Today In Black History
Noble Sissle, Influential Jazz Performer and Composer
Issue #516 Today In Black History, Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Today’s Black History WOW!
Noble Sissle was born on July 10, 1889, in Indianapolis, Indiana, and began his career as a vaudeville performer before meeting his longtime collaborator, Eubie Blake, in 1915. Sissle enlisted in the Army during WWI, served with the Harlem Hellcats, and played in the band with James Reese Europe.
Sissle was a Black American lyricist, vocalist, bandleader, and civic official who was best known for his work with pianist and composer Eubie Blake, with whom he co-created Shuffle Along in 1921. This was a musical comedy that broke from the caricatured imagery of blackface minstrelsy to restore authentic Black artistry to the American stage.
Sissle and Blake also went into vaudeville. As the Dixie Duo, they were the first African American act to perform without darkening their faces with burnt cork in the style of blackface minstrelsy.
The Broadway musical Shuffle Along premiered in 1921 and became a groundbreaking success. Not only did it feature an all-Black cast, but it also introduced popular songs like "I'm Just Wild About Harry" and "Love Will Find a Way" to audiences around the country. In 1948, President Harry Truman used “I’m Just Wild About Harry” as his official campaign song.
Shuffle Along ran for some 500 performances, and after closing on Broadway it toured the country until March 1924. The production exerted an enormous influence on American show business by introducing jazz dancing to Broadway; launching the careers of Florence Mills, Josephine Baker, and many other dancers and singers; and opening doors to further efforts by African American pianist-composers such as James W. Johnson (Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing) and Fats Waller. He also helped advance the career of singer and actress Lena Horne.
In addition to his work with Eubie Blake, Sissle also had a successful solo career. He wrote songs for vaudeville performances, radio shows, and films, and he even recorded several albums as a vocalist.
Sissle was also a civil rights activist who used his platform to advocate for racial equality. In the 1930s, he co-founded the Negro Actors Guild of America, an organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the rights of Black performers in the entertainment industry. In 1950 he assumed the honorary post of mayor of Harlem.
Throughout his life, Sissle remained committed to breaking down barriers and challenging stereotypes. He used his art to amplify the voices of marginalized communities and to celebrate the richness of Black culture. His influence can be seen in the work of countless musicians and performers who followed in his footsteps.
Noble Sissle passed away on December 17, 1975, in Tampa, Florida.
Today In Black History
- In 1708, seven whites were killed during a slave revolt on Long Island. Two Black males and an Indian were hanged, and a Black woman was burned alive.
- In 1704, Elias Neau, a Frenchman, opened a school for Blacks in New York City.
- In 1776, author and poet Phillis Wheatley was invited to the headquarters of General George Washington in Cambridge, MA, to read a poem she had written in his honor.
- In 1778, the Rhode Island General Assembly authorized the enlistment of slaves into the Revolutionary Army.
- In 1859, the Arkansas legislature required free Blacks to choose between exile or enslavement.
- In 1879, a former slave helped thousands of southern Blacks to flee political and economic exploitation in the “Exodus of 1879.”
- In 1932, Black inventor Richard Spikes received a patent for an automatic gear shift.
- In 1940, Black author Richard Wright published Native Son.
- In 1942, there was a race riot at the Sojourner Truth Homes in Detroit.
- In 1943, Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway.
- In 1984, Michael Jackson won 8 Grammy Awards.
- In 1990, Phillip Emeagwaliwas awarded the Gordon Bell Prize (the Nobel Prize for computing) for solving one of the twenty most difficult problems in the computing field.
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