A Life in Ragtime: A Biography of James Reese Europe - Hardcover

Badger, Reid

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 019506044X ISBN 13: 9780195060447

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1995

Synopsis

In 1919, the world stood at the threshold of the Jazz Age. The man who had ushered it there, however, lay murdered--and would soon plunge from international fame to historical obscurity. It was a fate few would have predicted for James Reese Europe; he was then at the pinnacle of his career as a composer, conductor, and organizer in the black community, with the promise of even greater heights to come. "People don't realize yet today what we lost when we lost Jim Europe," said pianist Eubie Blake. "He was the savior of Negro musicians...in a class with Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King."
In A Life in Ragtime, Reid Badger brilliantly captures the fascinating life of James Reese Europe, tracing a critical chapter in the emergence of jazz through one man's remarkable odyssey. After an early start in Washington, Europe found his fame in New York, the entertainment capital of turn-of-the-century America. In the decade before the First World War, he emerged as an acknowledged leader in African-American musical theater, both as a conductor and an astonishingly prolific composer. Badger reveals a man of tremendous depths and ambitions, constantly aspiring to win recognition for black musicians and wider acceptance for their music. He toiled constantly, working on benefit concerts, joining hands with W.E.B. Du Bois, and helping to found a black music school--all the while winning commercial and critical success with his chosen art. In 1910, he helped create the Clef Club, making it the premiere African-American musical organization in the country during his presidency. Every year from 1912 to 1914, Europe led the Clef Club orchestra in triumphant concerts at Carnegie Hall, winning new respectability and popularity for ragtime. He went on to a tremendously successful collaboration with Vernon and Irene Castle, the international stars who made social dancing a world-wide rage. Along the way, Europe helped to revolutionize American music--and Badger provides fascinating details of his innovations and wide influence. In World War I, the musical pioneer won new fame as the first African-American officer to lead men into combat in that conflict--but he was best known as band leader for the all-black 15th Infantry Regiment. As the "Hellfighters" of the 15th racked up successes on the battlefield, Europe's band took France by storm with the new sounds of jazz. In 1919, the soldiers returned to New York in triumph, and Europe was the toast of the city. Then, just a few months later, he was dead--stabbed to death by a drummer in his own orchestra.
From humble beginnings to tragic end, the story of Jim Europe comes alive in Reid Badger's account. Weaving in the wider story of our changing culture, music, and racial conflict, Badger deftly captures the turbulent, promising age of ragtime, and the drama of a triumphant life cut short.

About this title

About the Author

Reid Badger is Professor of American Studies at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. His books include The Great American Fair: The World's Columbian Exposition and American Culture.

From the Back Cover

In A Life in Ragtime, Reid Badger brilliantly captures the fascinating life of James Reese Europe, tracing a critical chapter in the emergence of jazz through one man's remarkable odyssey. After an early start in Washington, Europe found his fame in New York, the entertainment capital of turn-of-the-century America. In the decade before the First World War, he emerged as an acknowledged leader in African-American musical theater, both as a conductor and as a prolific composer. Europe toiled constantly, working on benefit concerts, joining hands with W.E.B. Du Bois, and helping to found a black music school - all the while winning commercial and critical success with his music. In 1910, he helped create the Clef Club, making it the premiere African-American musical organization in the country during his presidency. Every year from 1912 to 1914, Europe led the Clef Club orchestra in triumphant concerts at Carnegie Hall, winning new respectability and popularity for ragtime. He went on to an extraordinarily successful collaboration with Vernon and Irene Castle, the international stars who made social dancing a world-wide rage. In World War I, the musical pioneer won new fame as the first African-American officer to lead men into combat in that conflict - but he was best known as band leader for the all-black 15th Infantry Regiment. As the "Hellfighters" of the 15th racked up successes on the battlefield, Europe's band took France by storm with the new sounds of jazz. In 1919, the soldiers returned to New York in triumph, and Europe was the toast of the city. Then, just a few months later, he was dead - stabbed to death by a drummer in his own orchestra. From humble beginnings to tragicend, the story of Jim Europe comes alive in Reid Badger's account.

Reviews

In this significant biography, Badger (The Great American Fair) examines the life and accomplishments of the black composer and conductor whose brilliant career was cut short at age 39 in a bizarre murder. Europe (1880-1919), who came from a poor family in Mobile, Ala., rose to a position of prominence, leading a number of black orchestras, including those that played for dancers Vernon and Irene Castle, who popularized professional social dancing. He also created and led the WWI Hellfighters, the all-black 15th Infantry Regiment Band, and organized black music associations like the Clef Club, devoted to furthering the careers of black musicians in New York City. Although little is known of Europe's personal life, Badger indicates he was an man of great dignity and pride. Largely forgotten after his death-he was stabbed by a drummer in his own orchestra-he has recently been rediscovered as a major figure in the history of black American music at its transition from ragtime to jazz. Includes a list of Europe's compositions and a discography. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Badger (American Studies/Univ. of Alabama) restores an important, forgotten chapter in African-American musical history. Europe was one of the pioneering composers, bandleaders, and musical factotums in turn-of-the-century America. Raised in Washington, D.C., he was exposed to a rich musical life in church, home, and public concerts. Around 1903, he left the capital for New York City (where his older brother was established as a theatrical pianist) and was soon working as a bandleader, arranger, and composer. Europe was a born organizer, helping to found a black theatrical fraternity known humorously as ``The Frogs'' and then, in 1910, the famous Clef Club, the first union of African-American musicians. In 1914, he joined forces with Vernon and Irene Castle, who were just beginning to perform the new black-influenced dances for high society. He introduced them to W.C. Handy's ``Memphis Blues,'' suggesting they create a new dance to accompany its changing meters; the result was the fox-trot, the popular dance team's most enduring legacy. During WW I, Europe was a machine- gunner with the 369th Regiment, an all-black company that fought as part of the French army (because the Americans feared integrating their ranks). Ironically, after surviving front-line duty, Europe was knifed by a disgruntled band member in 1919; he died at age 39. Europe, like Handy, his near-contemporary, hoped to mold a black concert music, drawing on 19th-century European roots, that would ``uplift his race.'' Although elements of ragtime and jazz crept into his music, he favored the sentimental parlor style of playing and singing that was the rage in late Victorian days. His musical legacy has been more or less forgotten, although without his pioneering work the success of Paul Whiteman's orchestra in the 1920s (and Duke Ellington's in the '30s) surely couldn't have occurred. Will appeal to fans of early jazz, African-American history, and 20th-century culture. (30 b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

James Reese Europe was a pivotal composer-conductor who helped jazz's evolution away from ragtime--a significant-enough accomplishment, especially considering Reese's relatively short life (he was murdered at 39 in 1919). But Badger's engrossing biography proves that Europe was an American hero both in front of and far away from an orchestra. Badger's analyses of Europe's compositions are well-informed and suitably augmented with commentary from such notable collaborators as Eubie Blake. Badger shows, too, that Europe helped restyle modern dance through his collaborations with Vernon and Irene Castle; and he includes chapters on the Clef Club, one of the earliest African American musicians' unions, which Europe helped create. Europe's career took an incredible turn during World War I, an episode Badger carefully details: while the triumphs of the all-black 369th Infantry Regiment are legendary, few know that Europe was the first African American officer to lead troops in combat during the war. A Life in Ragtime is one of the most important works of jazz scholarship to emerge in quite some time. Aaron Cohen

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 019506044X
• ISBN 13: 9780195060447
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360