![]() "Basie's Brilliant Band Conquers Chick's" The following is a description from Metronome Magazine that describes the battle. He was introduced to Billie Holiday and she sang with the band.īasie played the ‘Battle of the Bands’ at the Savoy Ballroom and went up against Chick Webb. He lived and performed in Harlem, Kansas City, Chicago and took his band back to New York City in 1937. During that time he made many innovations in Jazz music such as emphasising the rhythm section. He formed the Count Basie Orchestra which lasted almost 50 years. William James "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. The clip below shows a montage of Willa Mae Ricker’s dancing strength and grace. She passed away in 1978 at the age of 68. Willa Mae was in several movies and dance clips including A Day at the Races (1937), Hellzapoppin' (1941), Hot Chocolates (1941), Killer Diller (1948), The Spirit Moves (1950). ![]() Leon James was her dance partner for the famous photo shoot for Life Magazine in 1943. In the movie Hellzapoppin’ you can see her base her dance partner, Al Minns in their last aerial (view on the clip below at 1:16). She was very strong and could base her male partners in aerials. Willa Mae was married to Billy Ricker, although they didn’t dance much professionally. A very brave thing to do especially when dance jobs were not very secure in the 1920s, 1930s! According to Norma Miller, Willa Mae was the first dancer to stand up to Herbert “Whitey” White, demanding fair pay for the dancers. Willa Mae also had a very sweet disposition. She was known for her physical strength, fashion sense, dependability, business acumen, and passion to dance. In the song you can hear how Buddy incorporates the lyrics and rhythms to create the feel of being at a baseball match and how much a hero Jackie is breaking racial barriers for the first time in American baseball.Ī member of the Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers and close friend of Frankie Manning from their pre Savoy Ballroom days. ![]() Thus eventually making it to the major leagues and being the first Black American player to do so, Jackie became a sporting hero. While coaching, he met a former baseball player who encouraged him to start playing baseball. After his acquittal, he was transferred to Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, where he served as a coach for army athletics until receiving an honourable discharge in November 1944. Before that Jackie was in the military from 1942-1944 which was cut short due to an unfair court-martial, when he refused to move to the back of the bus on an unsegregated line. Jackie Robinson was the first Black American player in major league baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Buddy Johnson died in 1977 at the age of 62.Ī fabulous song that Buddy Johnson wrote was “ Did you see Jackie Robinson hit that ball?” which Buddy submitted the sheet music for copyright in June 1949. By 1941 he had a 9 piece orchestra that played well into the 1960s. His sister Ella also recorded songs with the band. ![]() That same year he recorded for Decca Records. Buddy toured Europe in 1939 with the Cotton Club Review, however was expelled from Nazi Germany for being Black. His band regularly played at the Savoy Ballroom in New York. When listening to his tracks you will notice the blues, boogie, jive, gospel, and rhythm & blues influences underpinning the swing beat that gives Buddy’s jazz arrangements a big sound and strength. In 1938 Jump Blues Pianist, Buddy Johnson moved to New York City. ![]()
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