Black Manhattan: Music of the Legendary “Clef Club”
$15.00
BLACK MANHATTAN: THEATER AND DANCE MUSIC OF JAMES REESE EUROPE, WILL MARION COOK, AND MEMBERS OF THE LEGENDARY ‘CLEF CLUB’
(New World Records 800611-2):
Performed by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, Rick Benjamin, conductor;
featuring Edward Pleasant, baritone, and Awet Andemichael, soprano.
BLACK MANHATTAN: THEATER AND DANCE MUSIC OF JAMES REESE EUROPE, WILL MARION COOK, AND MEMBERS OF THE LEGENDARY ‘CLEF CLUB’
(New World Records 800611-2):
Performed by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, Rick Benjamin, conductor;
featuring Edward Pleasant, baritone, and Awet Andemichael, soprano.
The Clef Club of New York City, Inc. was a fraternal and professional organization founded in 1909 to showcase the quality, dignity, and professionalism of African-American performers. The Clef Club was also the home of several once-famous black composers, ten of whom are now honored on this revelatory new CD. Produced by Grammy winner Judith Sherman, this fine digital recording features the PRO performing 19 stirring rags, fox trots, marches, songs, novelties, and other “hits” (most never before recorded) by Clef Club composers; it also includes a 40-page illustrated historical booklet. In addition to music by Jim Europe and Cook, highlights include works by Will Vodery (mentor of Duke Ellington and Gershwin), songs by the brothers James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamund Johnson, and the first published rag by a black composer – William Tyer’s 1896 “Sambo.” Through its rare and irresistibly charming music, Black Manhattan weaves an African-American story of talent, persistence, and courage that will thrill and inspire.
“The Castle Perfect Trot” (1914), James Reese Europe – Ford T. Dabney.
“Carolina Fox Trot” (From the Ziegfeld Follies of 1914), Will H. Vodery.
Overture to In Dahomey (1902/03), Will Marion Cook.
“Deep River: Old Negro Melody” (1916), arr. Harry T. Burleigh.
“Sambo: A Characteristic Two Step March” (1896), Will H. Tyers.
“When the Band Plays Ragtime” (song,1902), Bole Cole & the Johnson Brothers.
“Castle House Rag” (1914), James Reese Europe.
“Smyrna: A Turkish Serenade” (1910/1914), Will H. Tyers.
“Ballin’ the Jack & What It Takes to Make Me Love You” (medley fox trot, 1914),
Chris Smith & James Reese Europe.
“Meno D’Amour” (intermezzo, 1906), Will H. Tyers.
“Hey There! (Hi There!)” (one step, 1915), James Reese Europe.
“Tar Heel Blues Rag” (1915), J. Tim Brymn.
“Congratulations” (“the Castles’ Lame Duck Waltz,” 1914), James Reese Europe.
“Strut Miss Lizzie” (fox trot, 1921), J. Turner Layton/arr. Will Vodery.
“Panama: A Characteristic Novelty” (1910/1911), Will H. Tyers.
“The Clef Club March” (1910), James Reese Europe.
“Under the Bamboo Tree” (song, 1902), Bob Cole & the Johnson Brothers.
“Cocoanut Grove Jazz” (1917), J. Tim Brymn.
“Swing Along!” (1902/1912), Will Marion Cook.
“Want wings anybody? They’re yours for the asking, thanks to these splendid performances by Rick Benjamin and his Paragon Ragtime Orchestra…This release is delectable…” – FANFARE magazine
“Black Manhattan…offers the most representative sampling of composers and songwriters active in the New York African American entertainment scene during the first quarter of the twentieth century. Moreover, the recording remains particularly useful to jazz educators because it presents in clear audio fidelity the artists and music that helped establish the foundation for big bands in the 1920s and 1930s.” – AMERICAN MUSIC magazine
"Benjamin and his orchestra filled the second half of the evening with lilting, humorous, and even elegant readings of ragtime numbers, a W.C. Handy blues song, and even a Sousa march…Popular music, A.D. 1900, is still going strong." – Pasadena Star News
Kansas City Star
“This group is like a ragtime early music ensemble, striving to protect the integrity of this uniquely American musical genre.” – Kansas City Star
Fanfare 2
“…delightfully infectious. The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and its dynamic director have found a winning formula for educating the public in the most enjoyable way…” – Fanfare magazine
LaCrosse Tribune
“The magical, musical time machine.” – La Crosse Tribune
Washington Post 2
“Summoning both the subtle interplay and brassy vitality these pieces demand, the PRO does itself proud.” – The Washington Post
Buffalo News
“The results were irresistible. Halfway through the opening Knock-Out Drops Rag, someone enthused audibly, ‘Gee, they’re terrific!’ She was right.” – Buffalo News
American Heritage
“…the twelve-member Paragon Ragtime Orchestra has been touring the country in the ghostly footsteps of the thousands of ‘theater orchestras’ that once played in every hotel, vaudeville hall, and fair-sized restaurant. Few of them can have played with more bite and sparkle than the Paragon.” – American Heritage magazine
Gramophone
“…genteel melodic lines swim like fish through pure water.” – Gramophone magazine
BBC Music magazine
“superbly presented….prize-worthy.” – BBC Music magazine
American Music magazine
“… a deft, crisp, and energetic group…. one of the premiere forces in the reassertion of this repertoire in our musical consciousness.”
– American Music magazine
New York Times
“Best of all, the concert came off not as a dry musicological dig, but as an evening of…abidingly energetic fun.” – The New York Times
Wall Street Journal
“…protecting an important American treasure…not just be a pleasure to hear but for many a true revelation.” – The Wall Street Journal
Washington Post
“Vibrantly revived music.” – The Washington Post
Classics Today
“There’s plenty of variety here to give a representative sampling of some of the era’s finest pop music, and it’s all played with polish, authenticity, and all-out enthusiasm by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra under Rick Benjamin’s inspired direction.” – Classics Today
Fanfare magazine
“If PRO is not already labeled a national treasure it should be.” – Fanfare magazine
Philadelphia Inquirer
“Four Stars…The music is incomparably sweet and stirring. And Rick Benjamin, who founded and conducts the PRO, is a musician of wit and sensibility.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Denver Post
“To hear the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra play the compositions of Scott Joplin or Irving Berlin… is to hear the promise many Americans felt about the prospects for the U.S. a century ago.”
– Denver Post
The San Francisco Chronicle
"Ragtime and opera joined hands and danced together in the most joyous fashion at Stern Grove on Sunday afternoon, with a vigorous and utterly charming performance of Scott Joplin’s 'Treemonisha'…the score, superbly led by conductor Rick Benjamin, is a resourceful marvel….For this performance Benjamin…unveiled his new arrangement of 'Treemonisha' for the 11-piece Paragon Ragtime Orchestra. That lithe, pungent blend of strings, woodwinds and brass…gave the performance a lively grace that helped fill the sunny meadow to perfection.”
– The San Francisco Chronicle
