Brownsville Weekly News

MOST ag ty a Toe Pa otag 2 oy

8 wre?. FEEINT BROWNSVILLE NEWS, Sebo HIGAN

~Oth ello Afte

NEWS. ~OF THEATRES

~All Alone And Lonely~ Is
Destined For Hit Parade

Pain Stn FS |
Really Have One, | They Wrote Hit Ni

|| Orson Welles To
Be The Director

By BERNICE AND DELORES CALVIN =
NEW) eee (Bigger Thomas) Lee, has beén
offered to do the leading role in Shakespeare~s ~Otheilo~ -
next season, as soon as ~Native Son~ closes. And it will be.
directed by the master of showmen,Orson Welles, who deserves at least. 1-3 of the credit for ~Native Son~ being the
huge ~success that it is. (Author Richard Wright and actor -
Canada Lee get. the other 2-3rds). This important secret MrLee. modestly. revealed. to us-when we visited him: backstage.
in his dressing room after his June 8rd p-:formance, Asked~
who would be in the leading feminine leac, Mr. Lee replied:

~Tt don~t know. You ~see, the~ oth.

meena tro: Seren Ay Me A ea Sanennae
ine 9 anne Steg "

See pee ema mem.

ze

~The highway through Riverside, Cal.,

is full of cars these days on

their ~way to Aloha, the 160.acre Eden among the rolling tree-studded
hills opened May 30 by Ruby Elzy, pictured above, and her genial hus.
band, Jack Carr. There are plenty of saddle horses, swimming in Lake

lsinore, hunting, {ishing and plenty of fried chicken. Indications are. tha;

~E.

loha will become ~a ~popular mt ~ the: mation~ ~oe aren apapetes

eee

AGENTS IN SUMMER SCHOOL
TUSKEGEE ~(ANP) ~ Ninety,
agricultural extension agents representing six states have registered
for classes in. the summer.in-servi~e agents short course in school
of agriculture, Director J. R. Otis
apngenred! Tast week..,

Ren Washiicich, Strode On

Location For African Picture

Sixty Negroes
~Are Taken On
Long Jaunt

~= By~ LAWRENCE F. LAMAR.
~HOLLYWOOD, Calif~(NPB)~ A
Wagner studio production company,

pniday set an all-time record
smashing location company standard; when it pulled out of here
e@board a special train carrying 60
genia film. players to Acoma, New
Mexico, scene of the African fort
gite, made ready for the filming of
~Bundown,~ film story of the British war in Africa.

~Phe group represented the largest
nlimber of sepia actors to ever go
tO Such great distance, in the- hisery of Hollywood film productions.

With the group went Kenny
~Washington and Woody Strode,
members of that former great footBall Passing combination at UCLA.
@ho Nave been assigned small, but
fMiportant ~bit roles. The acoma,
Wew Mexico location site has been
made into a replica of the British

/controlied Somalliland at Kenya,
Africa. Prince Modupe, _ scholarly
~gepia African, is. with the location, both in a technical. position
and of actor.

' ~Martin Wilkins, the sepia character actor, who did such a swéll job
in~ the ~Fighting 68rd~ and ~Too
~To Handle,~ has been handed. most. outstanding role in the
duction. The screen play deals
ai the British rule in Africa as

ted with the rule of other

hations, especially those of the Axis
ions.

* The men making the trip were

sy ~Belected as to type and*had

"undergo rigorous training as mili
~ety police under the expert guid~@uice ~of a former British colonial

Officer.
~Henry. Hathaway, is ~ directing
British Colonial Opus, ~ which
plenty opportunities for Hol.
~s huge army of sepia- film
to.-make quite a wad of
by: in other scenes
made in the studio, depicting
fe hetween the colonial forces of
~and those of Great Britain.
% Cabot, is the lone white
r this far in the screen play.
st of the action will be scenes of

RATING THE. RECORDS

By FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS

(for. ANP)

NOW IT~S LEWIS
ON HARPISCHORD

After recording the: phenomenal
Meade ~Lux~: Lewis on piano and
more recently on celeste, Blue
Note Records now displays tne
Lewis genius on that very difficult

instrument,. the harpischord,. she
release consists of four 12-inch
sides,.cOllectively calleg ~Varia.

tions on a Theme.~~ with the specific titles 19 WAYS OF. PLAY.
ING A CHORUS and SELF PORTRAIT; SCHOOL OF RHYTHM
and ~FEELIN~ TOMORROW LIKE
I FEEL TODAY.~

The listener is forced to contrast
the Lewis efforts with the most
pretentious previcus boogie woogit
waxings On. harpischord, those by
Sylvia Marlowe a year ago for
General Records. Miss Marlowe
suffers terribly, as who wouldn~t
except. possibly Pete 4Jobnson or
Albert Ammons? This instrument
as played by Miss Marlowe sound.
ed stiff and the -technique all
wrong.

Lewis, 6n the other hand, makes
the harpischord flexible as a rupber bahg ~and his. techrifqr= is close
to perfection. He gets as. much
drive and power out-of.this 18th
century.instrument. as from: a
modern piano. The solo criticism is
that boogie woogie on ~a harpis.
chord: just doesn~t get across as
well as it does on a regular stomp
box. However, the dynamic force
provisatoins from fast tempo -to
an darresting ideas of.Meade~s immedium slow blues make ~Varia.
tions~ definitely. worth buying.

We suppose that next Blue Note
will record Lewis on orgaa, calliope,
nevachorg and maybe. the zither.
And judging from: resu'ts thus far,
he~ll silt give a good account of
himself.:

hia. There is a constant background
of saxes riffing over strong rhythm plus the James horn: both
straight and hot. Coupled. is
DON~T CRY, CHERIE, a sweet
addition to the crop of war songs.
Wocdy Herman has his fun~ thts
week on Decca. Tongue in cheek,
ne plays Bennie Moten~s SOUTH
in Dixieland style with a 1926 end-=
ing. ~Still, it rides. well and the
leader~s low register clarinet is excellent. Flipover is FAN IT, the
Half Pint Jaxon opus, taken at
a break.neck tempo part way and
half time the rest.

Milton Hinton wants it known
that Jimmie~ Blanton ~is not the
Only.. baSs player. Accordingly, he
bews ang plucks his way through
EBONY SILHOUETTE with Cab
Calloway on Oxch. Hinton is good,

but he~s neither a Blanton nor an

Israel Crosby. Companion piece. is
HEP. CAT'S LOVE SONG, $bounc
ing. jitoug stuff with a jive vecal-by |.

Cab., Best portion is a: series of
screwy brass. phrases. in the Jast
section: -::Both Bobby Byrne ~and
Claude. Thornhill try their bands
On DO I WORRY. The former's
on Decca is good, with. his slick
trombcne throughout, but Thorn.
hill~s Okeh is better. The latter~s
flipover ~is SLBEPY ~SERENADE;.@

beautiful restful tune ~that sovnds
more agreeable each playing: Fa
zola~s clarinet is much in evidente.
Byrne's companion piece is NICH.
TY NIGHT, one of those. cute

isongs that haye a habit of getting

on the hit parade.
A new group called the: Variety

~Boys debuts on Deecca~s Sepia Se~Ties with TACK ANNIE and HAR.

LEM FIESTA: The first has very
good tenor and. excellent guitar,

group-...Charlie Spivak~s Okeh.of
SLAP SLAP is a rocking novelty. | ~
with plenty of jive- and a~ réally
powerful brass section ~stands out.
Turnover is SPRING WILL BE ~0

SAD, a nice pop tune....Matty

Malneck~s.. ultra. modern~ susie 1s
interesting and ANVIL..CHORUS,
with max temPo changes. Net. up-to.
Glenn Miller~s The~ ~Beer Barrel
Polka~s audience will like the Jésters~. Decea. version of ~THE HUT.
SUT SONG ang ROUND: - HER

| NECK SHE.WEARS 4 YELLER

Asserts Dorsey

~NEW YORK CITY~ (SNS):
When Jimmy Dorsey~s. Decca re
released last week a lot of people
were very happy. Swing _ master
Dorsey was certain that he had
another topnotch record to follow

-|His great success ~Amapola.~ The

publishers of the song felt that
hit song. But David Sanders. and. Al
Pearson, the Detroit. boys. whe wrote
the song, were._probably the happiest.
of the lot.

A few months ago they had given
up hope of becoming. songwriters
Music publishers in Detroit were
pot very receptive and neither one
af the boys could leave home and

go or New York. But you.can~t keep
a good song down these days. After
passing through the hands of musiclans who had heard ~All Alone
and Lonely~ played by the four
piece rhythm. band composer Sanders leads in Detroit~s ~Frog~s Club,~
a copy of the song. found its way
into the hands of: Jimmy Dorsey.

DORSEY SELLS SONG

Jimmy Dorsgy, who is billed as
the ~World~s Greatest. Saxophonist~
might weil add ~World's. Greatest
Tune Picker~ to that billing. Dorsey played the new song once and
put is down for immediate recording.

Convinced of the commercial poss.

tracts were signed with Pearson
and Sanders for immediate publication of the song.

