Norfolk Jazz And Jubilee Quartet - "Get On Board, Little Children" (1920s Record) with information about Black American Jubilee singing

Norfolk Jazz And Jubilee Quartet - Topic, Jun 24, 2017

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises

Norfolk Jazz And Jubilee Quartet Vol. 2 (1923-1925)

℗ 1995 Document Records

Released on: 2005-06-28

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series on the Black American Spiritual "Get On Board, Little Children" (also known as "The Gospel Train").

This post showcases an early to mid 1920s recording of the Norfolk Jazz And Jubilee Quartet singing "Get On Board, Little Children."

This post presents information about "Get On Board. Little Children" (also entitled "The Gospel Train") from that song's Wikipedia page.

This post also presents a complete reprint of the Wikipedia page on Jubilee Quartets.as well as an excerpt from the Wikipedia page about The Norfolk Jazz And Jubilee Quartet.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/05/shirley-temple-singing-get-on-board.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post showcases a YouTube video of child Shirley Temple singing "Get On Board, Little Children" from the 1936 American movie Dimples. That post also showcases a YouTube video of the 2003 PlayStation video game advertisement entitled "Mountain".That ad features Shirley Temple singing "Get On Board, Little Children." Additional information about that ad is also included in that pancocojams post.  

The content of this song is presented for historical, cultural, religious, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the composer/s of this song and thanks to the Norfolk Jazz And Jubilee Quartet. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "GET ON BOARD, LITTLE CHILDREN" (ALSO KNOWN AS "THE GOSPEL TRAIN")
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gospel_Train [retrieved May 17, 2024]
" "The Gospel Train (Get on Board)" is a traditional African-American spiritual first published in 1872 as one of the songs of the Fisk Jubilee Singers.[2] A standard Gospel song, it is found in the hymnals of many Protestant denominations and has been recorded by numerous artists.

The first verse, including the chorus is as follows:

The gospel train is coming
I hear it just at hand
I hear the car wheels moving
And rumbling thro' the land
Get on board, children (3×)
For there's room for many a more

Although "The Gospel Train" is usually cited as traditional, several sources credit a Baptist minister from New Hampshire, John Chamberlain, with writing it.[3] Captain Asa W. Bartlett, historian for the New Hampshire Twelfth Regiment, reported Chamberlain as singing the song on April 26, 1863, during Sunday services for the regiment.[4]"...

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INFORMATION ABOUT BLACK AMERICAN JUBILEE QUARTETS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_quartet [retrieved May 17,2024] 
"Jubilee quartets were popular African-American religious musical groups in the first half of the 20th century. The name derives from the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a group of singers organized by George L. White at Fisk University in 1871 to sing Negro spirituals. The members of the original Fisk Jubilee Quartet (1909–1916) were Alfred G. King (first bass), James A. Myers (second tenor), Noah W. Ryder (second bass), and John W. Work II (first tenor).[1] Students at other historically black schools, such as Hampton Institute, Tuskegee Institute and Wilberforce University, followed suit. Many independent jubilee troupes also found inspiration in the Fisk Jubilee Singers, such as the Original Nashville Students.

The early jubilee quartets featured close harmonies, formal arrangements and a "flatfooted" style of singing that emphasized restrained musical expression and technique derived from Western musical traditions. Early quartets reinforced their respectable image by adopting uniforms that a university glee club might wear and discouraging improvisation.

In time, however, the popularity of the jubilee style spread from the universities to black churches, where quartets, singing before audiences with a tradition of enthusiastic response, began to absorb much of the energy and freedom of Gospel music coming out of Holiness churches. Groups such as the Golden Gate Quartet—originally named the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet—infused their performances of spirituals with the rhythmic beat of blues and jazz and gradually began including gospel standards written by Thomas A. Dorsey and others in their repertoire. The Gates and other jubilee quartets gained nationwide popularity through radio broadcasts, records and touring in the 1930s and 1940s.

Other groups, such as the Dixie Hummingbirds and the Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama (formally known as the Happyland Jubilee Singers) that had begun singing in the conventional jubilee style went further, creating the more improvisational and fervent style of quartet singing known as "hard Gospel". That new style largely eclipsed jubilee singing by the 1950s.".

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE NORFOLK JAZZ AND JUBILEE QUARTET ((originally published in German; retrieved on May 17,2024)
From https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Jazz_%26_Jubilee_Quartet
"The Norfolk Jazz & Jubilee Quartet was an American vocal ensemble initially known as the Norfolk Jazz Quartets and later recording as the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet . The quartet was one of the first groups to present recordings with close harmony in the field of jazz and spirituals .

The Norfolk Jazz Quartet had been performing in Norfolk, Virginia since early 1919 . The first recordings began in 1921, such as the first recording of Jelly Roll Morton's early jazz piece Jelly Roll Blues . On most recordings, a guitar can be heard in addition to the voices. Between 1924 and 1929 the vocal quartet recorded under the name The Negro Spirituals or Norfolk Jubilee Quartets , but continued to perform vaudeville numbers under the old name. Some recordings were also marketed as the Palmetto Jazz Quartet .

The Norfolk Jazz & Jubilee Quartet was one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1920s, recording over 110 titles over the course of its existence, first for Okeh , then for Paramount Records and, from 1937, for Decca Records . At this point the group consisted of Norman Harris and Len Williams as well as new additions Raymond Smith and Melvin Coldten. Its members began their careers in vaudeville (including in the Mamie Smith Review ) and then appeared in musicals . Their recorded repertoire initially included classic jazz and blues pieces and novelty songs from minstrel shows , until from 1924 onwards mainly spirituals such as “Father Prepare Me” were recorded on record alongside secular titles such as “Queen Street Rag” and “Louisiana Bo Bo”. [1] After the death of bassist and arranger Len Williams in 1940, the group broke up. [2]"...

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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.

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