Eubie Blake

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Portrait of the musician

James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (born February 7, 1887 in Baltimore , Maryland ; † February 12, 1983 in New York City , New York ) was an American jazz pianist and composer with a lasting influence on the development of ragtime and early Jazz.

Life

Blake was born James Hubert Blake on February 7, 1887 in Baltimore, Maryland. His parents, Emily "Emma" Johnstone (1861-1927) and John Sumner Blake (1838-1917), were freed slaves . He had seven siblings, all of whom died as children. His father, John Blake, worked as a dock worker and porter.

Blake's musical education began when he was four or five years old. When he was out shopping with his mother, he climbed on the bench of an organ in a music store and "dawdled" on the keyboard. When his mother found him, the shopkeeper said to her: “The child is a genius! It would be criminal to prevent him from developing such a God-given talent. "

The Blakes bought a harmonium for $ 75 , paying 25 cents a week. When he was seven years old, he received organ lessons from Margaret Marshall, a neighbor's daughter and organist at the Methodist Church. At the age of 15 he played the piano in a brothel without his parents' knowledge.

In July 1910, Blake Avis married Elizabeth Cecelia Lee (1881-1938); he proposed the marriage to her in a rental car with a chauffeur. Blake and Lee had known each other from Baltimore Elementary School since about 1895. After the wedding, the couple moved to Atlantic City , New Jersey , where Blake worked at the Boathouse Nightclub. Avis Blake was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1938 and died that same year at the age of 58.

Record by Eubie Blake with Noble Sissle

Blake's first ragtime compositions were published by JW Stern and he was trained according to the Schillinger system (see also: Joseph Schillinger ). After winning a major pianist competition, he became known nationwide and met many important musicians of his time. The first was the singer Noble Sissle in 1915 , with whom he formed the Dixie Duo and created compositions such as "I'm Just Wild about Harry", of which he created a ragtime version as well as a waltz version. He moved to New York with Sissle and worked with many artists. In the 1920s, some of his compositions were so successful that they were distributed by three ensembles touring the USA at the same time. In 1921 he achieved his only chart success in the charts; his song "Bandana Days", composed in 1921 with Noble Sissle for their musical revue Shuffle Along , a nostalgic song about the scarf-wearing rural ancestors generation, reached number 8 on the charts. 1923 sound film recordings were made ( Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake Sing Snappy Songs ); Another music show, Chocolate Dandies , followed in 1924 with Sissle , and a tour of England in 1926, and in 1927 he performed with his own orchestra in Paris, where he stayed for some time. In 1932 he played film music with his orchestra for Harlem is Heaven , a dance film with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson . This was followed by new versions of Shuffle Along and his use as musical director of USO shows during World War II, as well as the use of I'm Just Wild About Harry as an election song for Harry S. Truman . Sometimes he was active as a church musician. From 1948 he also appeared again in a duo with Sissle; In 1959 he played the album The Wizard Of The Ragtime Piano . In 1965 he was honored for 50 years of musical entertainment by organizations like ASCAP .

He made an impressive comeback in 1969, releasing three new records produced by John Hammond before setting up his own record company in 1972. In 1973 he performed at the Newport Jazz Festival , the Berlin Jazz Days and other important European jazz festivals. In 1974 he was heard together with Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall , on his - supposed - 95th birthday he was honored with nationally broadcast television shows. At the events for his - again supposedly - 100th birthday, however, he was already so seriously ill that he had to watch the honors on the screen in the hospital. In the major event A Keyboard Event documented by CBS Records on record , Blake appeared in 1981 in Los Angeles with younger colleagues such as Herbie Hancock and George Duke .

Eubie Blake died in Brooklyn, New York on February 12, 1983 at the age of 96. He was buried in the Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn , New York.

Year of birth / age

In later years Blake gave his year of birth as 1883. As a result, he celebrated his 100th birthday in 1983. Most sources, including earlier editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica , incorrectly give his year of birth as 1883. However, official documents indicate February 7, 1887 as his birthday. This includes his 1900 census, his 1917 World War I registration , his 1920 passport application, and 1936 social security registration. Australian attorney, pianist and jazz historian Peter Hanley writes, “In the final analysis, however, can the fact that he was only 96 years old instead of 100 does not detract from his extraordinary success. He will always remain one of the best popular composers and playwrights of his time. ”Blake himself said of his age:“ If I had known that I was going to get that old, I would have taken better care of myself. ”

music

Eubie Blake claimed that the melody of the Charleston Rag was his; it occurred to him in 1899 - at the age of 12. However, he did not put this rag on paper until 1915, when he had learned to write notes. Together with his longtime musical partner, singer Noble Sissle, 1921 he wrote the Broadway - Musical Shuffle Along . It was the first Broadway musical to be written and directed by African Americans. The singer and dancer Josephine Baker had the lead role. Blake's composition Memories of You has long been one of the jazz standards of the swing era. In 1979 the revue Eubie came on Broadway ! with a number of his best-known titles (the premiere on the west coast followed in 1980).

