Westport Public Library MOVIE & MUSIC Blog

In keeping with the theme of Black history, I wish to pay tribute to the American composer and pianist James Hubert Blake ("Eubie"). Yesterday was the 125th anniversary of the birth of this Baltimore born musician who played pump-organ at the age of 4, began piano lessons at 6, played professionally in a Baltimore nightclub at the age of 15, and a year later composed his first piano rag, "Sounds of Africa". (This first effort was later called "Charleston Rag"). He worked as a saloon pianist, toured with a medicine show, became an accompanist for Madison Reed and eventually joined with the singer Noble Sissle in a highly successful partnership in 1915. Their first effort, "It's All Your Fault" was performed by the white singer Sophie Tucker. They travelled to New York, joined James Reese Europe's Society Orchestra, and became vaudevillians as the Dixie Duo after World War I.

Their collaboration with the vaudeville team of Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles led to the production of the Broadway musical, Shuffle Along, which lasted over a year and yielded several touring companies. "Bandanna Days", I'm Just Wild About Harry" and "Love Will Find A Way" proved to be quite popular. Some of the cast members included Josephine Baker, Caterina Jarboro, Florence Mills, Paul Robeson and composer William Grant Still.

Blake's career as a musical comedy writer yielded The Chocolate Dandies, Folies Bergere, Blackbirds of 1930, Shuffle Along of 1933, Swing It, Shuffle Along of 1952 and Bubbling Brown Sugar. He continued writing songs, performing on the vaudeville stage and recording as a piano soloist and with his orchestra from the 1920s-1930s. During World War II, he conducted United Service Organizations shows for the soldiers and retired in 1946.

He gained a new audience in the 1950s and 60s with the ragtime revival as a performer and lecturer. The success of his 1969 album, The Eighty-Six Years of Eubie Blake, led to the establishment of his own record company in 1972 featuring artists Ivan Harold Browning, Novle Sissle and Edith Wilson. Some of the accolades that he received were honorary doctorates from Brooklyn College (1973), Dartmouth College (1974), Rutgers University (1974), the New England Conservatory (1974) and the University of Maryland (1979). His life became the subject of documentary films and the Broadway show, Eubie (1978). Among his achievements were induction into America's Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, (1979), recipient of the Decoration of Distinguished Civilian Service (1980) and the Presidential Medal of Honor (1981). New York's St. Peter's Church honored him on the occasion of his 100th birthday in 1983 with a 24-hour marathon jazz concert.