Dixieland Jamboree: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A motion picture film with the title Dixieland Jamboree. It consists of a single reel of positive, black-and-white, 16mm acetate film with bilateral variable-area optical sound. It opens with footage of people working in a field and a narrator saying, "Always, music has been an intimate part of a people's existence and in America, the negro has given to music a newer, greater significance…" Short clips of different musical performances accompany his commentary, sometimes including scenes from the film Jammin' the Blues. At 00:00:53, singer/actress Eunice Wilson and vaudeville entertainers Five Racketeers can be seen performing on stage. In the next scene, The Three Whippets, dressed as chefs, are seen performing acrobatics on a stage. In the subsequent scene, Adelaide Hall sings on a stage while a pianist plays behind her. The penultimate act features the Nicholas Brothers tap dancing, while the final scene showcases Cab Calloway and His Orchestra performing onstage.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1946
• Produced by: Gordon Hollingshead, American, 1892 - 1952
• Subject of: The Three Whippets, American
• Subject of: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Subject of: The Five Racketeers, American
• Subject of: Adelaide Hall, American, 1901 - 1993
• Subject of: Fayard Nicholas, American, 1914 - 2006
• Subject of: Harold Nicholas, American, 1921 - 2000
• Subject of: Eunice Wilson, American, 1911 - 1984
• Type: sound films
• Type: black-and-white films (visual works)
• Type: short subjects
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration (digital file): 00:09:39
• Dimensions: Physical extent (film): 400 ft
• Place made: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: 2015.275.19.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Anonymous Gift in memory of Ernest (Ernie) R. Smith, Jazz Historian
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Warner Brothers Pictures Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.