The Michigan chronicle. [volume], February 20, 1943, SECOND NEWS SECTION, Page PAGE NINETEEN, Image 19

About The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current

Image provided by: Central Michigan University, Clark Historical Library

                
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1043
DETROIT CAftw
Ink Spots And Lucky Millinder Head Paradise Bill
SWINGING LADY
PREACHER ALSO
ON THESTAGE
Gordon And Rodgers A&d
Peg-Leg Bates Also
In The Show
The Ink Spot-Lucky Millinder
age combination opening a week's
engagement on the stage of the
Paradise theatre here in Detroit
on Friday is even more colorful
than their reputation as entertain
ers.
Hoppy Jones, the proud father of
the foursome, is even prouder these
days than usual as his eldest son
soon will be enrolled in an officer's
training school. Hoppy. it will be
recalled, has eight other younger
children of diversified age*.
Billy Kenny—the tallest and high
est singer of them all <G above
hifth C> is a song writer of parts
When he was here a year ago he
was just completing a little con
fection called "Teardrops In Your
Eye.” This year he’s in the midst
of composing something more
groovy, tentatively titled “It's a
Cold. Cold World" and he DOESN'T
mean to refer to the current cool
•pell hereabouts.
Vacates His Title
Deke Wat son. the Inkspot come
dian. has vacated his title for the
duration. Title? Yes. undisputed
♦ .tie of "Mister Esquire of Harlem.'
gmned through h;s colorful sartorial
difplaya. Since Pearl Harbor. Deke
hasn t acquired a single new suit,
all rs hi* »xce*s profits (under the
ceiling of course) being salted away
In war bonds.
When Charlie F.qua their guitar
!.*•, gets back to New York City,
he is dispersing his unusual col
lection of o\er a hundred smoking
p.pes presented to h.m by famous
people he has met in hi travels
here and abroad In the lot are some
rare collector's Items, and the pro
ceeds of his pipe auction will go
to swell the army and nav) relief
funds.
Hailed by critic* everywhere as
•lie aepian Stokowski through hL«
impressive hand directing. Lucky
MiU.nder has a d.sanction that even
the great Philadelphia maestro does
r >t share. Lucky got his nickname
when breaking into the band busi
ness around Cicero, HI. A 1 Capone
arid the member* of his mob had
the idea that rubbing Luck\'s poll
Ltought them luck when embarK
ir.g upon some nefarious piece of
business. Lucky's r.ght name is
Lucius Leroy MiU.nder, but the
boys on Broadway call him ‘ Lucia?
Beebe" Millinder because of the
colorful effect* of h.s cutaways
vests and cravats which put the well
known New York raconteur and
boulevardier quite .n e shade.
A Stage Novelty
A swinging lady preacher with
• sizzling guitar is certainly a novel
ty in any stage show, but "Sister'
Rosetta Tharpe is such a centra?:
that she is one of the highlights of
this Harlem jamboree. Her rendi
tion of such famous sp.rituals a.«
“Rock Me" and "That's All" are
r.ght out of this world. And well
they might be for ' Sster'* is a full
fudged member of the Pentecostal
thurch of Harlem, a sect better
known ns the Holy Rollers Sr ce
leaving her b.rthp.ace in Cotton
Plant, Ark., Sister Tharpe has
played revivals, camp meetings,
churches, theatres, movies, radio
and even cases.
The walls of the Parad.se theatre
Will certainly rock when thts aggre
gation of clever get in
the groove with "When the UghU
(Jo On Again All Over the World.'
'This Is Worth Fighting For."
“Every Night About Ths Time,'
•'Java Jive"—to say nothing of "If I
Didn't Care." which has been the
cause of it all!
Augmenting this great show will
he none other than Peg Lag Bates,
the monoped dancer who can do
more with one leg and a peg than
many two-legged dancers, and
Gordon and Roger* The latter are
two hepcats f»om Harlem, who are
unique in their zoot suits of Nile
green canary yellow emblazoned
with red vests and carmine mo
rocco ahoes And those shoes and
zoots arc right out of this world.
Asks City Boards
Of Discrimination
NEW YORK. (ANP> Com
missions in every important city
appointed by the mayor or the city
manager to settle all discrimination
complaints are urged by Isaac Ros
engarten. editor of the Jewish For
um, in an editorial to appear in a
future issue of that publication.
