Bronzeville
A place and a spirit....
Bronzeville is the soul of Chicago’s South Side.
1989 and 1990 were important years in my Jazz journey. I was living in Cupertino, and my friend Luis and I were taking in all that the Bay Area could offer in live jazz - and it was cookin’. During that time, I met Marilyn Crispell, Eddie Harris (a funny story for another day), and Anthony Braxton. It was Anthony who pointed me in the direction of the AACM and encouraged me to reach out to the AACM office in Chicago. So I did, but that’s a story for next week’s journey….
In the late 1990s, I went to graduate school at Illinois Institute of Technology. When I’d take the train there for school, I’d get off at 35th-Bronzeville-IIT. But back then, although I was familiar with the AACM and their music, I had no idea what Bronzeville was or the impact that community had on these musicians and their music. To me, it was just a name on a sign at a train stop. I wish I knew then what I know now - that Bronzeville was the soul of the South Side, with a rich and important history. Had I known, instead of taking a right at the exit to IIT, I would have taken a left to explore the many historical landmarks in Bronzeville. Like this one:
As part of the Chicago Public Art Program, sculptor Alison Saar was commissioned to create the Monument to the Great Northern Migration in commemoration of the African-American men and women who traveled from the South to Chicago after the Civil War. The bronze figure waves a hand in welcome and stands atop a mound of worn shoe soles signifying that arduous journey to the North.
And this one:
Built in 1899 as a Jewish synagogue, the Chicago Defender Building housed the Chicago Defender newspaper from 1920–1960. Founded in 1905, the Defender is largely credited for helping to empower African Americans in the South to move to the North for a life of new opportunities.
These are just a few of the historical landmarks in Bronzeville that I so blindly missed back then.
The Black Belt
The area in and around Bronzeville was often referred to as the “Black Belt” or “Black Ghetto” by Chicagoans and the media. Realizing that this didn't sit well with most residents, James Gentry, an editor at the Chicago Bee, proposed that the term "Bronzeville" be used instead to identify the community, feeling that it "more accurately described the skin tone of most of its inhabitants." The population of Bronzeville greatly increased during this period when many Southern African Americans found their way to the neighborhood searching for jobs during the Great Migration.
1916 marks the beginning of the Great Migration, when African Americans left the American South for Chicago with the promise of better jobs and reduced oppression. The reality, however, fell far short of this promise, as conditions were still repressive and segregated. African Americans were restricted to live in the “Black Belt” in white-owned housing largely dilapidated and densely populated.
Bronzeville was the center of African-American history on Chicago’s South Side, just 10 minutes south of downtown. While the boundaries are debatable, there is general agreement that the heart of Bronzeville is from 31st Street south to Pershing Road and east from today's Dan Ryan Expressway to Lake Michigan. Many consider Bronzeville to stretch from 18th Street south all the way to 67th Street.
The neighborhood was home to or served as the launching pad for numerous notable African Americans, including Gwendolyn Brooks, Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Ida B. Wells, Lorraine Hansberry, and Bessie Coleman, among others. Because of the contributions of these people, present day Bronzeville, which was also known as the "Black Metropolis," is one of the nation's most significant landmarks of African-American urban history. Check out this interesting 2 minute clip:
Forced to live in this isolated area, Bronzeville’s residents toiled hard and cooperatively to establish a full-fledged community with business, culture, and community institutions that did not have the racial restrictions enforced in most parts of the city. Bronzeville’s institutions grew to have national influence rivaling and even exceeding those of New York’s Harlem. It was in this environment that many of the men and women who organized the AACM cut their teeth.
Bronzeville Swing - Aristocrat to Chess
I think perhaps the best way to understand the music of Bronzeville during the 1940s and 1950s is to take a look at the music by the Aristocrat record label, officially formed on April 10, 1947 by Charles Aron and his wife Evelyn. So let’s begin with Skeetz Van and his Orchestra.
“Skeetz Van and his Orchestra” was really Tom Archia and his All Stars. Skeetz Van Orn was a real person. He just didn’t have a band. He hung out at the Macomba Lounge and did odd jobs for the legendary DJ Al Benson, the “Godfather of Black Radio.” Bronzeville Swing was recorded at Chicago’s Pershing Ballroom in early 1948. Notice the song is dedicated to the “1949 Mayor of Bronzeville”, in honor of Al Benson. Due to a recording ban, Aristocrat went to great lengths to hide musician’s names and issued tracks later using bogus bandleaders. Archia’s band consisted naturally of Tom Archia on Tenor:
But also included two Chicago legends: Ike Day on drums and the great Gene Ammons on the other tenor, making his debut for Aristocrat. Gene was the son of legendary boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons of Blue Note fame. Albert Ammons recorded Blue Note’s 2nd ever release, issued in January 1939 on a 78rpm 12” shellac.
