The violent and seedy world of early Jazz and Blues, along with some of the characters of the period

[IllmaticDelta]

......the inspiration for this thread comes from that new, Buddy Bolden movie




along with numerous threads/complaints on drugs, violence and crime associated with HipHop. As I've pointed out numerous times, everything negative that's highlighted about HipHop was there in the late19th/Early 20th century in Jazz and Blues with its ties to the "streets".


The oral history of the early atmosphere/social life of Jazz is better documented than the early scene of the Blues, prior to audio recordings. For that reason, It's easier to find jazz related recollections. Starting with some Jazz and the main reason for starting the thread,

The only known photograph of Buddy Bolden, standing back row and second from left, horn in hand. Also pictured: guitarist Brock Mumford, bassist Jimmie Johnson, clarinetists Willie Warner and Frank Lewis, and trombonist Willie Cornish.

Charles Joseph "Buddy" Bolden (September 6, 1877 – November 4, 1931) was an African-American cornetist who was regarded by contemporaries as a key figure in the development of a New Orleans style of ragtime music, or "jass", which later came to be known as jazz.

Many early jazz musicians credited Bolden and his bandmates with having originated what came to be known as jazz, though the term was not in common musical use until after the era of Bolden's prominence. At least one writer has labeled Bolden the father of jazz.[6] He is credited with creating a looser, more improvised version of ragtime and adding blues; Bolden's band was said to be the first to have brass instruments play the blues. He was also said to have adapted ideas from gospel music heard in uptown African-American Baptist churches

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some info on that "street" life (pimping), dirty songs and killings, that Bolden/Jazz came up in

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Bolden's drinking did him in

 

[Rhapscallion Démone]

Sub

 

[IllmaticDelta]

..cont from Bolden and the violent atmosphere and pimping

some audio from early new orleans jazzmen describing the atmosphere and Bolden

Spoiler

Oh well, I tell you, Buddy was, er, the most powerful man in the history . . . Why, Buddy Bolden would play sometimes at, er, at most of the rough places. For an instance, the Masonic . . . Masonic Hall on Perdido and Rampart, which is a very rough section. Sometimes he’d play in the Globe Hall. That’s in the downtown section on St. Peter and St. Claude. Very, very rough place. Very often you could hear of, er, killings on top of killings. It wouldn’t make any difference. Many and many a time myself, I went on Saturdays and Sundays and look in the morgue, and see eight and ten men that was killed on the Saturday night. It was nothin’ for eight or ten killings on Saturday night.

Occasionally, Buddy Bolden used to play in the Jackson Hall, which was a much nicer hall on the corner of, er, Jackson Avenue and Franklin in the Garden District. Occasionally, he would play in the Lincoln Park. Anytime they could get him, that’s where they’d have him. [clears throat] That is, er, any of those halfway rough places.

I used to go out to Lincoln Park myself when Buddy Bolden was out there, because I used to like to hear him play and outblow everybody. I thought he was good myself. Anytime there was a quiet night in, er, in the Lincoln Park. Why, little places I used to hang out, a corner — what the boys, used to call a hang out corner — on Jackson and South Robertson. It was about ten or twelve miles to the Lincoln Park.

Anytime that he had a quiet night, all he did was take his trumpet and turn it towards the city

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[IllmaticDelta]

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (October 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941),[1] known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer who started his career in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Widely recognized as a pivotal figure in early jazz, Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a genre rooted in improvisation could retain its essential spirit and characteristics when notated.[2] His composition "Jelly Roll Blues", published in 1915, was the first published jazz composition. Morton also wrote the standards "King Porter Stomp", "Wolverine Blues", "Black Bottom Stomp", and "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say", the last a tribute to New Orleans musicians from the turn of the 20th century.

At the age of fourteen, Morton began working as a piano player in a brothel (or, as it was referred to then, a sporting house). In that atmosphere, he often sang smutty lyrics; he took the nickname "Jelly Roll", which was African-American slang for female genitalia, and by extension a lover of same.[9][10] While working there, he was living with his churchgoing great-grandmother; he convinced her that he worked as a night watchman in a barrel factory.

