Karen Chandler's Preface

The Charleston Jazz Initiative (CJI) held its official launch with an array of events at the College of Charleston and in other venues in the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, June 2-4, 2005. The papers and presentations documented in these proceedings are from the symposium held on June 4 at the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture.

CJI is a multi-year research project that documents the African American jazz tradition in Charleston, the South Carolina Lowcountry, and its movement throughout the United States and Europe from the late 19th century. This legacy includes many musicians who established successful careers as multi-instrumentalists, ensemble players, and soloists in many of the leading jazz orchestras in the United States and Europe during the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s.

Their story (and their first musical training) began on the coast of the Palmetto State in the mid- to late 19th century -- home to the Avery Normal Institute, a private (and later public) school that trained many black Charlestonians for teaching careers, and the Jenkins Orphanage, one of the country’s first private black orphanages.

Jack McCray begins these proceedings with a discussion of the philosophical and methodological tenets of CJI. A co-authored article by Jack and myself examines the charitable pursuits of the Jenkins Orphanage and its bands. An introduction of A.B. Spellman by Scott Shanklin-Peterson is illustrative of his many years as an arts administrator and jazz advocate with the National Endowment for the Arts. In “Jazz and Charleston’s Cultural Movement,” Spellman’s keynote address offers light-hearted stories and jazz facts of some of Jenkins’ most celebrated musicians.

In “Nothin’ Could Be Finer,” Dan Morgenstern provides fascinating personal reflections of several South Carolina musicians including Jenkins musicians that are less known to even many jazz historians. Jeffrey Green’s “Edmund Thornton Jenkins of Charleston and London” is a rich amalgam of musical, socio-cultural, and political themes in the short life of Reverend Jenkins’ seventh son, Edmund.

“Expatriate Musicians in Europe,” a paper by Wolfram Knauer offers a detailed treatment of the music that black jazz musicians played in Europe and an analysis of how their audiences perceived them and their music. Alvin Batiste provides an interesting perspective on New Orleans and Charleston as “jazz cradles,” and links these sister cities to their West African and diasporan musical cultures in “Inferences of Diaspora Connections.” An insightful summary of Larry Ridley’s closing remarks highlights several aspects of the symposium’s theme.

The last section of these proceedings presents “Oral History Reflections,” a spirited conversation of selected anecdotes and stories with Jenkins family members (Stanley White, Barbara Braithwaite, Jomo Zimbabwe and Rachel Dowling), a former resident of the orphanage (Elizabeth Carter Prioleau), and a Jenkins era musician (Rollins Edwards).

As these proceedings illustrate, the cultural influence of the Jenkins Orphanage Bands, Avery Normal Institute, and Charleston and South Carolina’s African American jazz and music tradition, is an important one. CJI believes that, upon careful examination, their impact as institutions and the musicians that emerged from them, will be more of an important contribution to the American cultural landscape than historians and educators have previously considered.

Jack McCray and I thank each of the symposium contributors who have generously advised CJI and who continue to offer their ongoing support of our work. They have graciously extended their friendship, and undoubtedly, have made these proceedings possible.

We cannot thank enough, Anja Urbanski, our design editor, who worked tirelessly and expertly on these proceedings, and Natalie Renew, who spent countless hours transcribing and editing several presentations.

Throughout these proceedings, photographs are included, many, that are gifts to CJI’s archives. Thanks to all of our donors who have entrusted us with your gifts of photographs and manuscripts. Many thanks go to the Avery Research Center staff and others who have allowed us to use photographs for this publication.

It goes without saying that these proceedings could not have been completed without the generous funding from the College of Charleston’s Office of the Provost and Academic Council; Dean’s Office, School of the Arts; Arts Management Program; and the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture.

Karen Chandler is Associate Professor of Arts Management, School of the Arts at the College of Charleston, and Co-Principal of the Charleston Jazz Initiative. She has authored articles in the Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, Theatre Management Journal, and a book, Curtain Up on the Friends: A History of the Friends of the Kennedy Center Volunteer Program published by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy.