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Set against the drama of the Great Depression, the conflict of American race relations, and the inquisitions of the House Un-American Activities Committee, Cafe Society tells the personal history of Barney Josephson, proprietor of the legendary interracial New York City night clubs Cafe Society Downtown and Cafe Society Uptown and their successor, The Cookery. Famously known as "the wrong place for the Right people," Cafe Society featured the cream of jazz and blues performers--among whom were Billie Holiday, boogie-woogie pianists, Big Joe Turner, Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Big Sid Catlett, and Mary Lou Williams--as well as comedy stars Imogene Coca, Zero Mostel, and Jack Gilford, and also gospel and folk singers. A trailblazer in many ways, Josephson welcomed black and white artists alike to perform for mixed audiences in a venue whose walls were festooned with artistic and satiric murals lampooning what was then called "high society." Featuring scores of photographs that illustrate the vibrant cast of characters in Josephson's life, this exceptional book speaks richly about Cafe Society's revolutionary innovations and creativity, inspired by the vision of one remarkable man. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)792.7092The arts Recreational and performing arts Stage presentations, Theatre Variety shows and theatrical dancing History, geographic treatment, biography BiographyClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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Josephson not only picked the talent, but often managed the performers, who were babes in the woods. He took not a cent of the ten percent he was entitled to. Ever. He nursed careers, bought performers clothes, and allowed them to blossom in the shelter of his two clubs: Café Society Downtown (Greenwich Village) and Uptown (Midtown East). He paid well and managed their savings if they wanted. He did it all out of love. He gave many their big break, and took such great satisfaction from living that life that it was all he ever wanted. He was miserable without it, and despite the many setbacks, was planning to open another club in his late 80s, when he died.
He breaks his story into short chapters that follow the discovery and development of various performers, interspersed with less happy chapters about his personal life. The anti-communist era is particularly heartbreaking, as he was blackballed out of the business, along with numerous friends and performers. Some of them turned on him to save their own careers. It was a shameful era, and Café Society lets it unfold in a very personal way. On the other hand, John Hammond glommed onto Josephson and the clubs from the outset, and provided an endless stream of new talent for them, without remuneration. They were likeminded and identically driven. The Alberta Hunter story is particularly gratifying. She came back to perform at the end of her life, having not sung in 20 years. She performed for a new audience nightly until her death, thanking Josephson for making her old age the best part of her life.
From a racial standpoint, Josephson was a guardian angel. His attitude went so contrary to the segregationist attitude of the time, it is astonishing his clubs weren’t firebombed. He simply insisted everyone was equal and had to be treated with equal respect. Even the cramped Downtown club, with its one communal dressing room, played its part. Imogene Coca remembers when black musicians were cursing in the dressing room: “One night we were dishing some white people and they suddenly looked at me and started to laugh. Everybody had forgotten I was white, including me.”
There are three hundred and some pages of these stories. There are far too many great things to say about Cafe Society than I can write here. It is endlessly rewarding and most worthy of documenting.
David Wineberg ( )