Forming each commission would
be a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew
and a Negro, each of them outstand
ing in his community. The com
mittee would view complaints ob
jectively They would work towird
the end of developing a maximum
unity of effort for the war tn e
minimum amount of lime, accord
ing to the editor A national spon
soring committee Is to be formed
to work towird formation of city
commissions.
INK SPOTS AND LUCKY MILLINDER AND MUSIC AT PARADISE
v ill a V
•JR-. IV *
Bonds And Jackson
Score In Hollywood
HO! LYWOOD. Calif.—(ANP)
Among the recent art.s'.s who have
trekked :o Hollywood and are mak
• i g g'Xid .n a deeded fashion a c
Bonds and Jackson, the two p ano
duo. Each a stellar pianist .nd.-
v idually, they have brought a nc .v
technique to the coast which has
attracted the attent.on of .people
h.gh t n the musical world.
Although they have been here
but a comparatively short t.me
they have had successful engage
ments at the Swanee Inn and also
at the Swing clilb. They have ap
peared three times on Mary Aator's
"Hollywood Sr.owcase" program
and are regular attractions on the
.programs for service men at the
Sun**'! h 'use. tne beautiful re-tau
ran: .:i nearby River* di wh.ch is
where they reside when not en
gaged in Hollywood or Lo* An
gelo? Riverside offers a beauti
ful and resif.il atmosphere which
WOR Of New York Shuts
Outlet To ‘My People’
NEW YORK—WOR. key station
of the Mutual Br< adcasting system
and ts only New York outlet, had
refused (up to February 12) to
carry the new OWI program deal
ing with Negroes, entitled "My
People.' The program was inaug
urated Saturday. Feb 13 over 211
stations of the M ituol s.'«tem.
One excuse offered by Mutual is
that it has a commercial program
occupying 15 minute* of the time
required by the new program An
otheq report is that sonii ofT.c;a>
with authority over WOR program*
,i from Georgia and refuses to
make any arrangement* to carry
the new feature WOR frequently
records program* which it cannot
carry at the moment and re-broad
Lena Horne Fetes Press
And Hollywood’s Greats
HOLLYWOOD. Cal. The pho
to above very appropriately ex
plains, why news members of the
*th Fstate, are so often referred to
ss 'news hound?.’ There they are
grouped around poor little Iberia
Horne, nudged off into a small
corner of her swank Hollyw’ood
home, where she had made. Any
one else would have been content
to enjoy the tasty foodstuffs and
potent refreshment* on hand In
great plenty Well, they did But.
later, La Horne was in a jovial
mood and agreed to give the 'low
down' on a rumor that she was
leaving the cast of ‘Stormy Wea
ther” and 20th Century-Fox stu
dio.
Yup. she *aid, 'twarn’t a word
of truth in the rumor. And. so out
with pencils and pad* flew the
scribes Grouping the star were
Phil Carter. J Robert Smith. J
Cullen Fentress. Bill Smallwood
Herman Hill, \imena Davis, ano
Lawrence F LaMar Other guest?
at the party included screen star
director-writer Orson Welles, ar
chitect Ralph Vaughn. 20th Cen
tury-Fox publicity exrert Morton
Thompson. RRA official Charles
Rey. L D Foutes. Vivian Brown
Aijce Key. Earl GiiflLa aud Mir.
the MTcmriAN emrwwn.E "• ~ a rei.tabt.f independent weekt.y
THE INK SPOTS
perm.ts M.s.« Bond* to work or,
her compositions as well as Uieir
two p.ano rout.ne.
Miss Bonds aside from her con
cert appearances and has
made qu.'.e a name fur herself in
the compos ng w orld. She did the
music for Langston Hughes 'The
Negro Speak* of R.vers" Glenn
Miller ha* featured her "The Spring
Will Be So Sad," and Fi*her has
pjul.shed some of her work for
nigh schools in their Aachen Bren
ner ser es.
