Jason Moran: James Reese Europe and The Absence of Ruin

Jason Moran is presenting a new project called James Reese Europe and the Absence of Ruin that explores the legacy of bandleader James Reese Europe, an almost mythic figure from the dawn of jazz. Together with his regular trio The Bandwagon, of bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits, described by The New York Times as “the best rhythm section in jazz”, and a talented group of young British players – trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi, trombonists Joe Bristow and Rosie Turton, tuba player Hanna Mubya plus Mebrakh Johnson, Kaidi Akinnibi and Alam Nathan on reeds – they’ll be performing original compositions by Moran that re-imagine the music of James Reese Europe’s 396th US Infantry ‘Hell Fighters’ Band featuring visual contributions from filmmaker John Akomfrah and cinematographer Bradford Young.

Today, James Europe is an almost forgotten figure who, had he not been murdered in 1919, had been widely expected to shape black music in the years following WWI with his visionary outlook and organisational skills. In fact, his reputation might have fared much better had his record company, The Victor Talking Machine Company, recorded his celebrated ‘Hell Fighters’ when they returned from France in 1919, instead of the little known Pathé label. Although Europe recorded 24 sides during the last two months of his life, Pathé recordings did not have a lot going for them. For a start they could only be played on Pathé equipment since they were 10 and one half inches in diameter, instead of the industry standard of 10-inches; they could only be played at 80 revolutions per minute instead of the industry standard of 78, and they needed to be played using a sapphire ball stylus (expensive) because a standard steel stylus simply skidded across the face of the recordings. Since Victor and Columbia had cornered the market in terms of industry standard recordings and record players, who was going to buy expensive Pathé gear that could only play Pathé discs? Not unsurprisingly, James Europe’s recordings quickly became something of a white elephant since few had the machines to play them on, and while a tiny number of dedicated collectors acquired copies over the years, they were seldom played.

Photo: Jason Moran Trio

It meant that when jazz history was being constructed in the 1930s and 1940s, Europe didn’t get a look-in. One or two of his recordings were badly converted in the LP age, which did him no favours and it wasn’t until 1996 that Memphis Records put together the hardware to convert all 24 Pathé sides to digital for Lt. Jim Europe’s 396th US Infantry ‘Hell Fighters’ Band: The Complete Recordings that his recorded legacy finally became clear. What emerged was a key piece in the ragtime-into-jazz conundrum, a Rosetta Stone in the evolution of jazz. Some pieces are clearly phrased in the then popular ragtime idiom with its stiff syncopation, while others undoubtedly have their jazzy moments so that, to today’s ears, they are a little like Hegel’s beach, neither land nor sea, with qualities we associate with ragtime without being ragtime and qualities we associate with early jazz, without being early jazz. However, on pieces like ‘Memphis Blues’ and ‘St. Louis Blues’ we have exciting examples of jazz emerging from the chrysalis of ragtime that are indispensable.

Since 1905 James Reese Europe had worked tirelessly on the New York music scene to popularise African-American music. By 1914 he was at the top of his profession; musical director for the famous (white) dancing duo of Vernon and Irene Castle, the brains behind the Clef Club and leader of the Clef Club Orchestra that performed at Carnegie Hall in May 1912, while in 1913 he became the first black bandleader to be awarded a record contract when he signed with Victor. In 1916, with the drums of war pounding in continental Europe, he was asked to use his prestige to form a permanent black military band for the 15th New York Infantry, initially for recruitment purposes. By then, Europe had already passed his officer’s examination and took charge of the unit that also had to undergo training as fighting men. On New Year’s Day 1918 they became the first African-American combat unit to set foot on French soil.

All the men under Europe’s command saw active service, including Europe himself, prompting his programmatic composition ‘On Patrol In No Man’s Land’. The band also played extensively for allied troops and the French population. By the time they were welcomed home with a victory parade down New York’s Fifth Avenue on 2 February 1919, the band had accumulated 171 decorations for valour, more than any other American regiment, hence their nickname, the ‘Hell Fighters’. On 9 May 1919, two days after their final session for Pathé, Europe was taking a break while performing at Boston’s Mechanic’s Hall when he was forced to reprimand drummer Herbert Wright for unprofessional behaviour. The drummer’s response was swift and unpredictable, stabbing Europe in the neck with a penknife (apparently Wright was mentally unstable). Europe was rushed to City Hospital, but died soon after. While his tragic story may be one of “what ifs”, he nevertheless left a rich and inspirational recorded legacy that has never been explored by jazz musicians until now. That’s why Jason Moran’s James Reese Europe and The Absence of Ruin project promises so much. In jazz, the artist’s task is to create in the present while acknowledging the past, and in the music of James Reese Europe, seldom has the past offered so much unexplored potential.

Jason Moran leads a musical meditation on the life and impact of James Reese Europe, the band leader of the Harlem Hellfighters regiment credited with bringing jazz to Europe during World War I: