Doin' the Charleston: Black Roots of American Popular Music & the Jenkins Orphanage Legacy - Paperback

by Mark R. Jones (Author)

FROM RAGS TO RAGTIME - THEY CREATED THE SOUNDTRACK OF THE 20TH CENTURY! For the first time, here is the stirring story of the Jenkins Orphanage Band and its role in American popular music. From slavery to freedom, follow the inspirational rags-to-riches story of some of America's greatest jazz musicians brought together by the determination of one man, a freed black slave named Rev. Daniel Jenkins. His Jazz Nursery revolutionized the music world! One cold December day in 1891, Rev. Jenkins discovered four black children huddled together in a railroad car. He had more than 500 children in his care. To support the Orphanage, Jenkins organized a brass band which performed on the Charleston streets for hand-outs. Ten years later, the Jenkins Band appeared in London, played for President Teddy Roosevelt and premiered on Broadway. Members of the Jenkins Band played with Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong. Then, tragically in 1919, one of the Jenkins' musicians committed a brutal murder which shocked America! During the next decade, the Roaring 20s, America underwent a tumultuous change in which everybody was soon DOIN' THE CHARLESTON! ILLUSTRATED WITH MORE THAN 70 PHOTOS!

Author Biography

Mark R. Jones is an eighth generation native of the South Carolina Low country. He is an author, historian, licensed guide and tour owner. With his wife, novelist Rebel Sinclair, Jones operates Black Cat Tours, conducting night time walking tours which cover the darker history of the Holy City. He also drives carriages and gives daytime historic walking tours. He is the author of four other books. His first book kicked off the wildly popular WICKED series for The History Press: Wicked Charleston: The Dark Side of the Holy City (2005) & Wicked Charleston, Volume II: Prostitutes, Politics & Prohibition(2006). In 2007 Jones published two true crime anthologies: Palmetto Predators: Monsters Among Us and South Carolina Killers: Crimes of Passion. MarkJonesBooks.com