Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection

Smith, Ernie

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Webster, Ben

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Robinson, Bill, 1878-1949

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Jazz dancer. From the description of Autograph card signed : [n.p.], [194-?]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270904716 ...

Jamal, Ahmad, 1930-....

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Goodman, Benny, 1909-1986

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Benny Goodman was born in Chicago, May 30, 1909. He received his first musical training at a local synagogue, and later studied clarinet with Franz Schoepp. Goodman made his debut at the age of twelve, and left home to become a full-time professional clarinetist when he was sixteen. After a decade of performing as a free-lancer and as a member of Ben Pollak's band, Goodman established his first big band in 1934, and soon it achieved unprecedented success. He won great ac...

Fitzgerald, Ella, 1917-1996

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Ella Fitzgerald (b. April 25, 1917, Newport News, VA–d. June 15, 1996, Beverly Hills, CA) was an American jazz singer often referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing and intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. After tumultuous teenage years, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with the Chick Webb Orchestra, performing across the country, but...

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974

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Duke Ellington (b. Edward Kennedy Ellington, April 29, 1899, Washington, DC–d. May 24, 1974, New York, NY) was a composer, pianist, and jazz orchestra leader. He began piano lessons at 7 and wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag", in 1914. Ellington became a more serious piano student as a teenager after hearing poolroom pianists in Washington, DC. Ellington moved to Harlem, ultimately becoming part of the Harlem Renaissance in the early 1920s. He began a regular booking at the Cott...

Davis, Miles, 1926-1991

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Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musical directions in a five-decade career that kept him at the forefront of many major stylistic developments in jazz. Born in Alton, Illinois, and raised in East St. Louis, Davis left to study at the Juilliard School in New York City, before dropping...

Basie, Count, 1904-1984

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Armstrong, Louis, 1901-1971

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Louis Armstrong, a jazz musician and entertainer, was born on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He claimed to have been born on July 4, 1900, which is the date given on his World War I draft card. However, recent research gives good documentation to the August 4, 1901 date, including his baptismal certificate. Some sources also cite 1898 as his birth date. He died on July 6, 1971. Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an inventive trumpet a...

Bryant, Marie, 1917-1978

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Marie Bryant (November 6, 1917 – May 23, 1978) was a versatile and vivacious African American dancer and singer, who worked with such jazz luminaries as Duke Ellington and Lester Young. She also became a force behind-the-scenes in Hollywood as a dance teacher and movement coach, as well as a choreographer and dance director for a wide variety of entertainers working in nightclubs, film, and television. Bryant was born in Meridian, Mississippi, but moved with her family as a child to New Orlea...