DC Jazz: Stories of Jazz Music in Washington, DC

217 Pages·2018·4.547 MB·English

by  Maurice Jackson (editor), Blair A. Ruble (editor)

DC Jazz
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DC
Jazz
Stories of Jazz Music in Washington, DC
Maurice Jackson and Blair A. Ruble, Editors
Georgetown University Press
Washington, DC
© 2018 Georgetown University Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
The publisher is not responsible for third-party websites or their content. URL links were active at time of
publication.
Chapters 1–6 and 10 were previously published in Washington History 26, Special Issue: Jazz in Washington
(Spring 2014), www.jstor.org/stable/i23728033. These chapters have been edited and, in some cases, updated.
Poems on page xvi used by permission of the author. © 2010 E. Ethelbert Miller.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jackson, Maurice, 1950- editor. | Ruble, Blair A., 1949- editor.
Title: DC Jazz : Stories of Jazz Music in Washington, DC / Maurice Jackson and Blair A. Ruble, editors.
Description: Washington, DC : Georgetown University Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017047948| ISBN 9781626165892 (hardcover : alk. paper) |ISBN 9781626165908 (pbk. : alk
paper) | ISBN 9781626165915 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Jazz—Washington (D.C.)—History and criticism. | Jazz musicians—Washington (D.C.)
Classification: LCC ML3508.8.W27 D3 2018 | DDC 781.6509753—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017047948
♾ This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for
Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
20 19 18 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 First printing
Printed in the United States of America
Editorial, permissions, and production assistant: Regina Andreoni
Composition: Graphic Composition, Inc.
Cover design: Spencer Fuller, Faceout Studio
Cover image: John Malachi courtesy of the William P. Gottlieb/Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Fund Collection,
Music Division, Library of Congress
Support for this publication was provided by Furthermore: a program
of the J.M. Kaplan Fund
To
Roger “Buck” Hill
1927–2017
Geri Allen
1957–2017
and
Reuben Brown
1939–2018
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Foreword by Jason Moran xi
Acknowledgments xv
Poems by E. Ethelbert Miller xvi
Introduction xvii
1 Jazz, “Great Black Music,” and the Struggle for Racial and
Social Equality in Washington, DC 1
Maurice Jackson
2 Seventh Street: Black DC’s Musical Mecca 35
Blair A. Ruble
3 Washington’s Duke Ellington 47
John Edward Hasse
4 Bill Brower: Notes from a Keen Observer and
Scene Maker 75
Interview by Willard Jenkins
5 Jazz Radio in Washington, DC 91
Rusty Hassan
6 Legislating Jazz 107
Anna Harwell Celenza
7 The Beautiful Struggle: A Look at Women Who Have Helped
Shape the DC Jazz Scene 117
Bridget Arnwine
8 No Church without a Choir: Howard University and Jazz in
Washington, DC 129
Lauren Sinclair
9 From Federal City College to UDC: A Retrospective on
Washington’s Jazz University 145
Judith A. Korey
10 Researching Jazz History in Washington, DC 171
Michael Fitzgerald
List of Contributors 183
Photo Credits and Permissions 187
Index 189
viii Contents
Illustrations
Photographs
I.1 Tommy Myles Orchestra xviii
1.1 Leadbelly and Martha 2
1.2 Will Marion Cook 4
1.3 Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial 11
1.4 The Erteguns and Gottlieb 16
1.5 Jazz at the Turkish Embassy 19
2.1 Shep Allen and newsboys 38
2.2 Couple swing dancing 41
2.3 Pearl Bailey at Crystal Caverns 43
3.1 Duke Ellington 48
3.2 Duke Ellington and Max Silverman 57
3.3 President Nixon presents Ellington with the Presidential Medal
of Freedom 61
3.4 Ellington and Band at Howard Theatre 62
4.1 Saxophonist Byron Morris and Unity at Blues Alley 77
4.2 Sterling Brown 78
4.3 Betty Carter 80
4.4 Max Roach and M’Boom at the Capital City Jazz Festival 84
5.1 The Shirley Horn Trio 96
5.2 John Malachi 99
5.3 Roger “Buck” Hill 100
5.4 Saxophonist Andrew White 102
6.1 Duke Ellington in the Soviet Union 108
6.2 Dizzy Gillespie in Zagreb 110
7.1 Shirley Horn 120
7.2 Ruth Brown 124
8.1 Yusef Lateef and Fred Irby 130
8.2 Donvonte McCoy and Donald Byrd 135
8.3 Howard University Jazz Ensemble 137
9.1 Calvin Jones 149
9.2 UDC Jazz Ensemble, 1980 151
ix