Recently they played for Paul
Whiteman who praised Ueir work
unstintedly and has been cf great
assistance in rr.ak ng serviceable
contacts for them professionally In
pr.vute life M.s» fk r.ds is the wife
of the well known New Yorker,
Lawrence Richardson, whose back
ing and ass -lance gave tne :c m
its 'ta:L Culv.n Jackson was tne
h.ghly regarded concert p..*n.>:
casts them at other hours. No such
arrangement ts being rr.ide lor M%
People, ’ it is reported
The inaugural program will have
Mrs. Roo*ev cit. Tres-dent Mordeca;
Johnson, of Howard university
President Frank P. Graham of th»
University of North Carol.na. and
President Freder.ck D Patterson
of Tuskegce institute as speakers
Roland Hayes will s.ng, his par
being picked up from Los Angeles
G. Lake Imes conceived the senes
of programs and will d rect them
Protest against the refusal of th*
program was filed wuth Alfred J
McCosker. president of WOR, b>
Waiter White of the NAACP. wh.
urged the decision be rescinded ana
the program carried
K.nTT The Horne home at 1229
Horn avenue, was beautifully ap
pointed for the occasion.
CELEBRATE
YOUR
WASHINGTON
BIRTHDAY
WITH YOUR FRIENDS
AT
Del Smithes
BAR AND RESTAURANT
BEER - WINE - LIQUOR
SPECIALIZING IN
Southern Fried Chicken Sissling Steak* Chop*
A C A I C HOME COOKED
IVI Kz L d SERVED WITH HOT BREAD
4803-07 HASTINCS AT HANCOCK
Phone Terrace 2-8819 *
f -**'*£'
wm/m ■*■ I jgpMvfl
1 ~ -{'i'V ‘y '• V'l.V*
'I WS />** ■ -
The Blackout 1
By RUSS |. COWANS
WILLIE BRYANT, currently at
the Partid.se theatre, was last here
with E:hr! *W ters :n "Mamba’s
Daughters," . . . wh.ch played at
tiv* Cass theatre . . . Monette
M re. who stayed at the B and C
club here fur so many weeks, i>
now establ.shirg r record in Co
lumbu? . . . The buxom Monette
has been in the s.i.me place for 20
wicks . . . and her son is in the
air'force . . . serving with the 99:h
Pursuit Squadron at Tusicegce . •
and Beverly Wh.te. who left here
suddenly between two suns, is at
the Elks Rer.ievous in New York
. . . Chester Rent.e,. mayor of
Paradise Valley, left this week for
Mu Springs. Ark . where he will
find a number of Detfo.ters taking
me ba-hs «t Pythian Baih House
. . . down on Malvern avenue, in
eluding 8.1 l Miller who left last
w.ik . . . Eulalia Meyers, who
,I'tii to live but now .s n resident
cf \V.---..:tgt r., D C.. spent a few
d.>y- here 1 st week t■> renew old
acquaintances . . . Earicr.o D.xon.
a-, e „hth- grrde fiudcnt-at Resell
luck-r.g f rwarl to a cu
rexr as r.n aviator. . . . Just 12
>i-m- ol age. E rler.e h.ad i double
pr motion recently . . . An! she
> Kt only interested .st Negro
r..story.
CrIADYS PALMER featured star
,n the floor show at Club C'ngo,
made an excellent imp: - os-von in
rer radio broadcast List Thursday
everitig over Station W.T1.8 . . .
Pr.nce Spencer, the 1 .fie tipster
whom cr.tics are pred c* ng as *
coming s'.ir, opened at a theatre in
Washington Monday * . . S..ck
White, whose rich ban: no vo ce
or.ee thrilled the p.Vror.j of the B
m d C club, is a victim of tuocr
ctlosur . . . and confined at his
~ m* n Vicksburg, M ss . . . the
san e town where Joseph.ne Thomas
i «on, Edward, are spend.ng the
weeks with Josephine s mother who
n s been seriously >ll. ... I missed
r y May, Walter Norw od, Edith
J> hnson, Ethel Love and Julia
Graham m Chicago this week . . .
where they had been doing the
• own. . . ! Deke W.uson. member
of the Ink Spots, is-in Grace hos
pital here. . . . Been there since
last month . . . Willie Bryant and
Leonard Reed, partners in years
ne b> d d their 013 act it Club
Zombie Wednesday night . . . and
it went over good. . . . Ashean
Larue has been in the field of enter
tainment since 1311 . . . and he
recalls the year vividly because r.
was the one after Jack Johnson do
fea'ed James J JetTrtes. . . . Ash
can had his start with a medicine
>how in h s home town of Indiana
p i.s, to tne disgu«h of his f ther
LUCKY MILLINDER
. . . George Mongo, tapster at Club
B and C.. is doing some dancing tot
fcoocie tvoog.e time that is really
good. . . . Buck and Bubbles are
with George Whites "Scandals''
and really going to town.
