The Controversial Jazz Cowboy : Herb Jeffries Part 1

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Hey Taphophiles! Are you ready for another wild ride? Well good. Hop in, losers!

Herb Jeffries is the kind of Hollywood Forever Cemetery resident who forces us to slow down and ask harder questions than we planned to ask.

There’s the Louis Armstrong napkin of recommendation, the jazz career that was delivered by Duke Ellington’s “Flamingo” and the black singing cowboy persona… that was attributed to a man who was not truly black. Herb made his choices based on the type of music he wanted to make and the kind of artists he wanted to work with. And so we look at his story knowing that the lens of today’s criticism needs to be recalibrated to match the circumstances of the past.  

 What do you make of Herb Jeffries after hearing the first half of his story? There’s a lot to discuss, so please tell us your thoughts in the comments!

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