His style was pronounced with decimal-wide chords, which was also reflected in his compositions. He had exceptionally large hands and was able to grip intervals up to a duodecime . His classical ragtime compositions for piano, which are difficult to play, are among the most beautiful rags. B. Eubie's Classical Rag .

In her old age, Eubie Blake was an important and witty witness of the developments in jazz at the beginning of the 20th century. When asked for his opinion on which of the many jazz styles he liked best, he grinned and replied: "It's all ragtime."

Blake was able to play a classical composition (e.g. by Bach or Beethoven ) “normally”, then imperceptibly syncopate it and transfer it to the rhythm of ragtime. He continued playing the piano and recording the records until just before the day everyone thought was their 100th birthday.

Compositions (selection)

  • Bandana Days
  • Charleston Rag
  • Love Will Find A Way
  • Memories of You (together with Andy Razaf )
  • I'm just wild about Harry

Honors

In 1980 Fisk University awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 1981 Blake received the Presidential Medal of Freedom .

Blake was posthumously honored with a United States Postage stamp in 1995. The "James Hubert Blake High School" in Silver Spring, Maryland, was named after him in 1998. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Eubie Blake was a member of the Freemasonry Union , his lodge Medina Lodge No. 19 is constituted under the Prince Hall Grand Lodge.

literature

  • Robert J. Brugger: Maryland: 1634-1980 ; Pages 473-476.
  • Salute to Eubie Blake in The Rag Times ; May / June 1969.
  • Al Rose: Eubie Blake , New York, Schirmer 1979.
  • New York Times of December 27, 1982:

“Eubie Blake Birthday Party. In honor of Eubie Blake's 100th birthday, St. Peter's Church, at Lexington Avenue and 54th Street, will hold a 24-hour celebration beginning at midnight Feb. 6. The tribute to the composer will feature a host of musicians, vocalists and dancers, including Billy Taylor, Bobby Short, Dick Hyman, Honi Coles and the Copacetics, Bill Bolcom and Joan Morris, Max Morath, Marianne McPartland, Maurice Hines and Cab Calloway. Mr. Blake, born in Baltimore Feb. 7, 1883, may attend. "

  • New York Times ; February 13, 1983:

“Five days after his 100th birthday was celebrated with gala performances of his music, Eubie Blake, the composer and pianist whose career covered a span from the ragtime era in the 19th century to the contemporary Broadway theater a year ago, died yesterday at his home in Brooklyn. "

  • F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre: No bad habits . New York Daily News, March 12, 2004.
  • Karl Koenig: The Life of Eubie Blake
  • Friedrich Breyer, Normann Lorenz and Thomas Niebel named the Eubie-Blake effect after him.

Web links

Commons : Eubie Blake  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John S. Wilson: EUBIE BLAKE, RAGTIME COMPOSER, DIES 5 DAYS AFTER 100TH BIRTHDAY . In: The New York Times . February 13, 1983, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed April 5, 2016]).
  2. ↑ a b c d e Martin Kunzler : Jazzlexikon. Reinbek 2002
  3. ^ Text from Bandana Days on themusicallyrics.com
  4. ^ Bandana Days , entry in Music VF, US & UK hits charts
  5. ^ Wrong music title transmission as bandiana in Gerhard Klußmeier : Jazz in the Charts. Another view on jazz history. Liner notes (2/100) and companion book for the 100 CD edition. Membrane International GmbH. ISBN 978-3-86735-062-4 .
  6. ↑ James "Eubie" Blake : List of Famous Freemasons . Pinal Lodge 30.org. Archived from the original on December 24, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  7. ^ Friedrich Breyer, Normann Lorenz, Thomas Niebel (2012): Health Care Expenditures and Longevity: Is there a Eubie Blake Effect ?, DIW Discussion Papers: 1226, Berlin
personal data
SURNAME Blake, Eubie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Blake, James Hubert (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American pianist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Baltimore , Maryland
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 1983
Place of death New York City , New York