26 Facts About Wilbur Sweatman

Wilbur Coleman Sweatman was an American ragtime and dixieland jazz composer, bandleader and clarinetist.

Wilbur Sweatman was a trailblazer in the racial integration of musical groups.

Wilbur Sweatman was born February 7,1882, in Brunswick, Missouri, to parents Matilda and Coleman Wilbur Sweatman.

Wilbur Sweatman's father ran a barbershop in the riverside town to provide for his family, which included daughters Eva and Lula.

Wilbur Sweatman's mother was apparently of mixed racial background as she and the children were listed as mulatto on some census reports.

Wilbur Sweatman's mother persevered, continuing to operate the barbershop as well as taking in boarders.

Wilbur Sweatman received his education at the segregated Elliott School in Brunswick and helped out around the barbershop after school.

Later Wilbur Sweatman would become a self-taught violinist, and subsequently took up the clarinet as well.

Wilbur Sweatman's first number was a medley of popular airs and "rags" and had everybody shuffling their pedal extremities before it was half over.

Wilbur Sweatman wrote a number of rags, "Down Home Rag" being the most commercially successful.

Wilbur Sweatman was one of the few black solo acts to appear regularly on the major white vaudeville circuits.

Joplin's musical papers, including unpublished manuscripts, were willed to Wilbur Sweatman, who took care of them while generously sharing access to those who inquired.

In December 1916, Wilbur Sweatman recorded for minor label Emerson Records, including his own "Down Home Rag".

Wilbur Sweatman's band consisted of five saxophonists and himself on clarinet, a combo which soon signed with Pathe.

Wilbur Sweatman was the first African American to make recordings labeled as "Jass" and "Jazz".

Since Wilbur Sweatman can be heard making melodic variations even in his 1916 recordings, it might be argued that Wilbur Sweatman recorded an archaic type of jazz earlier than the Original Dixieland band.

In 1918, Wilbur Sweatman landed with major label Columbia Records, where he would enjoy a meteoric rise with a wide variety of songs under his own name.

Wilbur Sweatman's band delivered several shorter anonymous performances for the label's "Little Wonder" line of 90-second-long budget releases.

Wilbur Sweatman singles shipped over a million copies in 1919 alone.

Wilbur Sweatman's best-selling song was "Kansas City Blues", which shipped 180,000 copies.

Wilbur Sweatman continued to ply his somewhat dated style in live appearances throughout the Northeast.

Wilbur Sweatman continued to record for such labels as Gennett, Edison, Grey Gull and Victor.

Wilbur Sweatman frequently played at the well known Harlem club Connie's Inn.

Wilbur Sweatman continued playing in New York through the 1940s and early 1950s, but increasingly concentrated his efforts on the music publishing business and talent booking.

In 1937 alone, ASCAP reported that "Down Home Rag" had been played on the radio over 2000 times, Wilbur Sweatman receiving royalties for each play.

Wilbur Sweatman died in New York City on March 9,1961.