The Harlem Playgirls was an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

swing band Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...

active in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

and throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s.

History

Organized by

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

-based drummer and band leader Sylvester Rice (1905–1984)''Late Eli Rice, Prominent Midwest Bandleader, Once was an Oshkoshian'',

Oshkosh Northwestern The ''Oshkosh Northwestern'' is a daily newspaper based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The ''Northwestern'' is primarily distributed in Winnebago, Waushara, and Green Lake counties. History For the forty years preceding establishment of the newspa ...

, June 28, 1962 in 1935 and drawing from members of the popular Dixie Sweethearts, the group toured

TOBA Toba may refer to: Languages * Toba Sur language, spoken in South America * Batak Toba, spoken in Indonesia People * Toba people, indigenous peoples of the Gran Chaco in South America * Toba Batak people, a sub-ethnic group of Batak people from ...

circuits, performing in

picture house A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

jazz club A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music, although some jazz clubs primarily focus on the study and/or promotion of jazz-music. Jazz clubs are usually a type of nightclub or bar, which is licens ...

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called ''balls''. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially histori ...

s and

variety theatre Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compè ...

s. In the tradition of prior

all-female band An all-female band is a musical ensemble, musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universa ...

s led by

musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, moveme ...

stars, headliners Eddie Crump and Neliska Ann "Baby" Briscoe both led the band as dancing, singing front women. Briscoe had gained prominence in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and had worked with

Lil Hardin Armstrong Lillian Hardin Armstrong (née Hardin; February 3, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and bandleader. She was the second wife of Louis Armstrong, with whom she collaborated on many recordings in t ...

’s all-female band and

Joe Robichaux Joseph Robichaux (March 8, 1900 – January 17, 1965) was an American jazz pianist. He was the nephew of John Robichaux. Life and career Robichaux was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, and played piano from a young age and studied at ...

and his Rhythm Boys. Trombonist Lela Julius and saxophonist Vi Burnside were two of the group’s leading soloists. The group appeared at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1937 and competed in the prestigious battle of the bands contest at

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

’s

Savoy ballroom The Savoy Ballroom was a large ballroom for music and public dancing located at 596 Lenox Avenue, between 140th and 141st Streets in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Lenox Avenue was the main thoroughfare through upper Harlem ...

against Johnny Long’s group in 1938. Many members later went on to perform with the

International Sweethearts of Rhythm The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was an American jazz ensemble, believed to be the first racially-integrated all-female band in the United States. During the 1940s, the band featured some of the best female musicians of the day. They pla ...

and the

Prairie View Co-eds The Prairie View Co-eds were an all-female band that formed in the 1940s at the historically black Prairie View A&M University. The band formed in response to more and more males being drafted into the armed forces. The Prairie View Co-eds' succe ...

References

Sources

* *F. Driggs. 1977. “Women in Jazz, A Survey” Liner Notes to ''Jazz women, A Feminist Retrospective''. New York: Stash Records. * *H. Rye: ''What the Papers said: the Harlem Play-Girls and Dixie Rhythm Girls (and Dixie Sweethearts)'', Storyville 1996/7, ed. L. Wright (Chigwell, England, 1997) *S. Tucker. ''Swing Shift: "All-Girl" Bands of the 1940s''. (Durham, NC:

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

, 2001). *L. Wright: ''Pieces of the Jigsaw: Harlem Playgirls'', Storyville 1998/9 (Chigwell, England, 1999), 178 {{authority control Musical groups established in 1935 Musical groups disestablished in the 1940s African-American girl groups African-American musical groups American girl groups American swing musical groups

History

See also

References

Sources