After Morton's grandmother found out that he was playing jazz in a brothel, she kicked him out of her house.[11] He said:

When my grandmother found out that I was playing jazz in one of the sporting houses in the District, she told me that I had disgraced the family and forbade me to live at the house. ... She told me that devil music would surely bring about my downfall, but I just couldn't put it behind me.[11]

The cornetist Rex Stewart recalled that Morton had chosen "the nom de plume 'Morton' to protect his family from disgrace if he was identified as a whorehouse 'professor'."[9]

Tony Jackson, also a pianist at brothels and an accomplished guitar player, was a major influence on Morton's music. Morton said that Jackson was the only pianist better than he was.

Jelly Roll Morton was also a pimp. In modern times, many people think the whole pimping thing started with HipHop like Too Short/Snoop/Sugar Free etc... but nah, pimping was common for early jazz/blues musicians and it was reflected in their names and music

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Morton mentor, was gay

Antonio Junius "Tony" Jackson (October 25, 1882 - April 20, 1921) was an American pianist, singer, and composer.

Jackson became the most popular and sought after entertainer in Storyville. He was said to be able to remember and play any tune he had heard once, and was hardly ever stumped by obscure requests.[7] His repertory included ragtime, cakewalks (one of his show stopping tricks was to dance a high kicking cakewalk while playing the piano), popular songs of the day from the United States and various nations of Europe and Latin America, blues, and light classics. He was also "openly, almost defiantly homosexual."[6] After hours, he would go with friends to The Frenchman's saloon, which catered to musicians and cross-dressers.[8]

His singing voice was also exceptional, and he was said to be able to sing operatic parts from baritone to soprano range. Fellow musicians and singers were universal in their praise of Jackson, most calling him "the greatest", and even the far-from-modest Jelly Roll Morton ranked Jackson as the only musician better than Morton himself.[6] Morton met Jackson in 1906.[9] Jackson became a mentor to Morton.[6] Jackson also wrote many original tunes, a number of which he sold rights to for a few dollars or were simply stolen from him; some of the old time New Orleans musicians said that some well known Tin Pan Alley pop tunes of the era were actually written by Jackson.

Clarence Williams noted "He was great because he was original in all his improvisations . . . We all copied him." More than Jackson's music was copied: he was always well dressed.[7] Jackson dressed himself with a pearl gray derby, checkered vest, ascot tie with a diamond stickpin, with sleeve garters on his arms to hold up his cuffs as he played.[10] This became a standard outfit for ragtime and barrelhouse pianists; as one commented "If you can't play like Tony Jackson, at least you can look like him".[11]

Tony Jackson and the Drugs that were around/being used by other jazz musicians in the early 1900s

 

[Rozay Oro]

Bump will read later

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Storyville was the red-light district of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1897 to 1917. It was established by municipal ordinance under the New Orleans City Council, to regulate prostitution and drugs. Sidney Story, a city alderman, wrote guidelines and legislation to control prostitution within the city. The ordinance designated a thirty-eight block area as the part of the city in which prostitution, although still nominally illegal, was tolerated or regulated. The area was originally referred to as "The District", but its nickname, "Storyville", soon caught on, much to the chagrin of Alderman Story.[1][page needed] It was bound by the streets of North Robertson, Iberville, Basin, and St. Louis Streets. It was located by a train station, making it a popular destination for travelers throughout the city, and became a centralized attraction in the heart of New Orleans. Only a few of its remnants are now visible. The neighborhood lies in Faubourg Tremé and the majority of the land was repurposed for public housing.


Establishments in Storyville ranged from cheap "cribs" to more expensive houses, up to a row of elegant mansions along Basin Street for well-heeled customers. New Orleans' cribs were 50-cent joints, whereas the more expensive establishments could cost up to $10. Black and white brothels coexisted in Storyville; but black men were barred from legally purchasing services in either black or white brothels. Following the establishment of these brothels, restaurants and saloons began to open in Storyville, bringing in additional tourists.[3] The District was adjacent to one of the main railway stations, where travelers arrived in the city.

Jazz did not originate in Storyville, but it flourished there as in the rest of the city. Many out-of-town visitors first heard this new style of music there before the music spread north.[1][page needed] Some outsiders continue to associate Storyville with the origins of jazz. It was a tradition in the better Storyville establishments to hire a piano player and sometimes small bands. Musicians who got their start in Storyville include Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, and Pops Foster.

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Lulu White (Lulu Hendley, ca. 1868 – August 20, 1931) was a brothel madam, procuress and entrepreneur in New Orleans, Louisiana during the Storyville period.[1] An eccentric figure, she was noted for her love of jewelry, her many failed business ventures, and her criminal record that extended in New Orleans as far back as 1880.

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[Black Haven]

Pimps have existed centuries before hip-hop was even thought of lol can't wait to see that buddy bolden movie

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Pimps have existed centuries before hip-hop was even thought of lol can't wait to see that buddy bolden movie

true but the modern stereotypical image of a pimp in the USA began in the ragtime/early jazz era

 

[IllmaticDelta]

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The John Robichaux Orchestra, 1896. Seated, left to right: Dee Dee Chandler, drums; Charles McCurdy, clarinets; John Robichaux, violin & leader, Wendell MacNeil, violin. Standing, left to right: Batiste DeLisle, trombone; James Wilson, cornet; James MacNeil, cornet; Octave Gaspard, string bass.

^^Robichaux (above sitting with the violin, 3rd in from left) played "polite" music from the written score, Buddy Bolden who was his rival played blues-based "hood" music that we now know as Jazz

A sturdy young man who would sport expensive suits and was often escorted by several women who liked to carry his horn. A young man whom, for a period ranging from around 1898 until 1906, reigned as the undisputed King of black New Orleans music.

Buddy Bolden played the cornet (an instrument similar to the trumpet) like no one before him. He stirred his dancers into a frenzy, some simply shouted out, “Aw, play it King Bolden!” Bolden led a band during this time that is generally considered the first group to play what would later be called jazz music. He forged his reputation with the power of his horn, said to be heard miles away, and his proficiency playing the blues. Musicians who were old enough to have heard Bolden perform described his band as playing a whole lot of blues. More polite and polished dance bands like John Robichaux’s orchestra played a smoother style of popular dance music. It wasn’t that King Bolden and his band didn’t perform other numbers, they played waltzes, ragtime, and popular songs of the day, it’s just that nobody laid into the blues so down and dirty like the king. Blues numbers played at medium tempos, some with raunchy lyrics, soon had black patrons of the South Rampart/Perdido Street area (known as “back o’ town”) dancing a new beat. King Bolden took the guttural moan of the blues, mixed it with the spirit of the black Baptist church, and applied a ‘ragged’ rhythmic feel to his songs. The result was an all new sound that was perfect for dancing and quickly caught the attention of young African Americans in New Orleans.

King Bolden’s sound appealed to a new generation some thirty three years removed from the end of the Civil War. His devoted followers loved to dance. Many originated from the underbelly of New Orleans’ Black Storyville neighborhood as hustlers, prostitutes, and pimps who lavished their praises onto the dapper King. Others simply found Bolden’s band irresistible but made their exits earlier in the evening, before the dances started getting too rowdy. Often, members of King Bolden’s flock followed him to Lincoln and Johnson parks to hear his band perform at dances held there. A whole lot of fun in those days could be had in either of these uptown parks. After the baseball games, greased pig chase, and the infamous hot air balloon rides, King Bolden would sound his horn and “call his children home”. He would often blast his signature call from Johnson Park, to let folks know in Lincoln Park that his band was about to play. Some of the patrons dancing to the John Robicheaux orchestra would scurry over to Johnson Park once King Bolden started up.

Charles "Buddy" Bolden - New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Robert Charles and the Robert Charles race riots reflect the atmosphere of the time and would leave an impact on the people of early Blues and Jazz

Robert Charles Daily Picayune, July 27, 1900

Robert Charles was a proud Black native Mississippian who went to live in New Orleans around the dawn of the 20th Century. Mr. Charles was self-educated, highly intelligent and very well read. He followed the teachings of the controversial and radical Black leader/ Pan Africanist Bishop Henry M. Turner. Bishop Henry M. Turner, a native of Georgia, U.S.A., preached that Blacks should defend themselves with guns against the Ku Klux Klan and other White racist institutions that sought to destroy and kill Black people in the United States. Being a man of religion and action, Turner also urged Blacks to start seeing God the Benevolent and Merciful One in their own image instead of in the popular image of the oppressors which belittled their humanity and labeled them inferior.

Robert Charles also felt that Black people should consider returning to their ancestral homeland of Africa (in particular, the nation of Liberia –which was founded by former Black U.S. slaves in 1822) to escape from the White supremacist power structure in the U.S.A. Mr. Charles was also a sales agent for Turner’s magazine, Voice of Missions, which talked about some of the previously mentioned beliefs in exact full detail and analysis. In 1896 Robert Charles joined the International Migration Society, a group which advocated sending Black Americans to Liberia.

