 1939.
One of his songs I found intriguing was titled “We Are Americans Too,” co-written by composers Eubie Blake, of the theatrical team Sissle and Blake, and Andy Razaf, who wrote the lyrics for “Ain’t Misbehaving” for a score by Thomas “Fats” Waller. “We Are Americans Too” was published by Handy in 1949.
Razaf was a new name to me. He collaborated with Blake and Waller on several productions of “Shuffle Along,” and with blues composer/pianist James P. Johnson. Armstrong, Ethel Waters and Ella Fitzgerald sang his songs. His song “Black and Blue” was considered a protest song.
The song tells of how African American participated in all of the country’s wars and deserve to be treated as Americans.
The poster/photo at auction was a promotional photo for Cook’s band, circa 1924.
