Jazz on Broadway

Little Johnny Jones

1904 musical comedy that included the song “Give My Regards to Broadway”

Broadway

offered various forms of entertainment such as operettas, revues, and musical comedies

Musical comedies

portrayed contemporary stories and featured lively music and dancing, showcased the latest musical styles and set national trends

Shuffle Along

proved that shows created by Black artists could achieve mainstream success

Book

theatrical term referring to the overall plot and spoken dialogue between songs in a show

Flournoy Miller & Aubrey Lyles

created the book for Shuffle Along, vaudevillians

Vaudeville

dominant form of entertainment in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century

Circuit

network of affiliated vaudeville theaters

Plot of Shuffle Along

the virtuous Harry runs against the unethical Steve for the position of mayor of Jimtown, Dixieland

Eubie Blake

composer of Shuffle Along

Noble Sissle

lyricist of Shuffle Along

I’m Just Wild About Harry

song from Shuffle Along, used as the campaign song of Harry S. Truman

Success of Shuffle Along

was the eleventh-longest run musical of the 1920s (504 performances)

Shuffle Along, Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed

2016 show about the creation of Shuffle Along

Orchestra for Shuffle Along

included classical instruments and jazz instruments like saxophone, trombone, and trumpet

George White

producer that asked Miller and Lyles to create another musical set in Jimtown

Runnin’ Wild

another musical created by Miller and Lyles; portrayed two deadbeats who decided to leave Jimtown without paying for their lodging and then return after experiencing a real winter

Jazz Your Troubles Away

closing number of Runnin’ Wild

Success of Runnin’ Wild

ran for 213 performances, included the defining song of the Jazz Age (The Charleston)

James P. Johnson

composer for Runnin’ Wild

Cecil Mack

aka Richard Cecil McPherson; lyricist for Runnin’ Wild, celebrated jazz pianist

Elizabeth Welsh

actress that performed The Charleston

The Charleston

the defining song of the Jazz Age, the most famous dance of the 1920s

Structure of The Charleston

thirty-two bar structure split into four phrases; ABA’C

Show-tune form

ABA’C pattern, very prevalent in Broadway songs of the early twentieth century

Riff in The Charleston

short, syncopated, made up of a downbeat note and a note that anticipates the second beat; used as the basis of fifteen of the thirty-two bars

Musical Techniques used in The Charleston

stop-time, heterophony, muted trumpet, string of soloists

Arthur Gibbs and his Gang

recorded The Charleston in 1923