1930s AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSICAL SOUNDIES BESSIE SMITH ST. LOUIS BLUES JAMES P. JOHNSON XD44594

Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Visit our website These three early musical short subjects (1929-1933) feature rare filmed performances by African American luminaries of the Jazz Age, including Besie Smith, Mills Blue Rhythm Band, and James P. Johnson, along with a full cast of otherwise underrepresented black talent. The films capture top performers in action along with some painful reminders of the limited roles available to entertainers of color in the early sound era (TRT: 36:17). 1) Bessie Smith in “St. Louis Blues” (1929). This two-reel short film starring the “Empress of the Blues” represents the only motion picture footage of Smith, and literally interprets the W.C. Handy standard composition in a rare recording not controlled by Columbia Records. The band features the great James P. Johnson on piano, Joe Smith on cornet, Bernard Addison on banjo and guitar, plus the Hall Johnson Choir with vocal harmonies