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. (Kirkus
Reviews)
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.
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