Blake, Eubie (James Hubert Blake), 1883–1983, African-American pianist and composer, b. Baltimore. His career has extended from ragtime (see jazz jazz, the most significant form of musical expression of African-American culture and arguably the most outstanding contribution the United States has made to the art of music.

Origins of Jazz

Jazz developed in the latter part of the 19th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. ) to the 1980s. With the songwriter Noble Sissle he produced early African-American Broadway musicals, e.g., Shuffle Along (1921). His most famous songs are "Memories of You" and "I'm Just Wild about Harry."

Blake, Eubie

orig. James Hubert Blake

(born Feb. 7, 1883, Baltimore, Md., U.S.—died Feb. 12, 1983, Brooklyn, N.Y.) U.S. songwriter and pianist. He played piano in cafés and brothels as a teenager, and in 1899 he composed his first ragtime song, “Sounds of Africa.” He and his partner, lyricist and vocalist Noble Sissle (1889–1975), were among the first African American performers to appear onstage without minstrel makeup. Their show Shuffle Along (1921), which introduced Paul Robeson and Josephine Baker, was among the first musicals written, produced, and directed by African Americans. In 1925 Blake cowrote the score to Blackbirds of 1930. He achieved his greatest fame when the musical Eubie opened on Broadway (1978). He gave his last concert in 1982.

Blake, (James Hubert) Eubie (1883–1983) composer, pianist; born in Baltimore, Md. He studied piano as a child and sang outside saloons in a vocal quartet at age 12. While a teenager he began playing piano at bordellos, traveling in minstrel shows, and playing in fine hotels in Baltimore and Atlantic City. He published his first song in 1914; in 1915 he met Noble Sissle, who soon became his lyricist; in 1916 they began their long collaboration, producing many classic ragtime hits and performing as the "The Dixie Duo." They also wrote their first Broadway show, the famous all-black musical, Shuffle Along (1921) (including "I'm Just Wild About Harry"). For the next decades, Blake continued his career, writing songs and musicals, sometimes with Sissle, sometimes with other lyricists; Andy Razaf was the lyricist of Blake's signature song "Memories of You" (1930). He led orchestras, toured during World War II, and helped found the Negro Actors Guild; he and Sissle brought an updated Shuffle Along of 1952 to Broadway, but it flopped. By now Blake had slipped into retirement and was largely forgotten until his music was discovered in the late 1960s and he found himself honored as an American original. The musical Eubie (1978) was an anthology of his songs. He performed in public almost until his death.