JIM EUROPE

Birth: 	Feb. 20, 1880 Death: 	May 19, 1919 United States Army Officer, Jazz Musician, Composer. He was a World War I hero, influential ragtime musician, composer and bandleader and famous leader of the 369th Infantry named the "Hell Fighters" band during World War I. He is credited with bringing ragtime music out of the bordellos and juke joints into mainstream society and elevating African American music into a accepted art form. He was an unrelenting fighter for the dignity of African American musicians and for them to be paid on the same scale as their white peers. Europe was also leader of the U. S. Military band that was responsible for introducing France to the syncopated rhythms of African Americans. He was a major figure in New York's African American musical community in the years leading up to World War I. Throughout his career he collaborated with Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle read more...