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(Click the logo for the
Carolina Jazz Society Web Site)
By EARLE EAGLE
(Earle is a local Columbia bon vivant, man about town,
and all-around good guy. He's a long-time member
of this organization, which is doing yeoman service toward keeping
Dixieland Jazz alive in this community).
Click the MIDI logo on each page for a
different music selection

(For profiles of band members click here.
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The birth of Dixieland Jazz is reputed to have taken
place in New Orleans; however, researchers might argue the point that
Bourbon Street Jazz is only one form of Dixieland. Charleston,
South Carolina and the Jenkins Orphanage can also lay claim to their
own distinct style of Dixieland Jazz. It's possible that some New
Orleans influence may have sneaked around Key West by boat to
Charleston, but South Carolina has nurtured it's own Jazz
offspring. The Jenkins Orphanage turned out scores of Jazz
musicians who made it to the big time bands of Duke Ellington, Count
Basie, Lionel Hampton, and others. The orphanage band toured the
US and Europe to raise funds and they were one of the first bands to
introduce Jazz to Europeans. The beat epidemic quickly spread
throughout the southeast in the late 1800's and soon became a part of
the repertoire of all popular musicians. Many South Carolina
musicians saw fame on a worldwide basis. Dizzy Gillespie's famous
trumpet from Cheraw, Sandy Williams' trombone from Summerville -- with
Fletcher Henderson's band, Eartha Kitt from North (SC), Freddie Green's
guitar with Count Basie, from Charleston, etc. From the orphanage
came Jabbo Smith and Cat Anderson (continued on next page).
(Note: Although every effort has been made to keep the files
sizes within reasonable limits without compromising photo quality,
there are multiple color photographs on these pages. They will
probably take a while to load, especially if you are connected at 28.8
with something less than a 233 MHz processor. Patience!)
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