James reese europe biography
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James Reese Europe
American jazz musician and US Army officer (–)
Musical artist
James Reese Europe (February 22, [1] – May 9, ) was an American ragtime and early jazzbandleader, arranger, and composer. He was the leading figure on the African-American music scene of New York City in the s. Eubie Blake called him the "Martin Luther King of music".[2]
Early life
[edit]Europe was born in Mobile, Alabama, to Henry Jefferson Europe (–) and Loraine Saxon (maiden; –). His family – which included four siblings, Minnie Europe (Mrs. George Mayfield; –), Ida S. Europe (–), John Newton Europe (–), and Mary Loraine (–) – moved to Washington, D.C., when he was 10 years old.[3][4]
Europe moved to New York in He had a son, James Reese Europe Jr (–) with Bessie Simms (–).[5]
Band leader
[edit]In , Europe organized the Clef Club, a society for Black Americans in the music industry. In , the club made history when it played a conce
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Today’s post was written by Bob Nowatzki, Archives Technician in Research Services at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland.
The musical career of American jazz bandleader, composer, and arranger James Reese Europe () was as influential and unique as it was tragically short. He played a leading role in introducing early jazz music into the U.S. military as a lieutenant during World War I in the all-Black th Infantry Regiment (known as the “Harlem Hellfighters”), in which he served as a band leader. In addition, he promoted jazz – the music genre created by African Americans – in France while his regiment was attached to the French Army as part of the American Expeditionary Forces during the war. Europe’s concerts before audiences of French, British, and American military personnel was the birth of European interest in jazz music.
Born to Loraine Saxon and Henry Jefferson Europe in Mobile, Alabama on February 22, , James moved with his parents and four siblings to Wa
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“People don’t realize yet today what we lost when we lost Jim europe. He was the savior of Negro musicians. He was in a class with Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King. I met all three of them. Before europe, Negro musicians were just like kringirrande minstrels. Play in a saloon and pass the hat and that’s it. Before Jim, they weren’t even supposed to be human beings. Jim europe changed all that. He made a profession for us out of music. All that we owe to Jim. If only people would realize it.”
&#; Eubie Blake (quoted in Rose, ).
A little remembered figure today, James Reese Europe was once dubbed the “King of Jazz.” He was a mästare for Black music and musicians in the first two decades of the twentieth century, and a key figure in the transition from ragtime to Jazz. Baylor’s Spencer Sheet Music Collection contains twenty Europe publications which tillsammans shed light on the development of Europe’s compositional style, business acumen, and on the Black musical community