A Brief History of Jacksonville Music

[thelakelander]

Blind Blake, a ragtime guitarist had a song called "The Ashley Street Blues," back in 1927.

You can hear a little of it here: http://www.emusic.com/album/Blind-Blake-Blind-Blake-Vol-1-1926-1927-MP3-Download/10868583.html

This is not to be confused with a good 147 page dissertation on LaVilla and Ashley Street written by Peter Smith:

"Ashley Street Blues: Racial Uplift And The Commodification Of Vernacular Performance In LaVilla, Florida, 1896-1916"

http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses_1/available/etd-03312006-171940/unrestricted/pds_dissertation.pdf

This report claims that the first documented professional performance of the blues on stage was at Ashley Street's Colored Airdome.

[stjr]

This is not to be confused with a good 147 page dissertation on LaVilla and Ashley Street written by Peter Smith:

"Ashley Street Blues: Racial Uplift And The Commodification Of Vernacular Performance In LaVilla, Florida, 1896-1916"

http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses_1/available/etd-03312006-171940/unrestricted/pds_dissertation.pdf

This report claims that the first documented professional performance of the blues on stage was at Ashley Street's Colored Airdome.

Lake, I just read through most of this dissertation and it is an absolutely fascinating take on a part of Jacksonville history nearly lost  (P.S. This link should be cross posted on MJ's Ashley Street thread).  To think that at one time Jax was not only the "Hollywood" of motion pictures, but, also the potential "Memphis/New Orleans" of music.  And, we have done next to nothing here to celebrate this.

I hope you send this dissertation to a variety of City political, cultural, historic preservation, and African-American leaders as an inspiration for saving what little we have left of these structures and and to encourage the celebration of this culture on the stages of the Ritz and elsewhere.  Especially, African-American's should insist on bringing this period alive, to preserve their own culture, to spotlight their contributions to the evolution of Jax, and to remind all facets of the community that the arts can bring all of us together in a spiritual experience.

The author should be encouraged by our community to build upon this research and to consult with the community on how to further disseminate this history.  A Ken Burns-style  documentary based on this would be a great start.  I wonder if the talent and resources could be found to create an ongoing "reproduction" of these obviously unique and "lost" shows at the Ritz.  It could do wonders in raising the esteem of Jax,  its African American and cultural communities, local history and historic preservation, and, simultaneously, create downtown economic development through entertainment and tourism.

And, here is the latest sad chapter (pages 113-114)  for which we as a City need to atone:

Ashley Street in LaVilla is only now beginning to recover from the debilitating effects of urban decay and the crippling intrusion of Interstate 95 through the neighborhood. The Clara White Mission and the Stanton School still straddle Broad (formerly Bridge) Street. For a brief period, they were the only structures that remained standing for many blocks along the north side of Ashley Street. The Willie Smith Building, which housed Joe Higdon’s Hollywood Music Store and the Florida Cut Price Pharmacy had been built on the former site of the Colored Airdome. The city demolished it in 2003 to make way for the expansion of the Clara White Mission and now a new employment training center stands on the site. On the south side of Ashley Street, all the buildings are gone, save one. There is currently a project to restore Genovar’s Hall (also known as the Finkelstein Building), which was once the home of the Wynn Hotel and the Lenape Bar. This restoration was initiated through a cooperative agreement between Jacksonville’s Economic Development Commission and it is financed by the Nu Beta Sigma Chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. The reconstruction has run into some challenges, though. The entire structure is now supported by jacks and the interior of the building is completely gutted. Some of the old facade remains on the second floor, but not much else. Recently, in a self-conscious attempt to create an historic tableau (currently referred to as, “the LaVilla Experience”) as part of a proposed James Weldon Johnson Memorial Park, three shotgun shacks from the 1920s have been relocated just behind the structure. Ashley Street currently terminates where it once crossed Jefferson Street and the campus of the new LaVilla School of the Arts begins here, where Ashley Street now ends.