Erskine Tate (January 14, 1895, Memphis, Tennessee, – December 17, 1978, Chicago) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

violinist and bandleader.

Biography

Tate moved to Chicago in 1912 and was an early figure on the Chicago jazz scene, playing with his band, the Vendome Orchestra, at the Vendome Theater, which was located at 31st and State Street. The Vendome was a movie house, and his Vendome Theater Symphony Orchestra played during silent films. The band included

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(trumpet), Freddie Keppard (cornet),

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(saxophone), Jimmy Bertrand (drums), Ed Atkins (trombone), and Teddy Weatherford (piano), as well as Stump Evans, Bob Shoffner, Punch Miller, Omer Simeon, Preston Jackson,

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, and

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. Along with music for the movie, the orchestra played both serious and light classical repertoire, such as music by Wagner and Beethoven. Documented overtures played at the Vendome include overtures to Franz von Suppé's ''Poet and Peasant'' and Gioacchino Rossini's ''William Tell''. In the mid-1930s, Tate retired from active performance and became a music teacher.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tate, Erskine 1895 births 1978 deaths American jazz violinists American male violinists American jazz bandleaders Vocalion Records artists 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American violinists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians