"Eubie Blake was one of the most important figures in early-20th-century African-American music, and one whose longevity made him a storehouse of the history of ragtime and early jazz music and culture. Born in Baltimore in 1883, Blake began playing piano professionally when he was 16; he wrote his first composition, "Sounds of Africa," (later retitled "Charleston Rag") around the same time. His career did not really take off until he met Noble Sissle in 1915. Together, Blake and Sissle wrote many hits. Blake also collaborated with Andy Razaf (on "Memories of You"), Henry Creamer, and other writers, composing more than 350 songs."
If it wasn't for Eubie we would not have the progression of music that we have. The original ragtime and jazz music can be heard in almost everything we hear today, just progressed and changed, but it wouldn't have been possible without people like Eubie. Also, just a quick note you can see just in the first part of this where they said that his song was re-titled from originally being "Sounds of Africa", that he had to deal with a lot of prejudice and stupidity just to get his music out - that fact really stood out to me.Thank you Mr. Blake for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Eubie Blake. :-)
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200038834/default.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21SMdsr-i78
"Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind - listen to the birds. And don't hate nobody." - Eubie Blake
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