Lou Black
Louis Thomas Black (June 8, 1901 – November 18, 1965) was prominent Jazz era banjo player, part of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings during the 1920s.[1]
Born in Rock Island, Illinois,[1] he began playing banjo during early childhood and became professional in 1917.[2] He played in the Carlisle Dance Orchestra during the 1920s.[2]
In 1921, he joined the famous New Orleans Rhythm Kings at Friar's Inn in Chicago. With this band, he participated to the first-ever interracial recording session with pianist Jelly Roll Morton.
He left the band in 1923 to play with other bands.[1] These included the Dixieland Jass Band, King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, and Jean Goldkette's Jazz Orchestra.[2]
From 1928 until 1931, he was a staff musician for radio station WHO in Des Moines, Iowa.[2] He stopped playing banjo about the time the station was sold.[2] In a later interview he said that he had become unhappy with the banjo's having been displaced in music by the guitar and the bass, until it became a "taxi-driver's instrument."[1] He left music in 1931, but began playing again in 1961.[1][2]
He sat in with several bands during a brief stay in New York City,[2] then played gigs in Moline, Illinois from the fall of 1963.
While recovering in a Rock Island hospital from injuries sustained in an automobile accident, he suffered a fatal heart attack.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Gene Raffensperger (12 Jan 1964). "Old Rhythm King Lou Black Beats the Dust Off His Banjo". The Des Moines Register. p. 70.
- ^ a b c d e f g Edmund R. D'Moch (1 December 1963). "Banjoist Lou Black Reluctant to Return". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. 66. Archived from the original on 1 December 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
One of the fabled musicians of the Roaring 20s...was born in Rock Island...began fingering the banjo at the age of 7...
Further reading
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
 | This article about a United States jazz musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |