Eubie Blake

Eubie Blake followed an extraordinary path through American music. Although his chief legacy rested on composing for Broadway productions during the 1920s, he later emerged as the final surviving connection to the ragtime era. His existence remained vivid from the start. He created his earliest piece, “The Charleston Rag,” in 1899, then performed for years with medicine shows and inside sporting houses before joining forces in 1915 with vocalist Noble Sissle on the vaudeville circuit. Sissle and Blake supplied the score for the 1921 success Shuffle Along, the first all-Black musical, and continued with Revue Negre, Plantation Review, Rhapsody in Black, and Bamville Review. The pair also cut records and appeared in several early experimental sound films. Blake’s notable 1920s songs included “I’m Just Crazy About Harry,” “You’re Lucky to Me,” and “Memories of You.”

Following a few sessions in 1931, he maintained a lower profile for the next three decades. Occasional work with Sissle continued, and he earned a degree from New York University, yet he stayed largely overlooked until 1969. That year Columbia released the double album The Eighty-Six Years of Eubie Blake, astonishing listeners who had never encountered his name. Over the remaining fourteen years Blake became a sought-after performer, delivering ragtime-era material at the piano and in song, captivating audiences, issuing fresh recordings, taking the stage in the 1978 Broadway production Eubie at age 95, and directing his own imprint, Eubie Blake Music. He kept performing until he reached 98 and arrived at his 100th birthday with five days remaining.