Jazz and the Roaring 20's: Hannah Clemmons

I decided to delve into the topic of the most underrated musicians of the 1920’s. By researching this topic I found a common theme among most writers that they believed that Sidney Bechet and Earl Hines were among the top underrated musicians. Now, these artists did not have a very wide acclaim until the later 40’s.

Sidney Bechet was born in New Orleans in 1897. He spent most of his adolescence in New Orleans but took up to the road in 1914. His first recording was on July 30, 1923. Some of his earliest to survive were “Wildcat blues”, and “Kansas City Man Blues”. On September 15, 1925, Bechet and some of his band members left the states to begin touring overseas. He returned home in 1929 right after the stock market crash. It was difficult after that point for Bechet to find well-paid work and to really perform what he loved. It wasn’t until 1953 when he signed a lifelong contract with French Vogue that his financial situation turned around and he recorded some of his greatest hits.

Earl Kenneth “Fatha” Hines was born in December of 1903. He took classical piano lessons and had a good ear and a great memory as people said. He picked up show tunes easily from the theatre and knew them months before the scripts came out. At the age of 17 Earl moved out to play with Lois Deppe & his "Symphonian Serenaders”. In 1925 he then moved to Chicago then the “jazz” capital. There, in the poolroom at Chicago's Musicians' Union on State & 39th, Earl Hines met Louis Armstrong. They and a drummer had a band name ‘The Unholy Three’. However that did not last but a few years. In December 1928 Hines opened with his own big band at Chicago’s Grand Terrace. For the next twelve years Hines said, “All America is dancing”. In 1948 Earl joined up with Louis again for a few years performing with the ‘All-Stars’. In 1964, after being ‘retired’ for a while, Hines was rediscovered. In 1966 NY Times rated him the ‘No. 1 Jazz Pianist’. He would achieve this award sixxmore times.

Looking at the awards and fame that these young men received, one would come to wonder why they are viewed as underrated in the 1920’s. The simplest, and most relatable reason would be because of their ethnicity. Racial discrimination was at one of its highest points during those times. Our country was extremely divided and it wasn’t until the market crash that we learned to lean more on each other and find some acceptance of the other races. The market crash did not solve racial discrimination, but it did allow some of these artists and musicians to see more of the spotlight.

The following video is Sidney Bechet's Wild Cat Blues.