Jacksonville’s Glittering Musical Past

                     by Andy Bruck  

Thanks primarily to the efforts of now deceased Local 444 member Teddy Washington, we are able to present a glimpse into an era in Jacksonville that earned it the reputation of Harlem of the South. In addition, there are some good resources on that history, including https://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-may-ashley-street-the-harlem-of-the-south 

and that website’s forum, https://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=6732.30 

On the forum, I discovered a broken link to and then tracked down a dissertation by Peter Dunbaugh Smith, “Ashley Street Blues: Racial Uplift and the Commodification of Vernacular Performance in Lavilla, Florida, 1896-1916. 

In it, he writes that “Vaudeville houses, theatrical stock companies, touring tent shows, and honky-tonk theaters comprised this dynamic local scene, providing important venues for the exchange of newly emergent performance practices and ideologies. Individuals and institutions with ties to LaVilla have made significant contributions to African-American vernacular culture…. Although this period is characterized by the implementation of legally enforced segregation and progressively encroaching “Jim Crow” laws, it also represents black entertainment’s final chapter before innovations in communication

technologies necessitated entirely new economic strategies. Performing for segregated black audiences on stages owned by black businessmen, entertainers began to explore new and distinctively African-American styles and themes, including new forms of music, such as jazz and the blues.” 

Follies Awards: A Door To Our Past

Local 444 member and trumpeter Teddy Washington helped open the gateway to this bustling musical past with his Follies Awards. In the 1980's, he hosted the Teddy Washington Show, which ran for over 550 episodes, featuring interviews with and performances by many groups and individuals, including Marcus Roberts and Longineau Parsons. His guests included many musicians who either lived or got their start in Jacksonville. During this period,  jazz club thrived  on Ashley Street (near where the LaVilla Arts Magnet School now stands) such as the Strand Theater, Club Eldorado, and the K.P. Hall. The owner of the Hollywood Music Store, Joe Higdon, created a popular venue for touring artists at the Two Spot. Greats the likes of B.B. King, Ray Charles, James Brown, Charlie Singleton, to name a few, actively participated in this thriving musical renaissance. Teddy established the Follies to pay tribute to these Jacksonville-connected artists, many of whom today's residents may have either forgotten or even never known about. Many toured with the great jazz bands of the era. This page touches on those that Teddy honored through his Follies Awards.

1999 Follies Award Recipients

FOLLIES SPECIAL AWARDS

B.B. King - Renowned jazz guitarist.

Bobby Glenn - Clarinetist, club owner of All That Jazz, he passed away since receiving his award.

Ray Charles - Legendary blind singer/pianist. He moved here from Georgia to live with his aunt and attend the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind.

Dr. W.W. Shell, Jr. - A music lover, who hosted all night jam sessions at his home, attracting some of the biggest names in jazz.

Bob Merendino - Rana small jazz nightclub in Five Points, Riverside Lounge, for 20 years or so.

E.J. "Lawdy" Norman - Singer, dancer and comedian of the mid-forties. He was Charlie Singleton's co-partner in the April Follies, a park event that offered a venue for local talent. After Charlie left to New York and "Stranger's in the Night" fame, E.J. went in to politics in Jacksonville. 

MEMBERS OF THE FULL COUNTS BAND

Singing quartet, they toured nationwide, ended up back in Jacksonville. Temptations type style.
 

Thomas "Tom" Edwards - Singer, worked in New York, Europe, still alive and active in Jacksonville
Norm Trice, singer for 20-30 years
Ernest "Fort" Johnson, singer
Clifton "Lawdy" Alexander, singer

OTHER INDIVIDUALS

Johnny Shaw - Jazz guitarist, from Nashville to attend Fisk University, noted for their choral groups. Moved to Jacksonville, big-time disc jockey for WOBS, on the road with different bands, his son a drummer living in Detroit.

Marie Buggs - blues/jazz singer, frequented Jax nightclubs. Her international reputation was largely unknown locally. She worked in the Apollo Theatre in New York, and toured with Josephine Baker in Paris. She was the subject of a PBS special.

Joe Grant -A music agent and partner of Joe Higgin, owner of the Hollywood Music Store. He is credited with bringing many of the big bands to perform at the K.P. Hall and later the Two Spot -- Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway in the 1920's, and Billy Eckstine Count Basie and Earl Hines in the 1940's. This was the era when Eckstine featured artists such as Fats Navarro, James Moody, Dizzie Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Dizzie and Charlie also played together in the Earl Hines band with Pester Young and Sarah Vaughn. Duke had performed only in white clubs such as the Timiquana Golf Course until this venue was created. Joe had the Sunset Royals Band in the 1920's and 30's, a very popular Florida band that appeared before the Governor among others.

Jackie Davis - One of the finest jazz organists, he was featured in the movie Caddyshack, and toured worldwide with Louis Jordan and the Timpani Five. He worked for the Hammond Organ Company. In his travels, he was authorized to donate Hammond Organs, one of which is now housed at Edward Waters College.

Virginia Atter Keyes - singer and TV personality, she hosted a local variety show in the early days of TV, on the first Jacksonville station. Her guests included Russell George, and Ross Tompkin, and Dick Stratton.

John Stanberry - blues guitarist and singer, famous for the 1960's song "Hokie-Pokie", of the Doowop style.

Ken Knight - Promoter, and the first black disc jockey in Jacksonville, on WIVY, he had his own TV show on Channel 3 (now Channel 4) . He was the first to bring a show featuring black culture to white TV.

Ethel Bannister - gospel singer, nationally known, her group's modus operandi was to work with local choirs while on tour.

Frank Legree, Jr. - An dancer/entertainer with a dance partner working out of Tampa, they performed in Florida and the Carribbean. He then joined the Jacksonville-based Tiny York Band.

Gene White - keyboardist, choral director at Ribault High Sxhool, currently a minister as well. He had a Doowop style band that toured Florida, with Robert Mitchell, former Edward Waters College President.

Billie Daniels - famed for the song "Old Black Magic", also a movie star. His daughter, Yvonne, was a big jazz singer and radio personality in Chicago, which named a street after her.

Frank Williams - tenor saxophonist, featured in the Ritz Theatre history gallery, played locally and on the road. He founded a nightclub and orchestra, Frank Williams and the Rocketeers, which featured the young singer "Little Beaver", known for the song "Soul Train".

Nadine Brown - Jazz/blues singer and recording artist with quite a few bands, featured on TV shows, and popular in New York.

Charlie "Hoss" Singleton -Songwriter most known for "Strangers in the Night", wrote for Pat Boone, Nat King Cole, and the Beatles, among others. His son, Warner, plays the sax, and lives in Jacksonville.

Bubba McGruder - Trumpeter with Count Basie. He played in the Henry Washington Band. In Jacksonville, he frequented the Two Spot Club.

William "Sleepy" Gillard - A Big Band drummer and singer who has worked with Otis Redding and B.B. King.

Tiny York - A tenor player. Many artists, including Ray Charles, Ross Tompkins, Dwight Mitchell, Geno Gonzalez and Teddy Washington played in the Tiny York Band. He went with Russell George to New York .