Prejudice

Prejudice the horrible condition that has existed as the bane of humanity since the beginning of time. Prejudice is defined as An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. We are all guilty of it in some form or another regardless of if we admit it or not. The nature of the human condition is to fear change and what is different. One thing in America began to blur the lines of prejudice and started to erode the racism that was rampant throughout the country and that one thing was Jazz. The common pleasure derived from Jazz was a catalyst for certain relationships between blacks and whites that, at the time, were unheard of. If one had an ear for it Jazz was a common language understood by anyone regardless of skin color. Its impossible to admire a piece of music performed perfectly and not admire the musician performing it. White America began to realize that this new music coming from the predominantly black areas of New Orleans and elsewhere was something to be admired regardless of the obtuse way of thinking in regards to a persons skin color.

During the 1920s and 30s Jazz musicians were able to enjoy the social freedom to associate with whom they wanted, outside of the social norm of the United States at that time. Many enduring friendships were made by white and black musicians, but outside of the Jazz world certain elements were still in place that greatly looked down on these friendships. The music was enjoyed by most all Americans but in a strange way rejected at the same time. It would seem that white America loved to hear the music as long as they could not see it performed by interracial bands or even bands that might look interracial even if they were not! Billie Holiday tells of an incident at the Fox Theater in Detroit when she was performing with Count Basies band:

"After three performances the first day, the theater management went crazy. They claimed they had so many complaints about all those Negro men up there on the stage with those bare-legged white girls, all hell cut loose backstage. The next thing we know, the revamped the whole show. They cut out the girls middle number. And when the chorus line opened the show, they fitted them out with special black masks and mammy dresses. They did both their numbers in blackface and those damn mammy getups.
When he saw what was happening, Basie flipped. But there was nothing he could do. We had signed the contracts to appear and we had no control over what the panicky theater managers did. But that wasnt the worst of it. Next they told Basie that I was to yellow to sing with all the black men in his band. Somebody might think I was white if the light didnt hit me just right. So they got special dark grease paint band told me to put it on. It was my turn to flip. I said I wouldnt do it. But they had our names on the contracts and if I refused it might have played hell with bookings, not just for me, but for the future of all the cats in the band. So I had to be darkened down so the show could go on in dynamic-assed Detroit. Its like they say, theres no damn business like show business. You had to smile to keep from throwing up."

The traveling black Jazz musician faced many unnecessary hardships on the because of the blatant racism of certain areas of the country. Being refused service at restaurants, denied access to hotels and even some clubs where the band was performing refused to allow the entertainers to use the front doors. For the white Jazz musician things were not as bad but Stan Shaw recalls an incident when he was traveling with an all black band in Virginia saying:

"I was one of the first white musicians that ever went below the Mason-Dixon Line with an all black group. Lips Page took me when I was fifteen on a tour of the south. We played at the Star Theater in Norfolk, Virginia. It was a segregated theater; they had the whites in the orchestra seats and the blacks in the balcony. I dont know why Lips accepted the engagement. I guess they were all segregated. There was a tremendous uproar when the curtains parted and there we were. Apparently white people thought I was lowering myself to play with a black group and the black people thought I was intruding on their music. The whole audience started towards the stage; they came to get us. Lips ran out the back door of the theater yelling "Cops! Police!" And the cops came swinging their clubs at us! We ran like hell for the train station. I left four hundred dollars worth of drums in the Star Theater in Norfolk, Virginia. We got out of there with our lives and we were lucky."

