@001 Biographies \This section of the program contains biographies of New Orleans style composers and performers
@002 Blake, Eubie \ Blake, Eubie(1883-1983) In the last decade of his life Eubie Blake was a frequent visitor to New Orleans, playing at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage
Festival several years in a row. Music lovers in the city adopted him as one of their sentimental favorites, even though he lived in Brooklyn and was born James Hubert Blake
in Baltimore (February 7, 1883).New Orleans jazz historian Al Rose wrote Blake's biography (Eubie Blake, Shirmer-Macmillan, 1979). Blake's "Charleston Rag," which was his
first piano rag and originally titled "Sounds of Africa" is included here as an illustration of the connection between Blake's more bravado style of ragtime and Jelly Roll
Morton's early jazz piano. Though lacking Morton's swing rhythm and contrapuntal bassline figures, it uses a number of dramatic devices which Morton used, notably dramatic
breaks, interludes, changes of register and the shout chorus principle in the last strain in which a melody is repeated over and over to build tension. It was Blake's first
piano rag, composed in 1899 when he was just 17 years old. Blake was the son of slaves. His parents bought him a home organ when he was six years old and arranged for lessons.
He later studied with Llewelyn Wilson. Blake got his first job at age 15 in a Baltimore brothel. He would have to sneak out a second storey window, taking his long pants
with him to go to work. His parents eventually found out when a neighbor recognized his style while passing the establishment, and they put an end to that job. In 1915 he
began a long-lasting collaboration with Noble Sissle both as performers and as song writers. They had an immediate success with their song "It's All Your Fault," which was
performed by Sophie Tucker. Blake and Sissle next went to New York city where they teamed up with James Reese Europe's very popular Society Orchestra, which was very active
during World War I. After the war they formed the Dixie Duo, a vaudeville act. Their biggest success together, however, was the all-black Broadway musical Shuffle Along,
which opened in 1921 and ran for 14 months. It was the first time African-Americans had been presented on the Broadway stage in romantic, non-subservient, roles.During the
rest of that decade and the following one Blake collaborated with a number of lyricists including Sissle and wrote for several Broadway and London shows. His most popular
songs, "I'm Just Wild About Harry," and "Memories of You," remain standards today. Many of his popular songs display ragtime-like syncopation which was so prevalent in the
popular songs coming out of Tin Pan Alley from 1900 to 1920. Throughout all this Blake's mother understood neither his music nor the scope of his success; she had always
wanted him to remain playing religious music.During World War II Blake served as music director for touring USO productions. He retired in 1946 to study composition and began
notating many of his early works. He had begun to record in 1917 as a soloist, both on piano rolls (issued as LPs on the Biograph label in 1973, BLP-1011Q and BOP-1012Q) and
with his orchestra into the 1930s. He rode the crest of the ragtime revival in the 1950s, receiving attention as the top ragtime player in the US, and he began recording again
in 1969 with the album The Eighty-Six Years of Eubie Blake. In 1972 he established his own publishing company and the next year began cutting piano rolls again. His
popularity soared. He appeared frequently on television and at jazz festivals around the world, receiving awards wherever he went. In 1978 the Broadway show Eubie
celebrated his life and works. There was a huge celebration for his 100th birthday, attended by numerous celebrities, including Ed Koch, the mayor of New York. Blake listened
to the proceedings from his bed through a phone hookup. He died five days later on February 12, 1983. Throughout his life Blake never accepted the principle of an improvised
jazz chorus which completely departed from the melody. He believed that the original melody should always be audible, and that the ingenuity of the performer showed in how he
could embellish and transform it. This conviction kept Blake tied to the pre-Armstrong age of jazz.
@003 Bo, Eddie \Biography only available in the full version of New Orleans Pianist
@004 Booker, James \Biography only available in the full version of New Orleans Pianist
@005 Butler, Henry \Biography only available in the full version of New Orleans Pianist
@006 Cleary, Jon \Biography only available in the full version of New Orleans Pianist
@007 Connick, Jr., Harry \Biography only available in the full version of New Orleans Pianist
@008 Domino, Fats \Biography only available in the full version of New Orleans Pianist
@009 Dr. John\Biography only available in the full version of New Orleans Pianist
@010 Jackson, Tony\Biography only available in the full version of New Orleans Pianist
