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Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Slam Stewart | |
|---|---|
 Stewart, c. 1946 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Leroy Elliott Stewart September 21, 1914 Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | December 10, 1987 (aged 73) Binghamton, New York, U.S. |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Double bass |
| Years active | mid-1930s–1987 |
Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart (September 21, 1914 – December 10, 1987)[1] was an American jazz double-bass player whose trademark style was his ability to bow the bass (arco) and simultaneously hum or sing an octave higher. He was a violinist before switching to bass at the age of 20.
Stewart was born in Englewood, New Jersey, United States,[2] and began playing string bass while attending Dwight Morrow High School.[3] While attending the Boston Conservatory, he heard Ray Perry singing along with his violin.[1] This gave him the inspiration to follow suit with his bass.[1] In 1937, Stewart teamed with Slim Gaillard to form the novelty jazz act Slim & Slam.[1] The duo's biggest hit was "Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)" in 1938.[1]
Stewart found regular session work throughout the 1940s with Lester Young, Fats Waller, Coleman Hawkins, Erroll Garner, Art Tatum, Johnny Guarnieri, Red Norvo, Don Byas, Benny Goodman, and Beryl Booker.[1] One of the most famous sessions he played on took place in 1945, when Stewart played with Dizzy Gillespie's group (which featured Charlie Parker). Out of those sessions came some of the classics of bebop such as "Groovin' High" and "Dizzy Atmosphere".
Stewart taught at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York, and at Yale University. He died of congestive heart failure on December 10, 1987, in Binghamton, aged 73.[4]
Mr. Stewart, whose real name was Leroy, was born in Englewood, N.J. on Sept. 21, 1914
Leroy Elliot Slam Stewart was born on September 21st, 1914 in Englewood, New Jersey. Stewart started his musical journey at age six playing the violin. Claiming he didn't care for the timbre of the violin, Stewart switched to the string bass while attending Dwight Morrow High School.
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart (September 21, 1914 – December 10, 1987) was an American jazz double-bass player whose trademark style was his ability to bow the bass (arco) and simultaneously hum or sing an octave higher. He was a violinist before switching to bass at the age of 20.
Slim & Slam was a musical partnership in the late 1930s and early 1940s consisting of Bulee "Slim" Gaillard (vocals, guitar, vibes and piano) and Leroy Elliott "Slam" Stewart (bass and vocals). They produced novelty jazz numbers featuring Slim's distinctive vocal style with vocalese and scats, hipster argot and nonce words. Sam Allen played piano and Pompey "Gus" Dobson played drums on most of their early recordings. Their biggest hit was "Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)". Other musicians who recorded with Slim & Slam included Charlie Parker, Ben Webster, Jimmy Rowles, Kenny Clarke, Al Killian, Chico Hamilton, Leo Watson and Garvin Bushel. The song "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard is loosely based on Slim & Slam's 1938 "Tutti Frutti" (Vocalion 4225).
Tarik Shah (January 24, 1963) is an African American Muslim with a career as a professional jazz musician. As the sole student of Slam Stewart, Shah began playing the upright bass at age 12 and went on to play with Betty Carter, Ahmad Jamal, Abbey Lincoln and Art Taylor among others. He is a composer, a jazz educator, and lyricist. An expert in martial arts, Mr. Shah was arrested in May 2005 at the age of 42 in New York City, accused and eventually charged with providing aid for terrorist activity based on evidence from an FBI sting. He initially pled not guilty to all charges. After 31 months of solitary confinement, he was convinced a fair trial was unlikely given the Islamophobia following 9-11. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.According to the complaint, both also made a formal oath of loyalty, called a bayat, to al-Qaeda in a meeting with an undercover F.B.I. agent that was secretly recorded. An indictment handed up by a federal grand jury Monday accused the men of conspiring to provide material support for terrorism, specifically for al-Qaeda. It was less than a page long and added no details.Mr. Shah's case is represented as an example of the U.S. government's use of agent provocateurs who entrap or set up "innocent or unaware Muslims who had no interest in terrorism" targeting individuals for "preemptive prosecution." They hung out at mosques and bookstores frequented by faithful Muslims to develop rapport leading to friendship. They offered money "to anyone who will join them in jihad." In 2007, Reuters reported that Shah pleaded guilty to "one count of conspiring to support al Qaeda. In exchange, prosecutors dropped one of the terrorism charges against him." Two undercover FBI agents (a.k.a. informants) were involved in Shah's entrapment case. Yemeni informant Mohamed Alanssi targeted Shah on December 1, 2001, months after 9-11, at Farhane’s Islamic bookstore in New York City. Theodore Shelby, an ex-convict and former Black Panther using the name Saeed, "was sent by the government to approach Mr. Shah under the guise of seeking bass lessons." Saeed became the subject of the 2015 film (T)ERROR, winner of a Sundance Special Jury Prize for Breakout First Feature Film in 2015, which won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Documentary in 2017. It is the only documentary to capture an active, FBI undercover sting. Shah's case is offered as previous case.
Bulee "Slim" Gaillard (January 9, 1911 – February 26, 1991), also known as McVouty, was an American jazz singer and songwriter who played piano, guitar, vibraphone, and tenor saxophone. Gaillard was noted for his comedic vocalese singing and word play in his own constructed language called "Vout-o-Reenee", for which he wrote a dictionary. In addition to English, he spoke five languages (Spanish, German, Greek, Arabic, and Armenian) with varying degrees of fluency. He rose to prominence in the late 1930s with hits such as "Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)" and "Cement Mixer (Put-Ti-Put-Ti)" after forming Slim and Slam with Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart. During World War II, Gaillard served in the U.S. Army Air Forces. In 1944, he resumed his music career and performed with such notable jazz musicians as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Dodo Marmarosa. In the 1960s and 1970s, he acted in films—sometimes as himself—and also appeared in bit parts in television series such as Roots: The Next Generations. Gaillard resumed touring the circuit of European jazz festivals during the 1980s.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker
