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| International Jazz Day Global Concert |
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
DuSable Museum Presents An Evening with Jazz Great Kahil El Zabar
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| KAHIL EL ZABAR |
"One of the most important figures
of the Twentieth Century"
by George Lucas
The Mystery of Kahil El Zabar
by Director Dwayne-Johnson Cochran
Produced by Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance
Be Known is a feature documentary that explores the life and career of one of modern jazz's best kept secrets: Kahil El'Zabar. The film is filled with darkly comic overtones, the film tells the story of a rare artist's trials and tribulations through the eyes of filmmaker and friend, Dwayne Johnson-Cochran. Be Known takes you on a journey to see the other side of genius; the mysterious intersections of creativity and individuality in a world where brand- ing and sameness are the norm. It is in this world, El'Zabar shines. He is a beacon of internal fortitude, ingenuity, and innovation.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
740 East 56th Place
Chicago, IL 60637
773-947-0600
773-947-0600
7:00PM - Viewing of "Be Known" A documentary that explores the life and career of jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer. - Kahil El Zabar
9:00 PM - Performance by The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble featuring Kahil El Zabar, Corey Wilkes, Ernest Dawkins
Admission: DuSable Museum Members – $10.00
General Admission – $15.00
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| Invitez a une nuit pour un chevalier! Sir Kahil ElZabar |
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Monday, April 28, 2014
Invitez a une nuit pour un chevalier! Sir Kahil ElZabar
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| Une Nuit pour un chevalier! Sir El'Zabar |
Une Nuit pour un chevalier!
Le Service culturel du Consulat général de France à Chicago, le lieu de culte, et le pont vous invitent à la cérémonie de remise du Chicago Jazz Legend Kahil Elzabar suivie d'un concert par Le Pont (une collaboration transcontinentale entre la France et les États-Unis de présenter créative musique) et une performance spéciale par Kahil Elzabar avec le chanteur invité, Dwight Trible. Puis Dance Party Après!!
Lundi soir, le 5 mai 2014, le Dr El Zabar sera attribué le ministère français de la Culture attribution Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres de Fabrice Rozie, attaché culturel au Consulat français. Kahil El'Zabar est reconnu pour ses nombreuses réalisations dans le domaine de la création musicale, ainsi que ses efforts inlassables en combler les communautés internationales à travers l'éducation artistique et la collaboration culturelle.
Cet événement aura lieu dans THE SHRINE
Lundi 5 mai 2014
2109 S.Wabash, à Chicago, à 18h00.
Nous espérons que vous allez assister à cette fête de la musique de l'amitié française-américaine que nous saluons la chevalerie de Kahil Elzabar.
S'il vous plaît confirmer cliquez ici .
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| DuSable Museum Presents An Evening with Jazz Great Kahil El Zabar |
Invite 2 Night For A Knight! Sir Kahil El'Zabar
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| Night for a Knight! Sir El'Zabar |
Night for a Knight!
The Cultural Service at the Consulate General of France in Chicago, the Shrine, and the Bridge invite you to the award ceremony of Chicago Jazz Legend Kahil Elzabar followed by a concert by the Bridge (a transcontinental collaboration between France and the United States to present creative music) and a special performance by Kahil Elzabar with guest vocalist, Dwight Trible. Then Dance Party After!!!!!
On Monday night May 5,2014, Dr. El Zabar will be awarded the French Ministry of Culture Award Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres from Fabrice Rozié, Cultural Attaché at the French Consulate. Kahil El’Zabar is being recognized for his many accomplishments in the creative music field, as well as his tireless efforts in bridging international communities through arts education and cultural collaboration.
This event will take place at The Shrine,
Monday, May 5, 2014
2109 S.Wabash, in Chicago, at 6:00pm.
We hope that you will attend this musical celebration of French-American friendship as we salute the knighthood of Kahil Elzabar.
Please R.S.V.P. click here.
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| DuSable Museum Presents An Evening with Jazz Great Kahil El Zabar |
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Bronzeville Visitors Information Center Tour 411 East 35th Street Chicago
Bronzeville Information Center- ‘Black Metropolis Historic District’
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| Bronzeville Visitor Information Center - Supreme Life Building 3501 South State Street Chicago |
The Bronzeville Visitor Information Center (BVIC), located in the historic Supreme/Liberty Life Building (enter through our Gift Shop, 411 E. 35th Street), is an African American Heritage Tourism attraction and cornerstone in Bronzeville's development as a premier international travel destination. The BVIC is a point of orientation and information for residents, visitors, guests, students, investors and researchers discovering Bronzeville. The 2005 restoration of the landmark located at 3501 S. Martin Luther King Dr. anchors the Gateway to the ‘Black Metropolis Historic District’.
The BVIC houses an exhibit gallery featuring a permanent installation, "Bronzeville to Harlem" by Preston Jackson, a bronze and steel interpretation of the 'Renaissance' periods of both communities during the 1920's and 1930's.
