Bio-bibliography, Selected Recordings, Research Guide by Bryan Sinclair, Associate University Librarian for Public Services, UNC Asheville Intro :: Musicians A-E :: F-K :: L-R :: S-Z

Bonus Section: North Carolina Jazz Trivia

The "Johnny Appleseed of Jazz"

Question: How did Raleigh newspaperman Josephus Daniels come to be dubbed the "Johnny Appleseed of jazz?" Answer: While serving as secretary of the navy during World War I, Daniels took it upon himself to clean up the red light districts in U.S. port cities frequented by sailors. When he declared New Orleans's Storyville section off-limits, he removed the economic base of the early jazz musicians, causing the music and musicians to scatter to Chicago, Kansas City, and St. Louis. Source: Powell, Lew. The Ultimate North Carolina Quiz Book. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1999.

Donaldson's Movie Dub

Alto saxman Lou Donaldson's (see Musicians A-E) first recorded solo is actually on the soundtrack to the movie "Pitch a Boogie Woogie," which was shot in Greenville, NC, in the late 1940s. A UNC-TV documentary on the film points out that Donaldson and a local group called the Rhythm Vets were enlisted to complete the soundtrack because of problems with Dan Dunning's Orchestra, which is actually seen in the film. Donaldson, fellow alto man Tom Gavin, Richard Jones on trombone, and others recorded the music that was dubbed in to fit the final dance sequence. Source: Dr. Thomas Hennessey, Fayetteville State University (author of From Jazz to Swing: African-American Musicians and Their Music, 1890-1935. Wayne State U P, 1994)

This page last updated 18 March 2004.