Blake, Eubie 1883–1983

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Eubie Blake 1883–1983

Composer, pianist

Changed Course After Hearing Ragtime

Joined James Reese Europe Band

Orchestra Feigned Musical Illiteracy

Selected discography

Sources

One of the creative giants of African-American music, Eubie Blake was active until the very end of his hundred years of life. His musical career encompassed several different phases, any one of which would have earned him a place in the history books, and audiences in the late 20th century looked to him as a unique repository of information about ragtime, early musical theater, and other musical genres in which he had been involved. Equally renowned as a pianist and as a composer, Blake also influenced the careers of many musicians who came after him.

He was born James Hubert Blake in Baltimore, Maryland, on February 7, 1883; his nickname “Hubie” was eventually shortened to Eubie. Both his parents grew up as slaves. Blake’s home was a strict one—his father, who had learned to read from the daughter of his former master, insisted on the virtues of education, and his mother was strongly religious. It was Blake’s mother who introduced him to music, buying him a small pump organ in the hope that he would develop into a church musician. As a young man Blake studied classical music with a local church organist.

Changed Course After Hearing Ragtime

But his mother’s hopes were dashed when Blake began to encounter the syncopated rhythms of what would coalesce into ragtime music at the end of the 1890s. In spite of the classicizing ambitions of ragtime pioneer Scott Joplin, many ragtime pianists began their careers providing live entertainment for houses of prostitution. The 15-year-old Blake fit the pattern, even though he had to sneak out of the house to perform at the establishment of one Aggie Shelton.

He showed a distinctive style early on, and by 1899 had composed a ragtime tune of his own. Later published and entitled the “Charleston Rag,” it gave an idea of Blake’s skill at the keyboard with its vigorous left-hand part and complex harmonies. His hands could stretch across the unusually large interval of 12 white keys. Blake moved onward and upward from Aggie Shelton’s bordello, performing in various Baltimore nightclubs and going on the road with a touring minstrel show in 1901. He gained the ability to improvise on popular songs and light classics of the day, and became more and more at ease with audiences of

At a Glance…

Born James Hubert Blake on February 7, 1883, in Baltimore, MD; died February 12, 1983; son of James Sumner Blake and Emily Johnston Blake; married Avis Lee, 1910 (died 1939); married Marion Cant Tyler, 1945.

Career: Began playing ragtime around 1898 in a bordello; composed first piano piece, 1899; performed in touring stage shows, 1901-02; ragtime pianist in Baltimore, MD; performed at Goldfield Hotel, Baltimore, 1907-15; met Noble Sissle, 1915; co-wrote hit song “It’s All Your Fault;” became member of James Reese Europe Orchestra, 1916; toured Europe with 369th Infantry Regimental Band, 1918-19; toured with Sissle as Dixie Duo, 1919-20; with Sissle, composed hit musical Shuffle Along, 1921; with Sissle, composed musical Chocolate Dandies, 1924; toured Europe with own orchestra, late 1920s; led own orchestra in U.S., 1930s; toured with USO shows during World War II; active as DJ in New York, early 1950s; appeared at 1969 Newport Jazz Festival

Awards: Honorary degrees from Brooklyn College, Dartmouth College, Rutgers University, New England Conservatory of Music, and University of Maryland; Presidential Meda! of Freedom, 1981.

various backgrounds. From 1907 to 1911 Blake performed at Baltimore’s Goldfield Hotel, owned by boxer Joe Gans. He was considered one of the top ragtime pianists on the East Coast and traveled often to New York and to the resort of Atlantic City.

The next phase of Blake’s career began in a Baltimore park in 1915 when he met the singer, songwriter, and bandleader Noble Sissle, an Indiana musician who had moved east with dreams of making a career in musical theater. The two men hit it off creatively, and within days Blake had set to music a song lyric by Sissle entitled “It’s All Your Fault.” The song became a hit when it was picked up by the leading white vocalist of the day, Sophie Tucker.

Joined James Reese Europe Band

That catapulted Sissle into New York’s leading African American dance band of the day, James Reese Europe’s Society Orchestra. Sissle prevailed upon Europe to hire Blake as a keyboard player, and Blake made the move to New York. Europe, an underappreciated pioneer who laid the groundwork for many of the accomplishments of the big-band era, immersed Blake in an atmosphere ripe with black creative talent and inspired him to look to new musical horizons. Sissle and Blake continued to work together as lyricist and composer, but their partnership was interrupted by America’s entry into World War I; Sissle enlisted in the Army and went to France (performing with Europe’s band while there), but Blake, by then 34, was too old for military service.

Reunited after Sissle’s return from Europe, Blake and Sissle toured the vaudeville circuit as the Dixie Duo. Though some of their material absorbed the stereotypes of blacks that were staples of even African-American productions of the day, there was one important difference—they did not wear the burnt-cork blackface makeup that was conventional for both white and black minstrel performers. Sissle and Blake are thus credited with a major step in the creation of a more dignified image for African-American entertainers.

In 1921 Blake and Sissle, with the financial support and stage participation of several of their compatriots in the world of the African-American stage, mounted a musical of their own called Shuffle Along. More ambitious than any other all-black production up to that time, it was one of the first such productions to open on Broadway. Shuffle Along became a runaway success, earning over eight million dollars and spawning the evergreen “I’m Just Wild About Harry.” The show’s plot involved a satirical treatment of the political leaders of a fictional all-black town.

Orchestra Feigned Musical Illiteracy

Blake’s score to Shuffle Along was written out in notation like that of other musicals of the day, but members of the orchestra had to memorize all the music; according to the website jass.com, Blake explained, “People didn’t believe that black people could read music—they wanted to think that our ability was just natural talent.” The show’s company included future stars Paul Robeson and Josephine Baker. Blake and Sissle, now celebrities, collaborated again on The Chocolate Dandies (1924) and toured Europe as “the American Ambassadors of Syncopation.”

Blake worked with other lyricists, including Thomas “Fats” Waller’s songwriting partner Andy Razaf, and notched several more hits including “Memories of You,” written for the revue Blackbirds of 1930. During World War II he led performances given for U.S. troops. Then, at an age when most musicians settle into retirement, Blake enrolled in the music program at New York University, graduating in 1949. Reflecting on his long career, he set down many of his compositions in musical notation.

Then, as a result of the revival of interest in ragtime that began in the early 1950s, Blake found the rest of the musical world very interested in what he had to say and could remember. Music historians, and then the large public that awakened to the joys of ragtime in the 1960s, saw him as the last living link to the era of Scott Joplin, and yet another period of celebrity for Blake began. An album entitled The Eighty-Six Years of Eubie Blake was released in 1969, and Blake became a frequent guest on television and an often-sought honorary degree recipient at the commencement ceremonies of prestigious colleges and universities. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981 and performed for the last time at the age of 99 on June 19, 1982. A heavy smoker for much of his life, Blake died in Brooklyn on February 12, 1983, five days after his 100th birthday.