Birmingham Jazz Ads: Newspaper File

Birmingham Jazz Ads: Newspaper File

Newspaper advertisements and other news items reflecting the culture and development of jazz in Birmingham, Alabama.

Items in this collection reflect a thriving and influential music community in the heart of the segregated South. Advertisements promote performances by local bandleaders -- in particular, John T. "Fess" Whatley and Sonny Blount -- as well as local appearances by national touring acts, including Duke Ellington, Andy Kirk, Count Basie, Lucky Millinder, Fats Waller, and others. 

Material related to Sonny Blount's Birmingham career reflects the early development of the composer, bandleader, pianist, and poet-philosopher who would later become famous as Sun Ra. Newspaper advertisements from the 1930s and '40s suggest the wide-ranging musical activities Sonny Blount pursued in Birmingham: as bandleader; as director of the Rhythm Four quartet; as innovator with the electric Hammond Solovox; as a regular performer for both Birmingham's Black and white communities; and as headliner for the "live-wire" weekend floor shows at Club Congo and the Grand Terrace, two popular nightspots on the edge of town. 

Advertisements in this collection also reflects the deep-seated culture of segregation in Birmingham. In some cases, Black spaces such as Fourth Avenue North's Masonic Temple or Frolic Theater hosted special performances for white audiences; other ads indicate separate seating -- or altogether separate shows -- for the city's Black and white audiences. 

This material (and other Birmingham jazz items found throughout this archive -- including photos, recordings, oral histories, and more) was compiled by Burgin Mathews, director of the Southern Music Research Center and author of Magic City: How the Birmingham Jazz Tradition Shaped the Sound of America.