8/25/22
Newsletter83
The Crack of Dawn
It’s night all right.
Here is a what I believe is a great idea for a movie that I’ve been assured that in modern Hollywood I could never get produced because I’m not black. Well, if for instance Jews could only make movies about Jews, then every movie ever produced in Hollywood would be about Jews, yet they’re not. Anyway, when America entered WWI in 1917 the U.S. military was entirely segregated (as it still was during WWII). Nevertheless, one black infantry unit was formed and sent to fight in France, the 369th Infantry Unit from New York. These guys were incredibly important in a number of ways, and were known as the “Harlem Hell-Cats.” On a military level, the Hell-Cats spent more time in the frontline trenches than any other American unit, suffered more losses, and were the first American soldiers to cross the Rhine into Germany. However, what these guys also accomplished was of worldwide importance on a completely different level. The 369th’s military band was run and conducted by a black man named James Europe who was assisted by another black man, Noble Sissell. Apparently, they were the best, most swingin’, military band of all. When the 369th arrived in Paris in 1918 they took the city by storm because they introduced the French, and the rest of Europe, to American jazz. The French went nuts and have been rabid jazz fans ever since. WWI ended at the end of 1918, and the coming decade would be known as “The Jazz Era,” not just in America, but all over the world, and that’s because the Harlem Hell-Cats brought jazz to Europe, led by James Europe.
I am a big jazz fan. I was introduced to jazz as a baby by my dad, who loved Dave Brubeck. My elder sister’s first words were, “Navy Bubeck.” Though jazz is very much an invention of black Americans, there have been many terrific white and Latino jazz musicians. Jews had always excelled as classical musicians – Jascha Heifetz, Yehudi Menuhin, Ishak Perlman – but not as composers or conductors. In the early days of jazz, the aughts, teens and twenties, there weren’t any Jewish jazz players. However, in the 1930s, Jews stepped right to the forefront of jazz with two terrific clarinetist-bandleaders, Benjamin “Benny” Goodman and Arthur Jacob Arshawsky, known as Artie Shaw. Benny Goodman, aside from just being great, was instrumental (a pun) in integrating the big bands. Until then there were black bands and white bands (actually the guy who tried this first and failed was, ironically, George Whiteman). Benny Goodman hired Lionel Hampton on vibes and Charlie Christian on electric guitar (a first), and wouldn’t perform without them. And since he was such a smash success, nobody could say no to him. This move by Benny Goodman was as important, and over ten years earlier, as Jackie Robinson being allowed to play Major League baseball.
It’s still night, but the sun also rises.
The Crack of Dawn
I'd love to see the Harlem Hell Cats, too! I remember reading someplace that after their band played, a French general asked, "Are they playing the same instruments as our men?"
And because it's Leonard Bernstein's birthday today, I gotta say there were a few wonderful Jewish composers and conductors, including Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Mahler, and Aaron Copland. That said, it's strange there haven't been more, given the number of great Jewish musicians.
I'm guessing you've read it, but Mezz Mezzrow's autobiography is a lot of fun -- another Jewish guy who was an early jazzman. And thanks for this series -- I've really been enjoying reading each entry.
I would love to see that movie. "Harlem Hell-Cats"? The title is perfect.
I've always liked Benny Goodman's appearances in Busby Berkeley movies, in particular the trippy "The Gang's All Here," with Carmen Miranda. That movie is a doozy.