Dixieland Jamboree

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

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.

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