JAMES KELLUM. son of David
Kcllum, ci*y editor Chicago De-!
lender, was inducted into the army'
this week. ... A young Detroit
g.rl w .ll be g.ven a good job within 1
a few days , . . with a rational
pub Leal.on.
DALLAS GETS
PREMIERE OF
NEW RACE PIX
DALLAS, Texas—(By C. E
Chapman)—lt was announced by
.".formed theatrical sources here
Thursday that the widely publicited
"Cabin In the Sky" is to be shown
r.ere at the Majestic theatre Thurs
day, March 11. at which time Dal
..i* is to have a world premiere of
Metro - Goldvvyn - Mayer s famous
show.
So according to reports. "Cabin In
the Soy. one of the first all-Negro
musicals ever attempted by a
major film producer, getts going in
Dallas two weeks from this Thars
d..y, a thing which was thought in
credible a few decades ago.
Bout* Galaxy of Start
Cabin In the Sky boasts a galaxy
of dark >:ars." but stars which “al
ways sh ne." according to one com
ment. The mere mention of some
>f the famous names in the show at
once commands attention and in
terest.
For instance: 'Jhere is the one and
only, the glamorous Ethel Waters,
crand K«dy of the spotlight world,
and Lena Horn.
Then, ‘here is Lout* Arm
»fr ng universally recognised it th*
"Trumpet King of Swing. - ’ Mantan
Moreland, the great comedian, will
vie for the e.gar lighting honor
Then, there is Rex Ingram, who
once played the late Richard B
Harrison’s place, ‘Do Lawd,” who
is Old Sat3n himself.
Billie Holiday
Held over for the Second Week
Esquire’s All-American Swing Singer in
• Len Reed’s “TRAVELIN' LIGHT’*
nCATI'IUNG J *
BABY LAWRENCE
Th#
Brown Twin*
Rhythm Willi*
The Harmonica
King
TWO SHOWS
NITELY
MTtQtt's ‘
fwi cIubtOBRIE
382 b OAK i AND At not BROOk P W
H PHHH
Mary Lou With The Duke
Famous Pianist Weds Musician In
Band Then Starts Arranging
NEW TORK.—Mary Lon fWI-,
liams has been writing for Duke
Ellington's band! Swingdoma fore
most pianist-arranger, the Duke,
and swingdom's foremost feminine j
DAILY CRITIC
IN HOLLYWOOD
PRAISES RACE
!
By HARRY LEVETTE
HOLLYWOOD. Calif.—(ANP)-
In one of the finest articles that
has ever been written by a white
critic about Negroes. Misis V.rginta
Wright, theatrical editor of the Los
Angeles Daily News, frankly ex
pre?sed the rights of colored ar
tists in the apparent new cycle
of untyped parts. Her article fol
lows:
"Hollywood, at last, has repented
its sin of omission regarding the
Negroes in its midst. While eon
ceding that colored entertainers are
consistent show stoppers, producer*
have been satisfied, in the past, to
spot them around for the sake of
buoyancy.
"If pressed. MGM probably would
admit that Lena Horne and the
Berry brothers pulled 'Panama Hat
•:e' out of the doldrums. Columbia
might concede that Hazel Scott
i> the high spot of 'Something to
Shout About,' and Jack Benny cer
-1 tainly would be the first to dec
orate Rochester's head with laurel.
"Twentieth-Century has kepi the
Nicholas brothers under long term
rontract to spike its musicals. War
ner brothers brightened 'Casa
blanca' by setting Dooley Wilson
before a piano. That studio eveu
1 went so far, at one time, as to
make a short subject with the Kath
erine Dunham dancers.