~All Alone and. Lonely~ marks the
first successful venture into songwriting for this newest team of com
ano, organ and solovox, and _has
heen a professional musician since
the age of sixteen when he. was
regular organist ata
Church in Wilmington, Delaware. _
Following that~. _ ecclésiastical
booking, he went to work in Toledo
speakeasies % as pianist and everitually formed ~the ésriall rhythm band
he is now leading. His major ambition is to be a ~good songwriter.~
Al. Pearson, the other writer of
the song, is a guitarist who studied
at the Detroit Conservatory of Music for three years.. He has played
in night clubs as master of ceremonies, tenor vocalist. and featured
guitarist. Pearson is still a little
bit_ dazed by his new found success.
After he had signed the publication contract ~he. asked that he be

~notified by wire whenever his song

is played on the air. If Jimmy Dorsey has picked another hit song, and
BMI succeeds ~iti making a spot on

~the Hit Parade Yor it, there'll be a
long line of méssenger boys making

its way to the Pearson front: door.'

DEAN PICKENS

GETS SUPPORT [es
WASHINGTON, D. C.~<(ANP)~
The office of the adthihistrative
assjstant: to the secretary of the
U. S. Treasury states that Dean
William Pickens~ title is a principal
defense securities. promoticn spe.

tical and non-political groups all
over the~ country are cooperating
with Dean Pickens ir his drive to
encourage the sale of defense sav.
ings bonds,

CHARGED WITH MURDER

HOUSTON.~(ANP)~W. H. Mc.
Clain, 53.year-old. white man, 's ~n
jail charged with the murder in
connection with the fatal shoot.
ing of James*iA. Oates: 85. Mics
Clain is a grocery stére operator
ms sbaunty road.

cord of ~All Alone and Lonely~ was.

~All Alone and Lonely~ was. another:

try to interest publishers in Chica
ibilities of the ballad, he brought it
to BMI and within a few days con- |.

POsers. Six-footer Sanders plays pi- |~

Baptist.

Cialist. on. the defense savings staff
of the office of the secretary. Poli
Near es ts pabts wad

Be bes Sipe atg &

of efforts have at last got a ~hit number~, Their ~AN sr ees and ~Lone. |!

ly,~ which has just been recorded by Jimmy. Dorsey~s orchestra, so say
those who~ should know, ig destined to fill a long run enxagement on the

Hit Parade,

of this night's

4 course, he did think that the audiless he diq think that the audi_

| derful reaction.~

| colored in tne. theatre. The white

Cab Burns Wires ~
FromPantherRoom

CHICAGO, Tl. ~(SNS)~ __~_sAithough Chicago is enjoying a spell
of cool weather, the town is hotter
than the proverbial firecracker as a
result of Cab Calloway~s smash
opening in the Panther Room of

the Hotel Sherman on Friday, May |}

30.

Although Cab is a veteran Chicago
performer, his current engagement
marks the first time he has appeared in a hotel;'and from the enthusiasm marifested by the Windy

City~ audience on opening _ night,
Calloway will return here often.

The engagement is in the nature
of sentimental triumph. to Cab. _It
was in Chicago about ten years ago
that ~he obfRined His~ first theatrical engagement as a combination
singer and master of ceremonies at

i

the Sunset Cafe, a South pre-repeal

night spot.

Cab also conducted his first orchestra in Chicago, coming. from
there directly to New York and
world wide acclaim.

Calloway has always been noted
for his spectacular dress on the
band stand or on a stage. For the
Sherman Hotel date, he ordered a
completely new ensemble, even
more striking than anything he has
worn previously, and his entrance
was marked by ~oh~s and ah~s~ from
po capacity crowd of first night
" Guiles will remain at the Sherman for four weeks~and will then
play a seriés of one=night dance engagements eastward, bringing ~ him
ito New York about ress 5,

a

ASC

A BROWN SAILOR~S |
SWEETHEARTS
~ the sailor who sailed the seven

Gant always choose his girl.
Since my. aden pias feet will not

appease;:
But: find stantare dands and shores

without surcease

me

10-Year Old Prize.
Winner: In Broadcast

while the coupling has vibraharp won
(ang hot fiddle.added...Waich. his

E

Beg
A
5
3

a:
Le
|
3

32.

i

Ay Alpe

ey LEVET Le

COATED Ni

MOVIE

@ rn a Y: i U tk ~i
I meet reo and - Spanish ahd
Japan se
In the. wie of the _twif-screw~s
whirl.

For a man must have the flashirig
smile,

Soft hands, sweet lips to taste

Finn, Malay, or Jap, time to beguile

Love at equator or iceberg~s pile;
But I yearn for my own brown
-girls ~meanwhile

eee eee + Sa

~(Original)

BRIEF BREVITIES IN A HURRY

Ethel Waters and her ~Cabin th

of the stage -we~Ve~ ever laid ~eyes

~| week. Most of them will Open in

~| Vera Lee Johnson, who halted on

~land dancer over a year ago, has re
j emigrated from New York to Hoily
| Jimmie Lunceford and Sitios Seeevic
ing here soon.

er actors haven~t even been chos- |
en yet. eg

And that~s not all. This wie
has twe picture offers. pending,
both: from..R.K.0: ~I'm not~ sure
yet..what they'll be like. I don~t
want any yassuh mess or Stephin
Fetchit stuff: Besides, it would
mean giving up ~Native Son~,
whieh woulg puf 50 people out of
work, And I couldn't do. that. They
are a fime bunch and deserve the
chance as much as I.~

for there~s cnly one eerie: ~for
that role.)