The first black musician to be hired by a major white band was Teddy Wilson who was hired by Benny Goodman. Jimmy Maxwell told of an incident in which Benny made it a point to stand by his new band member saying:

"Benny is a very mercenary man. Hes very interested in money. But he cut off almost half the country for Teddy Wilson. He didnt want to travel in the South with the band, so he cut off a large part of his income. Ive heard him stand up, even in the New Yorker, the first time we went in there. We had Sid Catlett, John Simmons, Charlie Christian, Cootie Williams, five or six black guys. And I remember the manager saying "I dont want these black guys coming in through the lobby and through the restaurant. In fact, I dont even want them here at all." And Benny said "Well, Im sorry. This is my band. If you dont want them in the band then screw yourself. Were walking out." So then he said, "Well, they'll have to go through the kitchen." Benny said "They do not go through the kitchen." Then he said "All of the musicians go through the kitchen." And Benny said, "None of the musicians go through the kitchen." "Well, then they cant wear their uniforms when they come." " All right, they wont wear their uniforms." But he stuck up for them. It wasnt just he put black guys in the band and then said Good luck you know. He didnt give any particular race or guy a bad time. If he was giving anybody a bad time it was just he felt that way. It wasnt because of their ethnic background."

Many black Jazz musicians turned to Islam for religious and social reasons thinking it would help fight the racism they faced in America. The line of thought was that as a member of the Muslim faith they were no longer a colored from poor America. As a Muslim they were someone important. Milt Hinton recalls a trip with a band in Nebraska where he witnessed first hand this new empowerment found by newly converted musicians:

"We had a guy in the band named Rudy Powell. He changed his name to Musa Kalim. He wore a fez and grew a little beard. They got into town after midnight and found everything closed. Having no way to locate the rooming houses that accepted black musicians, they decided to park the bus in front of the theater and sit there until morning. Rudy had a better idea. He walks into this white hotel and the minute he hits the door the man said, "Im sorry were filled up." Rudy says, "Wheres the manager?" The manager comes out and says "Well it isnt the policy of this hotel to rent rooms to colored." Rudy says "Im not colored." He whips this card out which says, My name is Musa Kalim and I am a descendant of Father Abraham and the mother, Hagar and Im entitled to all the rights and privileges of the Mystic Knights. He's wearing this fez. He says "Call the State Department in Washington. I want to speak to someone in the State Department right now!" The manager got scared to death. "Im sorry sir" he says. "We'll get you a room." Rudy says "I've got nine of my brothers out in the bus there and they dont speak English. Ive got to have room for the nine." So the guy claps his hands says to the bellhop "Get this Gentleman nine rooms." Rudy got up the next morning and collected the money from all the guys and paid the bill and walked out."

The civil rights movement brought about many changes in the way that black musicians were treated but some black musicians felt that Jazz should be an exclusively black expression. It was of course to late for that. The idea of this great jazz medium had already escaped and there was no stopping it from spreading to all types of people. In 1958 George Wein arranged to stage a jazz festival at the old resort hotel at French Lick in southern Indiana. He demanded and received assurances that there would be no discourtesies shown the black musicians and fans who would be visiting the formerly lily white resort. The hotel manager told George that French Lick had changed with the times. When Gerry Mulligan Quartet arrived there however, Art Farmer and Dave Bailey expressed doubts about using the swimming pool. They wanted to avoid any ugly scenes.

From the lobby the blue water of the pool looked inviting and Art and Dave had just about decided to go get into their swimsuits when Dizzy Gillespie stepped out of the elevator. He was wearing bathing trunks from the French Rivera, an embroidered skull cap from Greece and embroidered slippers with curled up toes that he'd picked up in Turkey. A Sheraton Hotel bath towel draped over his shoulders like a cape was fastened at the neck with a jade scarab pin from Egypt. With a Chinese ivory cigarette holder in his left hand and a powerful German multiband portable radio in his right, he beamed cheerfully through a pair of Italian sunglasses. "I've come to integrate the pool!" he announced. He led the way to the beach chairs at poolside, enthroning himself in one. After he had the attention of everyone at the poolside he grabbed Jimmy McPartland who had also come down for a swim. Arm in arm, the two trumpet players marched to the diving board and jumped in together and the last barrier to integration at French Lick was down.

Greg