Leon Hefflin Sr. and the First Annual Jazz Festival in America
Memphis’s Beale Street and Birmingham’s Kelly Ingram Park
Deborah Swan’s new book, The Impresario Leon Hefflin and the World’s First Annual Jazz Festival, tells the unknown story of her grandfather’s work producing the annual Cavalcade of Jazz. Swan uses hundreds of photographs, including images from the collections of the Center’s photographers Charles Williams, Harry Adams, and Bob Douglas. Also, we continue a series of articles by Dr. Keith Rice on his trip to the U.S. South to celebrate and support African American History. In the second installment, he writes about his visits to Memphis’s famous Beale Street and to Birmingham’s Kelly Ingram Park. Also, we share some powerful examples of students’ comments after the August 29 performance at CSUN, accompanied by photographs by Chicana/o Studies graduate student Sonia Gurrola.
Leon Hefflin Sr. and the Cavalcade of Jazz
By José Luis Benavides
Last month, my colleague Keith Rice attended Deborah Swan’s presentation of her book, The Impresario Leon Hefflin and the World’s First Annual Jazz Festival. Besides being a good friend of the Bradley Center and using photographs from the collections of Charles Williams, Harry Adams, and Bob Douglas for her book, Swan is the granddaughter of Leon Hefflin Sr. (1898–1975). Hefflin was a visionary music producer, director, business owner, furniture manufacturer, and entrepreneur in Los Angeles. He produced the Calvacade of Jazz, the first annual jazz festival in the country, from 1945 to 1958 in Los Angeles.
Swan recalls her mother always telling her stories about her grandfather, but she couldn’t devote time to conducting research and writing this amazing “South Central untold story.” Initially, while searching online about her grandfather and the Cavalcade, Swan found nothing. After years of digging for information and photographs, she wrote this 540-page book full of photos chronicling not only the life of Leon Hefflin Sr. but also the community that made his success possible in Los Angeles.
Besides featuring jazz luminaries like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Dinah Washington, and Count Basie, the Cavalcade of Jazz also featured lesser-known but equally important bands, like the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, the first international and racially integrated all-female jazz band, where singer and trumpet player Tiny Davis and saxophonist Vi Burnside performed.
African American History in the South (Part 2)
By Keith Rice
Beale Street is a major tourist attraction in Memphis and a major location in the history of Blues music in the United States. During the first half of the twentieth century, many African Americans owned businesses on Beale Street, including nightclubs. From the 1920s to the 1940s, Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Memphis Minnie, B. B. King, and other Blues and Jazz legends played on Beale Street. Like Clayborn Temple, Beale Street fell on hard times when business closed in the 1960s. In 1973, the Beale Street Development Corporation (BSDC) was formed to redevelop Beale Street. Since October 2012, the City of Memphis has managed Beale Street. Beale Street is a must-visit destination for great food and live music for anyone visiting Memphis. I heard some great music emanating from the Rum Boogie Café, so I stepped in for what I thought would be 10-15 minutes and instead stayed for several hours because the Ty Nash Experience played song after song that sounded so good I could not leave.
On day three, July 7th, I headed to Atlanta, Georgia, to visit friends. Birmingham, Alabama, is near the midpoint between Memphis and Atlanta. So, I stopped in Birmingham at the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, which includes the 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. It was a Monday, so I could only experience Kelly Ingram Park. The park served as a staging ground for civil rights demonstrations. From May 3-10, 1963, nonviolent student protestors were subjected to the use of high-pressure water hoses and attack dogs to stop the protests. The actions taken by the local police and fire departments embarrassed the country in the rest of the world.
On August 28th, I returned to Birmingham to visit several museums and landmarks in Alabama. (To be continued…)
August 29 by the Latino Theatre Company (Part 2)
Last month, we didn’t have time to share some of the images captured by the talented Chicana/o Studies MA student Sonia Gurrola, who captured the entire performance. This month, we share photos and comments by Professor Doug Kaback’s theatre students; they show not only a clear understanding of the cultural and historical significance of this play but also highlight the urgency of telling more stories about the Chicanx/Latinx experience. Here are a few comments by students who attended the performance:
“Lucero, played with intensity and conviction, ties the whole story together. You can tell she’s someone who grew up fighting, progressive, outspoken, and determined, but life, and her father’s disapproval, dimmed that light over time. As a professor, she faces new struggles. Her conversations with Salazar reveal her frustration at the lack of progress: the same discrimination, the same police violence, the same fear of speaking up. When Salazar says, ‘The very issue we were dealing with when I died still exists,’ it hits hard. It’s a reminder that history keeps repeating itself.”
“August 29 was an incredible play and a true reminder of how magical and powerful the theatre can be and how many emotions it can make you feel at the same time. The acting, especially Lucero’s mother, made the themes of family, loss, and strength stand out to me. The performance felt important because it was political, and it reminded us that the fight for equality is still going on to this day.”
“August 29 moved me to tears, leaving a profound impact as I felt the pain of the families on stage and immediately realized how relevant their story is today. The standing ovation at the end of the play spoke many things. For me, it meant that the play had a powerful emotional impact, and what I saw tonight went beyond my expectations. From the playwright to the cast and crew, August 29 delivered not only an extraordinary production, but a bold statement saying, ‘This mattered and it still matters today.’”