Mr. Charles honestly felt that no Black person would ever receive full treatment as a citizen and human being in a country where the violent lynching of a Black person took place everyday. This country was also the same place where Blacks were not even allowed to vote or receive equal treatment and protection under the law (the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of 1896 by the U.S. Supreme Court had legalized segregation). This, in theory, meant that Blacks were allowed to be treated separately but as equals of Whites. However, in reality this meant that Blacks were forced by law to endure harsher, more unfair and inferior treatment by Whites.

One day Robert Charles became infuriated after hearing the grisly news of the fate of a Black man in Atlanta named Sam Hose. Hose was ruthlessly lynched by a large White mob for killing his White boss in self defense and allegedly raping his boss’s White wife. The rape allegation later proved to be false as Mr. Hose was nowhere near the house at the time the alleged rape took place.

The lynching of Sam Hose by all accounts was very gruesome and traumatic. Mr. Hose’s nose, ears, toes, fingers, genitals and tongue were all cut off while he was alive causing him great excruciating pain. He was also skinned alive, doused with kerosene and set on fire while tied to a tree. Hose’s mutilated body parts and postcards of the tragic event were later sold at stores, picnics, and other functions throughout the Atlanta area.

This horrible and tragic event and its aftermath troubled and inspired the great human rights activist and social scientist Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois (a professor at Atlanta University at the time of Hose’s demise). Du Bois started to take and engage in a more proactive, progressive, and demonstrative stance on equal rights for Blacks that eventually led to the formation of the N.A.A.C.P. and to the Modern American Civil Rights Movement However, for Robert Charles , an expert marksman and gun owner, the sickening ghoulish affair meant getting revenge paid for in blood and violence.

On July 23, 1900 , a hot and steamy night in New Orleans, Robert Charles and a friend were confronted by aggressive and racist cops on the “ the suspicion of being suspicious” while waiting for his girlfriend and her female companion on the steps of her residence. After being physically assaulted by the cops, Robert Charles drew his gun in self defense and fired at the two cops. Later, one of the officers, Officer August Mora admitted that he did draw his gun first. Charles was injured in the leg after being hit with return fire. He escaped police custody and for several days in July 1900 New Orleans erupted in thunderous riots and chaos.

The New Orleans Riot of 1900 was one of the worst in American history. The Black section of New Orleans was decimated by a large and furious White citizen mob. Many innocent Blacks were killed including ‘White folks that looked Black’. Estimates stated that as many as 5,000 to 10,000 Whites from different parts of Louisiana as well as from several states took part in the melee.

Eventually Robert Charles made his last stand on Friday afternoon July 27. Before Charles was taken out by a 19 year old medical student at 1208 Saratoga Street in New Orleans, he made sure his Winchester rifle did a lot of talking. Of the 50 rounds that Charles shot 27 found human targets. In all, Charles killed seven White people including 4 police officers.

After Robert Charles was killed, the White mob proceeded to fill Robert Charles lifeless corpse with bullets (37 in all) and to beat and stomp him beyond recognition. His body was later taken away by a patrol wagon for autopsy. Charles was buried early Sunday morning on July 29 in an unmarked grave at **** Cemetery (the same place where jazz legend Buddy Bolden is buried) to prevent the White mob from “re-lynching” and mutilating the body for souvenir and sales items.

Later, jazz and blues musicians paid tribute to Robert Charles and his heroic stand by playing a song entitled “The Ballad of Robert Charles”, a song which cemented Robert Charles’ place as a Black folk hero for many in the Black community. Unfortunately, the song is lost to posterity because many musicians “forgot” the song due to fear of retaliation from White patrons and White people in general. Many Whites, as well as some Blacks, were eager to forget and not address the causes and effects of that particularly sad episode in American history.

Jelly Roll Morton Robert Charles/Riots

 

[Sbp]

I learned about all the early jazz musicians as lil one. One if my music teachers Mr. Torregano was big on history.My dumbass should've kept playing the trumpet smh.

 

[Sbp]

@IllmaticDelta you from the N.O. breh ?

 

[IllmaticDelta]

@IllmaticDelta you from the N.O. breh ?

Nah, New York