Dance Brymn Tim (1 results)

A striking ragtime-era dance publication for "The Tar-Heel Blues," composed by the African American bandleader and composer J. Tim Brymn (James T. Brymn, 18811946). The cover features a posed studio photograph of the well-known ballroom dancers Maurice and Florence Walton, who are credited on the sheet as introducing the piece. Such dance teams played a major role in promoting new popular dance compositions during the 1910s, when foxtrots and ragtime-influenced social dances were widely circulated through sheet music and stage performances. Brymn was one of the most prominent Black bandleaders active in New York during the early twentieth century. Born in Kingston, North Carolina, he studied music at the National Conservatory of Music and later led orchestras at several major entertainment venues including Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic and the famed Reisenweber's Paradise Ballroom. In the early 1920s he organized the Black Devil Orchestra, an ensemble of African American musicians that toured Europe and made recordings for the Vocalion label. Brymn's compositions and arrangements helped bring ragtime and early jazz idioms into mainstream dance music during the period immediately preceding the jazz age. Light handling wear; excellent condition overall. Folio sheet music, illustrated color pictorial cover featuring a photographic image of society dancers Maurice and Florence Walton. 5 pp. (including cover). Approximately 13 ½ x 10 ½ inches.