Noble Sissle Research Paper

It is hard for me to imagine the barriers black composers and lyricist had to face in Broadway in the early 20th century, but Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle hit them head on and has earned himself a spot in Broadway’s long history. James Hubert Blake was born Baltimore in 1983 to former slaves. He grew up listening to rag time music, which would be his mark on Broadway. He started playing a pump organ at home before the age of 5, and would being playing professional by the time he was 6. During this time, he would play at brothers and saloons until he had finally secured a steady job at the Goldfield Hotel in Baltimore. In 1915, Blake and Noble Sissle began a long career of working together extensively, forming a partnership that would last for 60 years. Noble Sissle, also born to former slaves, was born in 1889 in Indianapolis. Noble Sissle started of his long life filled with music by singing soprano in his father’s church, and also sang tenor in his high school glee club. After finishing school, he decided to join the Edward Thomas Male Quartet during the Chautauqua movement in America. The Chautauqua movement was a movement in adult education in the united states that
Sissle didn’t shy away from music as he had organized a regimental band. Blake had stayed to lead Europe’s business while the other two were busy with military duties. Along with Europe, the two had created some memorable music until 1919 when Europe was murdered by a member of his band. Sissle and Blake started to work in vaudeville, know as the Dixie Duo. They were the first to perform without blackface, an unprecedented move as white audiences around the country came to expect that of black performers. The two soon began to collaborate. with Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles to grow one of their sketches. This project became the Broadway musical that we know now, Shuffle