Biography of james europe

James Reese Europe (February 22, 1881 – May 9, 1919) was an Americanragtime and early jazz bandleader, arranger, and composer.

James Reese Europe - Library of Congress

He was the leading figure on the African American music scene of New York City in the 1910s. Europe was born in Mobile, Alabama. His family moved to Washington, D.C., when he was 10 years old. He moved to New York in 1904.

In 1910, Europe organized the Clef Club, a society for African Americans in the music industry. In 1912, they made history when they played a concert at Carnegie Hall for the benefit of the Colored Music Settlement School in New York City.

The Clef Club Orchestra was the first jazz band to play at Carnegie Hall.

James Reese Europe - New World Encyclopedia

It is hard to overstate the importance of that event in the history of jazz in the United States. It was twelve years before the Paul Whiteman and George Gershwin concert at Aeolian Hall and twenty-six years before Benny Goodman's famed concert at Carnegie Hall. In the words of Gunther Schuller, Reese "…had stormed the James Reese Europe - Library of Congress LOVAG