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| Ebony Digest Founder John H. Johnson of Ebony Magazine started his magazine in the offices of the Supreme Building. Ebony Magazine is the one of the oldest African American Magazines and the most successful. |
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| The Original Regal Theatre formerly 4719 South King Drive |
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| Roberts Show Lounge |
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| The Ritz "Jimmy Cooper made enough money out of those games to buy the Ritz Lounge, which was located in the basement of the Ritz Hotel at 409 East Oakwood Boulevard, just twenty-five feet east of South Parkway (now King Drive.) --An Autobiography of Black Jazz by Dempsey J. Travis |
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| The Rhumboogie "In the spring of 1946 we (Floyd Campbell's Orchestra) at Joe Louis' Rhumboogie Club, 343 East Garfield Boulevard. Several weeks after we opened Sarah Vaughn was brought in at $300 a week. Before Sarah played the Boogie, we got our paychecks on Friday with instructions not to cash them until Monday. The place was barely making it. But Sarah Vaughan packed the place every night. They had to send out for extra chairs to accommodate the patrons. George Threadwell, Sarah's husband, wanted the club managers,Leonard Reed and Pat Brooks, Joe Louis' half brother, to raise Sarah's salary to $800 a week. At first they refused. Then Ziggy Johnson, the show's producer, and I threatened to pull the band out if they didn't agree. They did give her the raise and they doubled the length of her engagement from four to eight weeks. Dave Garroway came to the show every night after he got off the air. It was his radio show that publicized Sarah's great talents. He called her "The Divine Sarah."--An Autobiography of Black Jazz by Dempsey J. Travis |
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| Victory Monument |
"The Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art has this to say about the monument:
A white granite shaft topped with a bronze doughboy sculpture. On the monument's shaft are three bronze relief panels depicting life-sized figures. (Victory Panel:) Left full-length profile of a Classically draped African-American female figure representing motherhood. In her hand she holds a branch symbolizing Victory. (Columbia Panel:) Full-length Classically draped female figure with a helmet on her head. In her proper left hand she holds a tablet inscribed with the names of battles in which African-American soldiers fought. (African-American Soldier Panel:) A bare chested African-American soldier of the 370th Infantry, which fought in France, standing with an eagle in left profile in front of him.[3]
In 1927, the State of Illinois erected this monument in the Chicago neighborhood known as "Bronzeville," which was home of the "Fighting Eighth" Regiment of the Illinois National Guard. The names of 137 members of the Eighth Infantry, Illinois National Guard, who lost their lives during World War I are inscribed on a bronze panel. The Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard was reorganized as the 370th U.S. Infantry of the 93rd Division, and this regiment saw service on WWI major battlefields, distinguishing itself as the last regiment pursuing the retreating German forces in the Aisne-Marne region of France, just before the November 11, 1918 Armistice. The doughboy on top of the shaft was added in 1936.[3]"
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| Supreme Life Building 3501 South King Dr Chicago |
The Supreme/Liberty Life Building was the longtime headquarters of the first African American owned and operated insurance company in the northern United States. Founded in 1919 by Frank L. Gillespie (as the Liberty Life Insurance Company), the firm moved, in 1921 into the second floor. The building, originally constructed by the Roosevelt State Bank, was bought by Liberty Life in 1925 and in 1929 merged with two out-of-state firms to form the Supreme Life Insurance Company of America
Bronzeville Visitor Information Center
411 E 35th St
Chicago, IL 60653
Enter through Gift Shop or parking lot
To Schedule Tours
Call 773-819-2054
11 am - 5 pm
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| Follies Starring Lorres Burrage, SUN RA & Orch. 3 Shows Nitely |
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| Breakfast Show Every Mon, Morning |
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| Mambo Night Wed. |
"Money was what the plantation system was all about. The Grand Terrace in Chicago was the most
grandiose plantation in the country. Its appointments were more elaborate than New York's Cotton or
Chicago's Club DeLisa. Everything and everybody in the club smelled like money except the black
entertainers. They all sweated for a pittance, including Earl Hines, the internationally renowned band
leader. The band's star trumpet and saxophone player, George Dixon, did not realize how the mob's
plantation system worked until he decided to better his lot in life and gave notice of leaving the Grand
Terrace to join Don Redman's band in Detroit. Don Redman was the brilliant former musical director
of McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Omer Simeon, Hines' alto sax man, and Billy Franklin, the trombonist,
decided to join Dixon in his move to Detroit.
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| Original Grand Terrace 3955 S. King Drive |
Dixon told me, 'The day we left Chicago, Ralph Cooper, the producer of the show at the original
Grand Terrace, came out of the club and shook our hands while we were standing near the curb. When
I stepped into my little 1929 Ford and said 'Goodbye,' Cooper replied, 'I am not going to say goodbye
because you'll be back.'
I said, 'Not a chance.'
'Shortly after we arrived in Detroit, Don called his first rehearsal at the Graystone Ballroom. Before we
could play the first note, Don's manager came up and said, 'Where's the three fellows from Earl Hines'
band?'
