Lieutenant James Reese Europe arriving from France, February 12, 1919.

Courtesy of the Frank Driggs Collection.

 

“Memphis Blues”

James Reese Europe’s Hellfighters Band

1919

Europe’s Hellfighters thrilled audiences at home and abroad with their distinctive brand of orchestrated ragtime, filled with smears and bent notes and rhythmic excitement borrowed from jazz. This W.C. Handy classic helped put Europe on the map.