SOUTH FALLSBURG, NY — On Saturday, May 5 at 8 p.m., Chamber Music at St. Andrew’s offers a special WWI Centennial Tribute to James Reese Europe (1880-1919) and the Harlem Hellfighters. In …
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SOUTH FALLSBURG, NY — On Saturday, May 5 at 8 p.m., Chamber Music at St. Andrew’s offers a special WWI Centennial Tribute to James Reese Europe (1880-1919) and the Harlem Hellfighters. In 1918, Europe took his Harlem Hellfighters band to France as part of the Allied Expeditionary forces, introducing jazz to the continent.
The concert will examine and honor this almost forgotten superhero of American music, who also made huge contributions to African-American history, labor history, New York cultural history and music history.
The program will include music that influenced Europe: Joplin, Sousa, Victorian parlor music and music he wrote as a master bandleader for Irene and Vernon Castle. New arrangements are based on the recordings he made with his Harlem Hellfighters Band and vocalist Noble Sissle, upon his return from overseas. Those recording sessions took place just weeks before he was murdered by a member of his own band.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church is located at 5277 Rte. 42. The concert is free, but reservations are required; email pcfried man27@gmail.com (preferred) or call: 845/292-8967
This concert is made possible in part with funds from the 2018 Decentralization Program, a re-grant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by DVAA, and through the generosity of local businesses and individuals, as well as St. Andrew’s Episcopal Mission. However, these sources do not cover all expenses. Donation checks can be made out to St. Andrew’s Mission and sent to PO Box 55, Woodbourne, NY 12788. Contributions are tax-deductible.
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