'We all identified ourselves. Don's manager said, 'Well, I just got a call from New York and I won't be
able to use guys.'
'The three of us yelled in unison, 'Does that mean we have to go back to Earl?'
'The manager replied, 'Yeah, that's what it means.'
'After hearing that bad news, the three of us jumped into my little Ford and came back to Chicago. The
mob, through intimidation and organization, had things so well-regulated we couldn't even change
jobs.'
Later Dixon accidentally overheard a conversation between Ed Fox, manager of the Grand Terrace,
and Frank 'The Enforcer' Nitti, the Capone Treasurer, which shed light on what had happened. It
seemed that Joe Fusco, Al Capone's superintendent of breweries who was also plantation overseer at
the Grand Terrace, had called Owney Madden at the Cotton Club in New York, and told him that
Dixon and the boys had to go back to the Grand Terrace. Madden immediately called a member of
the Purple Gang in Detroit, and that individual gave the word directly to Don Redman's manager; the
boys had to return to Chicago. The 'word' was always the final message."
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| Excerpt from 'The Jazz Slave Masters' from "An Autobiography of Black Jazz" by Dempsey J. Travis |
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Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Gangster Al Capone Owned Chicagos Jazz Business
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| Urther Temple (my great-uncle) played in Al Capone's Jazz Orchestra at the Chicago Metropole Hotel in the 1920's |
'Hey, boy come here!" Ralph Capone called as beckoned toward Lucius "Lucky" Millinder, the bandleader in the syndicate-controlled Cotton Club (12th Street and Blue Island) in Cicero, Illinois. Millinder, who was dressed formally in white tie and tails with a winged-tip shirt, hastily moved his snow-white slippers from the bandstand to the bosses' front row table.
"Boy, I like the way you colored people play music and I get a big kick watching your jazzy steps and pearly smile as you direct that band," said Capone. "My brother Al and I decided we're going to keep you boys working regularly, but you can't work for nobody but us."
To which Millinder responded, "Boss, I am your man with the band." Capone said, "Lucky, don't forget. Take this hundred dollar tip and go play my favorite song."
Millinder replied, "Thank you, Mr. Capone!" then returned to the bandstand and began leading the orchestra in a gusty rendition of W.C. Handy's classic "St. Louis Blues."
My old friend, the late Lucky Millinder, a Chicago South Sider and Wendell Phillips High School alumnus, once told me that he did not realize the full implications of Ralph Capone's conversation at that time. Capone's statement became crystal clear during Lucky's first trip to New York in the late 1920s. There he saw the syndicate network unfold through Owney Madden, one of the most notorious of the pre-prohibition bootleggers and a principal owner of Harlem's famous Cotton Club. The mob network was tied together like a musical triad: Madden controlled the East Coast booze and beer distribution; Al Capone reigned over Chicago and its environs; Johnny Lazia controlled the police, liquor wnd gambling in Kansas City, Missouri; and the Purple Gang dominated Detroit. Chicago, New York and Kansas City housed a disproportionate percentage of great jazz talent in America during the 1920s and 30s. These cities were controlled by the Jazz Slave Masters and some of the very best black musicians were their serfs. Talented jazz musicians were chained to bands and specific night clubs and saloons in the same manner as the ante-bellum Negroes were shackled to plantations. Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Cab Calloway, Lena Horne and Earl Hines are a few of the many top artists who were inmates behind the "Cotton Curtain" at various points in their careers. All of the aforementioned stars except Earl Hines had worked at the Cotton Club in New York City, which was the best known entertainment plantation in the country between 1924 And 1936. All blacks other than entertainers, waiters, cooks and the cleaning crew were excluded from the interior of the Jazz Slave Master's New York mansion.
The bandstand at the Harlem Cotton Club was a replica of a Southern mansion, with large white columns and a backdrop painted with weeping willows and slave quarters. The orchestra performed in front lf the large double doors to the mansion. Down four steps was the dance floor, which was also used for floor shows. The waiters were dressed in red tuxedos, like butlers in a Southern mansion, and the tables were covered with red and white checked gingham tablecloths. The entire scene created a Gone with the Wind atmosphere that made every white male feel like Rhett Bulter and every white woman like Scarlet O'Hara. Since the waiters were paid only one dollar a night, they had to hustle like Rochester and hope that Rhett Bulter would leave a big tip.
Even the great composer W.C. Handy was barred from the Cotton Club when he went there one night with Gene Buck, the president of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) to hear his own song "St. Louis Blues" that was being featured in the floor show. The Cotton Club was not the only club smack dab in the middle of Black Harlem that had a Jim Crow policy were on the outside looking in. Connie ' s Inn, the Harlem Uproar House and the Ubangi Club also banned blacks."
Excerpt "Jazz Slave Masters" from An Autobiography of Black Jazz by Dempsey J. TravisDo you know of anyone who played or performed jazz for the gangsters?
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