[African-Americana – World War I – Harlem Hellfighters] Europe, Lieut. James Reese; Sissle, Noble; Blake, Eubie

Good Night Angeline. [Sheet Music]

New York City: M. Witmark & Sons, 1919. Sheet music measuring 9 ¼ x 12 ¼ inches. Small ownership stamp to top margin, some light wear, overall very good. Item #List3638

James Reese Europe (1881–1919) was a composer and bandleader instrumental in the transition from ragtime to jazz, whose popularity and influence is impossible to overstate. He conducted the Clef Club Orchestra in New York City, which only played music by African-American composers and was the first Black orchestra to perform at Carnegie Hall. Europe’s Society Orchestra toured the country with dancers Vernon and Irene Castle, popularizing ragtime dancing. In 1916, Europe enlisted with the 369th Infantry Regiment, also known as the Harlem Hellfighters, a primarily Black regiment that became one of the most highly decorated American units in World War I. Europe was a second lieutenant and led the Hellfighters Band, which toured France in 1818 and is credited with bringing jazz to the continent of Europe. James Europe died in Boston in 1919 when a member of his band, taking issue with Europe’s criticism, stabbed him in the neck during the intermission of a concert at Mechanics Hall.

Offered here is the sheet music for “Good Night Angeline”, composed by James Reese Europe and his frequent collaborators, Noble Sissle (1889–1975) and James Herbert “Eubie” Blake” (1887–1983). The cover features a photograph of the Hellfighters Band above a portrait of Europe. We find four other copies of “Good Night Angeline”, at the Oakland Public Library, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. Of interest to scholars of African-American musical and military history.

Price: $500.00