Cincinnati Jazz Hall of History - Historical Newspaper Clips

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Cincinnati jazz newspaper clippings researched and compiled by Bill Soudrette and Pat Kelly

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1930s

There was still little documentation of activity by locally based musicians in the 1930s, with the exception of the esteemed Dr. Artie Matthews (see below). There were night clubs in the West End - The Cotton Club (at 6th and Mound) and Kelly's Nite Club (at 14th and Central).

See a great MUST READ article (published in Cincinnati Enquirer in 1981) by Cissie Hill on Cincinnati's Cotton Club!

It has long been a point of pride that the virtuoso stride pianist, vocalist and entertainer Thomas "Fats" Waller was a house musician with Cincinnati's 500,000 watt (for a brief time) WLW radio station, the broadcasts of which could be heard nationwide. There are legendary stories about Fats defying station owner Powell Crosley's edict that there was to be no drinking of alcohol in the broadcast studio. Years later, the legend has it, empty gin bottles were found behind the radio station's great theater organ console which had been deposited there by Mr. Waller. We have found a news article that a check had been stolen from Waller's mailbox at his residence on W. 8th St. in the West End, an area that is now known as Queensgate.

There were national touring jazz acts that made it through Cincinnati and they played at The Greystone Ballroom, Cincinnati's premier venue for Aftrican-American events during times of segregation (It was known as "The Topper Club" for white events; it is now known just as "Music Hall Ballroom"). Castle Farm, a major venue for touring jazz bands, thrived in the 1930s (see box below). Early jazz was also presented at hotels and other concert venues.

1931 - Dr. Artie Matthews was a classically trained musician who published the noted ragtime compositions "Pastime Rags" in St. Louis. He relocated to Cincinnati where he founded the African-American "Cosmopolitan School of Music" during the era of segregation when Blacks were not accepted into the Conservatory or College of Music here. Many Cincinnati musicians learned under his tutelage. Mr. Matthews eschewed jazz in favor of classical music in his later years.

Read HERE about Dr. Artie Matthews.


Check out the 11:45am slot in the first column. Mr. Thomas "Fats" Waller was resident musician at radio station WLW in Cincinnati. This clipping is from December 1, 1932. He was a virtuoso and one of the giants of stride piano and early jazz, who achieved great popularity as an entertainer.

Castle Farm

Located at the intersection of Summit and Edgemont in Roselawn, Castle Farm presented first rate music from the 1920s through the mid-1960s. It offered dining and big band dancing in the central Cincinnati suburbs. Duke Ellington and his Orchestra played 12 different engagements there, starting with one of a week long duration in August 1932 and concluding with a one-nighter on Saturday, December 1, 1962. Bandleader Andy Kirk, a Newport, KY native, played there many times over the years. Kenton, Basie, James, Shaw, Goodman - all of the top national big bands and territory bands made stops at Castle Farm.

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Below, see ad or poster for Castle Farm referring to the great Fletcher Henderson as the famous "Colored King of Jazz". (At that time African-Americans were referred to as "colored".) In the column of text to the right he is referred to as the "colored Paul Whiteman"! Fletcher Henderson was one of the seminal arrangers of jazz that brought big bands to the modern era after Jelly Roll Morton. Paul Whiteman had a great band that specialized in symphonic and sweet jazz. His orchestra premiered works by George Gershwin, including "Rhapsody In Blue". Although marketed well at the time, he was not the "King of Jazz". I believe that the copy of this poster was attempting to pay Henderson due respect, even during a time of Jim Crow and segregation.

Fletcher Henderson