It’s 1934, and performer Helen Kane sues cartoonist Max Fleischer and this studio. Kane asserts that Fleischer appropriated her physical characteristics, her “baby vamp” performance mannerisms, and squeaky “boop-boop” scat style for Fleischer’s character Betty Boop. Fleischer holds his ground. At the trial, before the New York Supreme Court, he testifies that his true inspiration …
In July 1966, the great jazz saxophonist John Coltrane embarked on a tour of Japan with his wife Alice Coltrane and the rest of his band. When they arrived at Tokyo airport Coltrane was shocked by the hundreds of fans who welcomed them. Coltrane and some other US jazz musicians had a massive following in both …
“This is triumphant music.” In 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. penned an essay concerning the significance of jazz at the request of the organizers of the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival. The lineup of the 1964 Festival included: Meade Lux Lewis; The Miles Davis Quintet; the Coleman Hawkins-Harry Edison Swing All-Stars featuring Jimmy Rushing; Sister Rosetta …
It’s 1958, and freelance photographer Art Kane is commissioned by Esquire magazine to shoot photos of jazz musicians for their upcoming “Golden Age of Jazz” feature. An avid music fan, Kane jumps at the chance. He puts the word out: Be at 17 126th St., Harlem, at 10 in the morning. His editors voiced concern. …
It’s 1955, and Ella Fitzgerald and her band take a break between sets at the Houston Music Hall. In her dressing room, Ella and her assistant, Georgiana Henry, chat and drink coffee, while over in the corner, Dizzy Gillespie and Illinois Jacquet shoot a quick game of craps. The door suddenly bursts open and five …
It’s 1968, and the Democratic National Convention erupts into violence. Rejection of a plankcondemning the Vietnam War sparks protests on the streets of Chicago. Bassist Charlie Haden,a vehement critic of the war, watches it all unfold. He is angry and disgusted, and he decidethat he must take action. Haden forms the Liberation Music Orchestra, an …
Harold Bradley, Jr. was born two weeks before the Wall Street Crash. Times were tough, especially forBlacks in Chicago, but Harold found opportunities to learn and grow. Introduced by his mother, hetalked jazz with Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, and studied art with legendary illustrator E. SimmsCampbell. Harold loved music. He was a gifted painter. …
It’s 1985, and guitarist and activist Little Steven Van Zandt forms a supergroup to protestapartheid in South Africa. That country’s system of white minority rule and institutionalizedracial segregation was in place for nearly 50 years. Despite world-wide condemnation,embargos, and diplomatic isolation, the South African regime held firm. Van Zandt believed thisstubbornness led to apathy among …