"Yet ever since 'The Green Pas
tures’ in 1936 Hollywood has ig
nored the tremendous appeal of an
all-colored show. 'The Green Pas
*ure>‘ was merely a stage hit which
happened to have a Negro cast,
and Lke any other h.v, tempted
movie mogul* to try it on the
screen. The same applies to Metro's
‘Cabin tn the Sky,’ which *oon will
I be released.”
A E
SISTER ROSETTA THARPE
ditto, Mary Leu, got together as
an Indirect result of Mary’s sur
prise marriage to Harold Baker,
recently added trumpet star es the
Ellington aggregation. Since the
wedding the has been almost con
stantly on the road with the oand.
so it was only natural that she
should try her hand at tame ar
ranging for Ik The Ellington ver
sion of "Sweet Georgia Brown,
which he introduced an Ralph
Cooper's WMCA “Jump N' Jive"
•hew and has been playing on the
atre dates, was penned by Mary
Leu, aa were tw* specialties fen
taring trumpeter Baker "Star
dust” and "Shorty Bee." The let
ter Is an original earn position to
which Mary Lju gave Baker’s
nickname. The Hulk of Duke’s
music is. of course, still being
written by the master himself and
by his talented assistant. Billy
Strayhorn.
Warren Bank*
M. C.
12 Lon Road
Girls
Cecil Lea’s
Music
Call Tr. 2-9032
"BUY A BOND AND
SAVE A LIFE" .
War Bond Sales Drive
Our Club
Pledges to cooperate in this city-wide drive to promote
the sales of war bonds among our members and friends.
Our Club Membership is persons.
We will appreciate additional information concerning
the Buy A Bond and Save A Life’’ war bond drive.
(Mr.) or (Mrs.)
(Name of Club President H«?re)
Mail this coupon to Larry Chism. 268 Eliot Stroot
GLADYS PALMER
Swing Sensation
STARRING IN
LARRY STEELE'S
PRODUCTION
“KEEPING UP THE GOOD MORALE”
Dedicated to War Workers of America
WITH
Red and Curly
Novel Act
Lester Squires
Symphony in Taps
Caritha Harbert and Amber Steelettes
CLUB CONGO BAND
SUM IONIS
CLUB CON6O
550 ADAMS. DETROIT - CH. 0230
WE CATER TO PARTIES AND CLUBS
PAGE NINETEEN
Stresses Role Of
Africa In Big War
ATLANTA. fANP) Africa, the
dark continent.” paradox of fabu
ou* wealth ar.d measureless misery,
•r.ay prove the mearuring-rod by
Ahich ine ideals of the present
Aorld struggle 'a.!l be tested, ac
cording to Dr Max Yergun, a.rec
tor of k he Council on African Af
fairs
Speaking to a sizeable acd repre
sentative grou;> ut the Butler S’reet
Y M C A. recently, tne former "Y”
missionary secretary assigned a ?tra«
ttgic role to the ccjnur.ent because
of the importance ol ’o:..r* 10
modern industrial and national de
velopment.
"We cannot today thick cf war
without thinking of coioma peo
ples." he said. "Anyone who know*
about Burma. S-ngapore, ard Ja\a
Know* that they fell because tneir
leader* gave too iiit.e thought to
the condition of the peop.e.
"There .s ar.y.her reason for any
one interested m real democracy
being interested in colonial peo
ples, he went on. "The co.omal pat
tern is that of a handful of power
ful people who use their govern
ment to exploit the masses of peo
ples living in colonies. Th.s has
been the age-long characterise of
rr.penahm ’*
workers, and in many other cap>
cities.
Hollins stated that in order to
give the appearance of compliance
with the provisions of Executive
Order 8892 the corporation has been
issuing applications to Negro job
seekers.
BLUE BIRD
INN
PBESENTe
RUBY LOGAN
Exotte IwNt Bin|« «f Sant*
WM. PENN. Emcee
■uaio bt
JIMMY CALDWELL
And Bt* Bia* Bird Trto
With So* at Tt« Pita*
We Serve Dinners
Specialuing In
AMERICAN Cr CHINESE
FOODS
Southern Bar-B-Qu*. Steaks
»m 4 Chicken
WHISKEY—WINE— MSB
BLUE BIRD
INN
SO2l Tireman—Ty. 4-9539
H. H. BLACK. Mgr.
Lovey Lana
Interpretive Dancing
Lillian Fitzgerald
Comedienne