Here’s a rather low-fi version of Bronzeville Swing by Tom Archia All Stars. No other Aristocrat sessions were recorded live, and it was recorded on tape when tape machines were still a rare commodity:
By September 1947, Leonard Chess, the proprietor of a neighborhood bar and after-hours joint called the Macomba Lounge at 3905 South Cottage Grove, had invested in the company and become involved in the sales end of Aristocrat's operations. Leonard Chess's name was first associated with the company in an item that appeared in Billboard on October 11, 1947; he was identified as a new addition to "the sales staff," meaning he was wholesaling Aristocrat records out of the trunk of his Buick.
Aristocrat had first drawn Leonard Chess's attention in June when Sammy Goldberg, an African-American with a Jewish name, recruited Tom Archia, the tenor saxophonist working in the house trio at the Macomba for a session led by drummer Jump Jackson. The company liked Archia's sound and promptly brought him back for two more sessions as a leader. Leonard Chess also recorded two eventual legends, Sunnyland Slim and Muddy Waters, both recruited by Goldberg.
Leonard and his brother Phil kept their eyes open to buy the company, and when the Arons got a divorce they were finally able to gain possession of the whole organization. Aristocrat’s first major success turned out to be Muddy Waters, Can’t Be Satisfied.
On June 3, 1950, the brothers changed the name of the company to Chess Record Corporation. Their first release was a 78 RPM single, My Foolish Heart, by Gene Ammons.
The Chicago Sound
Of the many things that differentiate the Chicago sound from the Motown or Philly sounds, one of the most notable is its virtuosity—developed thanks to the teachings of James L. Mack. As a music instructor at Crane Junior College, Mack taught students to incorporate classical theories and techniques into jazz, soul, and pop. Mack’s students, known as the “Mack Men,” applied his teachings professionally.
Chess Records was the single most famous, influential, and important blues label ever. The influence of Chess Records is well documented, including the Rolling Stones naming their band after a Muddy Water’s 1950 song “Rollin Stone”:
Buddy Guy said, “Phil and Leonard Chess were cuttin’ the type of music nobody else was paying attention to.” Like the music of Etta James. I love this picture of Etta James.
My wife picked Etta’s classic At Last as our first dance together at our wedding.
As much as I like all those old Chess records, I probably like their sister label, Checker, even more.
Checkers Anyone?
Being a harp player and even with all those great Little Walter Checker records, I still think my favorite Checker release is Little Milton’s 1965 We’re Gonna Make It, which earned Chess its first R&B #1 since Chuck Berry’s Sweet Little Sixteen in 1958.
The interesting thing about Little Milton is that he discovered Fontella Bass in St. Louis, while she was singing in the Leon Claxton carnival show. Milton hired her to back him on piano while in Oliver Sain’s band.
While in St. Louis, Fontella Bass married Lester Bowie. In 1965, they moved up to Chicago. On the recommendation from Milton, Chess Records signed her to their subsidiary Checker Records; and in September 1965, Checker released here solo debut, Rescue Me. It became Chess’s first million-selling record and reached #4 in the US pop charts, the first again since Chuck Berry’s Sweet Sixteen nearly a decade earlier.
You only need to look at the musicians that backed her on this hit to understand the high quality of South Side music: Drummer Maurice White, went on to stardom as founding leader of Earth Wind & Fire; Bassist Louis Satterfield also played with Earth Wind & Fire; Guitarist Pete Cosey was an early AACM member and went on to play with Miles Davis; and finally, back-up singer Minnie Ripperton, who went on to stardom with her song, Loving You. This was the Chess studio band! Lord have mercy.
One more for the road, another classic from early AACM members Eddie Harris and Jodie Christian:
I’ll remember this song the next time I head down to IIT and get off at the 35th-Bronzeville-IIT train stop. I’ll hear someone say, “Wait please. Take a left here and head on over to the Soul of the South Side.”
Next week, we’ll resume our journey back on the West Coast and how I came to have breakfast in Oakland with Lester Bowie, who educated me on Great Black Music - Ancient to the Future.
If you like what you’ve been reading and hearing so far on our journey, please share my newsletter with others - just hit the “Share” button at the bottom of the page.
Also, find my playlist on Spotify: From Fred Astaire to Sun Ra.
Feel free to contact me at any time to talk shop. I welcome and encourage that….
Until then, keep on walking….
Made my morning....gonna get another cup a coffee and listen again
...a little sugar for your coffee.