We askeg him what he thought
performance, his
Sist, and. he enswered, ~It was a
stinker, I dont: think it was as goo~
as usuai.~ We disagreed, but of

ence was grand and ~had a wom
Here we concurred and noted
that we espieg only a handful of

people seemed to go for this ~yace.
conscious show in a big way and in
a serious big way, too. i

But getting back to the star,
Canada Lee. He seems to have his
future all mapped out and big
things are in store for him, too. As
we parted from the very likable
and very versatile personality, we
felt he wom'q handle tne new roles
just as le as Bigger Thomas.
For he~s a gat actor, this Cana.~
da Lee!!

(Secretly, | 7
we wonder what would become of |
~| ~Native Son~ without Cariada Lee,

In Topsy~s Roost tes

_. Duke Ellington, now out on the
Coast, swung into the famous Topsy~s Roost last week marking the
first time a, colored ~name~ band -
has ever been featured at his unique
Los Angeles~ cabaret Ivy Anderson

is heading the show.

|Feotlite. - om

Be Be a os

By ALVIN MOSES for ANP

NEW YORK ~JACOB HOMER
~TUTT, brother of the. late.beloved
Salem Tutt, has the finest collection of olg line Negro performers

on:....He has one shot of ~the ~Ot.
teroons;~ sterling Negro ~stage act
of:more than 40 years ago, that- is
a. la-la.pa loo -sa, no foolin~..
Homer tells you: ~how ~that ~Broth:
ers Tutt~ took under ~themselves
the handle of ~Whitney~? which
caused thousands here and abroad
to call them-...SALEM. TUTT
WHITNEY brothers, but that~s too
swell] a yarn to spiel here in this
garden....we~ll save it against th:
time when one of our readers horns
in with a requést for a theatre feasaaiaa basal. smart,-eh, what?

costume. Alma, Hightowers~ Melodic
Dots made_ the music~Ernestine
Porter talented little dancer and
producer, has been visiting during
the past week from San_ Francisco.
Everyone is looking forward to the
first Hollywood bowl appearance
here on June 19.

Patsy Hunter~s floor show, chorus
at the Club Alabam will. close this

~Cabin in the Sky~ others are rehearsing for Duke Ellington~s big
show at the Mayan this month.

a. sure march to fame as a singer

entered
off. -
HOLLYWOOD NOW.MECCA
OF NATION~S SEPIA
CELEBRITIES ~

Long ago the ~most famous. ~of
the white musicians arid stage stars

te take up where she left

into the capter af Reon talent.

Latest arriyals have. been |
Nicholas Brothers, the Berry Brothéts, the Charioteers, Marie

Lyricist Actor:

By PETER DANS

NEW YORK~(SNS)~ A small:
group. of men was dining in. the
Orchid Room of the Hotel Th:
Thursday midnight, after catching
Louis Armstrorg~s closing perform-~
ance at the Apollo Theatré.. While
only two of them were professional.
musicians, the other three prided
themselves on their knowledge of
music and musicians. The talk was
all of Louis (Satchmo~) Armstrong
as showman, lyricist, and master
instrumentalist.

The talk was both a fine tribute
to Louis who has, it is said just.
turned 40. and instructive. Boy and
man, Louis has been one of the truly great creators of modern jazz,
one of the diners observed. ~Armstrong,~ he continued, ~has: a. quality of showmanship t consider unequalled in the players and conductors of jazz music. i

AN APPEAL OF HIS OWN

~His sense. of stage business, his
likable mischievousness and his casual approach to the most difficult
passages of his horn, in my opinion,
give him an appeal which is sie
ly and intensely his own. His comic
sense is certainly the best among
musical performers.~

The modd~if the writer may borrow a phrase from Miss Edna St.
Clair Vincent Miilay~of this
~conservation at midnight~ was one
of fresh avpreciation of the genius

-_|0f Armstrong who from orphan boy
4 in New Orleans had become world~s

great minstrel man. It was as if
these men were intent on celebrating the minstreley of Louis for the
sheer pleasure of it, for the
remarkable phenomenon of folk art
it, is. Again, moderif folk music a

~Now one of the convereatdonatiets
was venturing, ~It~s interesting to

voices...for. singing jazz
| eee husky voice which
tone... It