Jefferson, Eddie; Jazz Singer . Murdered. Copy neg.

View Item Record

Description:

Portrait of jazz singer and lyricist, Eddie Jefferson who was shot to death outside Bakers Keyboard Lounge in Detroit, Michigan. "The founder of vocalese (putting recorded solos to words), Eddie Jefferson did not have a great voice, but he was one of the top jazz singers, getting the maximum out of what he had, he started out working as a tap dancer, but by the late '40s was singing and writing lyrics," from AllMusic website. "In the early hours of Wednesday, May 9, 1979, jazz singer Eddie Jefferson was leaving Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, on Detroit’s north fringe, where he and his young partner, alto saxophonist Richie Cole, had just completed their opening night performance, Eddie may have had an ominous feeling, for he ended the set abruptly and called a cab. Jefferson, his road manager and a woman friend went outside; Cole and a fan followed soon after, an automobile parked in front of the club pulled up to the cab, the driver fired four shotgun blasts, one of which struck Eddie Jefferson in the chest, he staggered twenty-five feet and died, [Police later arrested 41-year-old Ameer Al-Meet Mujahiid, formerly William Perryman, a frustrated dancer and laid-off factory worker who had known Jefferson for about ten years in New York, but after a three-week trial, a jury brought in a verdict of not guilty], although the singer had been living in Queens, NY, he was buried in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA, where he still had family," from Ira Steingroot’s liner notes for Prestige LP There I Go Again.

Notes:

Collection located at the Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. To schedule an appointment to view the original image, order high resolution copies, or seek permission to use an image, contact the Walter P. Reuther Library Audiovisual Department at reutherreference@wayne.edu., Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, and This metadata was created by Wayne State University Library system based on original description by the Walter P. Reuther Library

Data Provider:

Wayne State University. Libraries and Walter P. Reuther Library

Collection:

Virtual Motor City

Place:

Michigan and Detroit

Subject Topic:

Portraits, Jazz singers, Vocalises, and Murder victims

Subject Name:

Jefferson, Eddie and 1918-1979

Format:

photographs

Rights:

Copyright Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University

URL:

http://digital.library.wayne.edu/item/wayne:vmc53921