Herb Jeffries

Herbert "Herb" Jeffries
Birth name	Umberto Alexander Valentino
Born	(1913-09-24) 24 September 1913 Detroit, Michigan
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Singer, actor
Years active	1933–1995
Labels	Warner Bros. Records

Herbert "Herb" Jeffries was born Umberto Alexander Valentino on September 24, 1913). Jeffries is a retired American jazz and popular singer and actor.

Biography

Herb Jeffries was born Umberto Alexander Valentino in Detroit to an Irish mother. The date of Jeffries' birth is, like the question of his living status, currently ambiguous. Authoritative jazz writers like Leonard Feather list the year as 1913 whereas the All Music Guide (AMG.com) shows the year of birth as 1916.  At least all sources seem to agree upon September 24 as the day of Jeffries' birth--it's the year of birth and "possible if not probable" death that remain in dispute. Depending upon which source is consulted, the year of birth will appear as follows: 1911 (one source), 1912 (one), 1914 (two), and 1916 (eight). Jeffries once characterized himself in an interview as "three-eighths Negro," claiming pride in his racial heritage during a period when many other light-skinned black performers were attempting "to pass" as all-white in an effort to broaden their commercial appeal. In marked contrast, Jeffries used make-up to darken his skin—in order to pursue a career in jazz and to be seen as employable by the leading all-black musical ensembles of the day. Yet, much later in his career, Jeffries would iassume the identify of a white citizen for economic or highly personal reasons. Jet reported that Jeffries identified himself as White and stated his "real" name as "Herbert Jeffrey Ball" on an application in order to marry Tempest Storm in 1959. Jeffries told the Jet reporter:

"... I'm not passing, I never have, I never will. For all these years I've been wavering about the color question on the blanks. Suddenly I decided to fill in the blank the way I look and feel.

Look at my blue eyes, look at my brown hair, look at my color. What color do you see?" he demand to know. "My mother was 100 per cent white," Jeffries said, his blue eyes glinting in the New York sun. "My father is Portuguese, Spanish, American Indian, and Negro. How in the hell can I identify myself as one race or another?"

A 2007 documentary short describes Jeffries as "assuming the identity of a man of color" early in his career. Jeffries is shown in Black/White & All That Jazz explaining that he was inspired by New Orleans-born musician Louis Armstrong to say falsely, at a job interview in Chicago, that he was "a creole from Louisiana" when he was, in fact, of Irish and Sicilian heritage.

In 2007, while assembling material for the producers of a documentary film about him (A Colored Life), Jeffries found his birth certificate; this reminded him that he actually was born in 1913 and that he had misrepresented his age after he left home to look for a job. His four marriages (including one to exotic dancer Tempest Storm) produced five children. He has a large extended family. He lives in Southern California with his wife, Savannah. He appeared at jazz festivals and events benefiting autism and other developmental problems and lectured at colleges and universities. He supported music education in schools. In June 2010, aged 96, Jeffries performed to raise funds for the Oceanside (California) Unified School District's music program, accompanied by the Big Band Jazz Hall of Fame Orchestra under the direction of clarinetist Tad Calcara. This benefit concert was his second (the previous concert was in 2001).

Personal life

He now lives in Wichita, Kansas.

Career

A jazz and popular singer, he starred as a singing cowboy in several all-black Western films, in which he sang his own western compositions. Jeffries obtained financing for the first black western film and hired Spencer Williams to appear with him. In addition to starring in the film, he sang and performed his own stunts as cowboy "Bob Blake". He began his career working with Erskine Tate and his Vendome Orchestra when he moved to Chicago from Detroit at the urging of Louis Armstrong. His break came during the 1933 Chicago World's Fair—Century of Progress Exposition singing with the Earl Hines Orchestra on Hines’ national broadcasts live from the Grand Terrace Cafe. His first recordings were with Hines in 1934, including "Just to be in Carolina". As of 2011, Jeffries is the sole surviving member of that Earl Hines orchestra. He then recorded extensively with Duke Ellington from 1940 to 1942. His most famous song, "Flamingo" (recorded in 1940 with Ellington), sold more than 50 million copies. He was replaced in the Ellington band by Al Hibbler in 1943.

Playing a singing cowboy in low-budget films, Jeffries became known as the "Bronze Buckaroo" by his fans. In a time of American racial segregation, such "race movies" played mostly in theaters catering to African-American audiences. The films, available on video, include Harlem on the Prairie, The Bronze Buckaroo, Harlem Rides the Range and Two-Gun Man from Harlem. Jeffries went on to make other films, starring with Angie Dickinson in Calypso Joe (1957). He later directed and produced Mundo Depravados, a cult film starring his wife, Tempest Storm. In 1968, Jeffries appeared in the long-running western TV series The Virginian playing a gunslinger who intimidated the town. At the age of 81, he recorded a Nashville album of songs on the Warner Western label in 1995 entitled The Bronze Buckaroo (Rides Again).

Honors

For his contributions to the motion-picture industry, Jeffries has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6672 Hollywood Boulevard. In 2004, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. A restaurant in Idyllwild, Cafe Aroma, has a room named for him.

In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.

Partial filmography

• Harlem on the Prairie (1937)
• Two-Gun Man from Harlem (1938)
• Harlem Rides the Range (1939)
• The Bronze Buckaroo (1939)
• Calypso Joe (1957)
• Chrome and Hot Leather (1971)
• Portrait of a Hitman (1977)

Selected discography

• Sidney Bechet: "1940-1941" (Classics)
• Earl Hines: "1932-1934" (Classics)
• Duke Ellington:"The Blanton Webster Band" (RCA, 1940–42)
• Michael Martin Murphey: "Sagebrush Symphony"
• "Jamaica" (RKO Records ULP - 128) all songs composed by Jeffries
• "Passion" (Brunswick, BL 54028) Coral singles compiled on 12" LP
• "Say it Isn't So" (Bethlehem BCP 72) with the Russ Garcia Orchestra
• "Herb Jeffries" (Harmony HL 7048) Columbia singles LP
• "Magenta Moods" (Mercury 2589 10") LP transfer of Exclusive label album
• "Herb Jeffries Sings" (Mercury 2590 10") more Exclusive singles with the Buddy Baker Orchestra
• "Herb Jeffries and his Orchestra" (Mercury 2591 10") Exclusive label singles
• "Songs by Herb Jeffries" (Mercury 2592 10") Exclusive label singles
• "I Remember the Bing" (Dobre Records 1047)
• "Play and Sing the Duke" (Dobre Records 1053)
• "The King and Me" (Dobre Records 1059)

In the 1940s and 1950s Jeffries recorded for a number of labels, including RCA Victor, Exclusive, Coral, Decca, Bethlehem, Columbia, Mercury and Trend. His album "Jamaica", recorded by RKO, is a concept album of self-composed calypso songs.

Bibliography

• James Lincoln Collier, Duke Ellington (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987) ISBN 0-19-503770-7
• Richard Cook and Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide To Jazz on CD, 6th Edition (London, Penguin Books, 2002) ISBN 0-14-017949-6

External links

• Herb Jeffries at Jazz Standards
• Herb Jeffries at IMDb
• Herb Jeffries on B Western Stars