(AKA) Aiken [Aitken and Aikin], “Gus” or “Rice” Augustine
Born in Charleston and resident of the Jenkins Orphanage; known as “Spec” at the orphanage and played in its bands from 1912, then left to work in traveling shows; brother Eugene “Buddy,” also a resident of the orphanage, played trombone and [...]
Trombonist; played in the Jenkins Orphanage Band from 1912; toured with Fletcher Henderson (1921) and worked with Willie Gant, Wilbur Sweatman, Elmer Snowden, Charlie Johnson; he played and recorded with Perry Bradford’s Jazz Phools along with Herb Flemming, Garvin Bushell, Bubber Miley and brother, Gus Aiken, and on recordings with Ethel Waters and Louis Armstrong.
Master percussionist and recording engineer; son of Annie Swinton Johnson and Juan Amalbert, his mother was part of the Mt. Pleasant (SC), east of the Cooper River families of Swintons and Ascues…
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Humanities Council of South Carolina has awarded a $6,750 grant to the Charleston Jazz Initiative to help fund the work of several internationally regarded jazz historians, musicians and scholars who will participate in the CJI’s Legends Festival, a presentation of the 2010 Piccolo Spoleto Festival.
CJI’s co-founder Dr. [...]
Modern Jazz in Charleston: 1950-2000 was CJI’s 4th Annual Return to the Source event. It explored the social and musical perspectives of Charleston’s contemporary jazz scene with two events: JAZZ! Art Quilts in Performance, an exhibition of jazz quilts and artist talk by Dr. Marlene O’Bryant-Seabrook and CJI’s niche program, Conversations in Jazz.
by Karen Chandler
JazzEd
May 2009
“Corner Pocket,” “Whirly Bird,” “Trouble in Mind,” “Ballin’ the Jack,” “Tuxedo Junction,” “Since I Fell for You,” and “Brother Blake.” What does each of these musical compositions have in common? Each is connected in some way to South Carolina and Charleston, in particular.
Written by the nearly 50-year veteran [...]
February 26, 2009
180 3rd graders at the Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts staged an original musical titled “The Charleston.” The musical was conceived and written by dance teacher, Patti Maurer, who was inspired to write the musical after hearing CJI’s Dr. Karen Chandler’s presentation on Charleston’s jazz legacy at the South Carolina [...]
by Jack McCray
Charleston Currents
Nov. 3, 2008
Jack McCray, a writer based in Charleston and co-principal of the Charleston Jazz Initiative, offers these five little-known facts about Charleston’s place in jazz [...]
by Dan Dickenson
College of Charleston Magazine
Winter 2008
Aficionados of jazz know that the work in this musical genre is defined as much by the style and personality of the musicians as it is by the arrangement of musical notes. In fact, jazz tunes aren’t supposed to sound like a particular song, but like the individual artists, [...]
March 27, 2008
To say Charlton Singleton is a musician is basically the same as saying that an alligator is a reptile or that the sea is salty.
I truly believe that if one were to look at Singleton’s DNA under a microscope, one would see actual musical notes connecting the strands together. All through high school [...]
