James Timothy Brymn (October 5, 1874 or 1881 – October 3, 1946) "Brymn, Lieutenant James Tim (1881-1946)"
BlackPast.org. Retrieved October 7, 2016. was an African-American

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

who generally performed northeastern hot style

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 ...

. He was usually credited as Lieutenant James Tim Brymn, and was sometimes billed as "Mr. Jazz Himself".

Biography

He was born in

Kinston, North Carolina Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 19,900 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791. Kinston is located in the ...

; most sources indicate October 5, 1881, but researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc suggest 1874 on the basis of his entry in the 1880 census. He studied at

Christian Institute The Christian Institute (CI) is a charity operating in the United Kingdom, promoting a conservative evangelical Christian viewpoint, founded on a belief in Biblical inerrancy. The CI is a registered charity. The group does not report numbers of ...

and

Shaw University Shaw University is a private historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The school had its origin in the fo ...

and received his musical education at the National Conservatory of Music. With

Cecil Mack Cecil Mack (November 6, 1873 – August 1, 1944) was an American composer, lyricist and music publisher. Biography Born as Richard Cecil McPherson in Portsmouth, Virginia, he attended the Norfolk Mission College and Lincoln University in Pennsy ...

, he co-wrote popular songs, including "Good Morning, Carrie" (1901), "Josephine, My Jo" (1902), and "Please Go 'Way and Let Me Sleep" (1902). By 1905, Brymn had written five songs that were used in the Smart Set Company shows: "Morning Noon and Night", "O-San", "Powhatana", "Travel On", and "Darktown Grenadiers". He joined the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, serving throughout the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

with the 350th

Field Artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the ear ...

. He became the bandleader of the regimental band, the "Black Devils". In 1919, Brymn’s Black Devil Orchestra performed at the opening of the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

, in front of President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

and General

John Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was an American army general, educator, and founder of the Pershing Rifles. He served as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forc ...

, and were later credited with introducing jazz to France. The all African-American 70 piece orchestra was described at the time as "a military symphony engaged in a battle of jazz."

Willie "The Lion" Smith Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

also served in the 350th Field Artillery Regiment and claimed to have received the nickname of "The Lion" for his bravery while in this unit.Tim Brymn and His Black Devil Orchestra, ''Red Hot Jazz Archive''
Retrieved December 15, 2020. Brymn and his musicians returned to the United States after the war. He led orchestras at two leading

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 ...

nightclubs, Ziegfeld's Roof Garden and

Reisenweber's Reisenweber's Cafe, also known as Reisenweber's Restaurant or simply Reisenweber's, was a restaurant, nightclub, and hotel in Columbus Circle, Manhattan, on the intersection of Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eighth Ave and 58th Street, from 1856/7 t ...

Jardin de Dance, and made a series of recordings for

OKeh Records OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

, including "Daddy Won’t You Please Come Home," "Don’t Tell Your Monkey Man," and "Siren of the Southern Sea." Later, in the 1920s, he became the musical director at

James Reese Europe James Reese Europe (February 22, 1880 – May 9, 1919) was an American ragtime and early jazz bandleader, arranger, and composer. He was the leading figure on the African-American music scene of New York City in the 1910s. Eubie Blake called him ...

's Clef Club in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, and for the

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

show ''Liza''. With Chris Smith and Cecil Mack, he wrote "The Camel Walk", a popular dance tune in 1925. In 1933, he joined

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

.James "Tim" Brymn", ''Jass.com''
. Retrieved October 7, 2016. Brymn was married possibly five times, to Lillie Smith, a woman known only as Jennie, Daisy Mitchell, Jeannette F. Lucas, and a woman known only as Dorothy. He died in

on October 3, 1946.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brymn, James Tim American music arrangers American male conductors (music) American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists 19th-century births Year of birth uncertain 1946 deaths Shaw University alumni 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists

Biography

See also

References

External links