A Jazz-Age Musician of the African Diaspora
Frank Oscar Etheridge, 1897-1967
Frank Etheridge was born on December 18, 1897, in New York. He began playing music from a young age when his mother, Albertine, secured piano lessons for him. He performed in New York City, New York, St. Augustine, Florida, Chicago, Illinois, and numerous other American cities. In 1927, he signed a contract with the Erskine Tate’s Vendome Symphony Orchestra to play in Shanghai. After thirteen months in China, he paired up with Albert Nicholas and traveled to Singapore and Cairo.
His musical career took him to Paris, Berlin, and other European cities during the interwar period. Over the course of his life, he played with jazz greats like Noble Sissle, Valadia Snow, Jack Carter, Louis Douglas, and more. In the map below, you can watch Etheridge play the banjo in Noble Sissle's Orchestra on the first stop in Seattle, Washington. As a skilled musician, Etheridge played the piano, the banjo, the violin, and more.
Explore a map of Etheridge's travels.
While traveling abroad, Etheridge played in interracial orchestras and for mixed audiences. Many African American jazz musicians preferred the race relations in European countries or Egypt to America's Jim Crow laws. While living abroad did not mean they avoided any racial discrimination, they had more opportunities and more freedom of movement.
In addition to music, Etheridge indulged in other hobbies. Throughout his travels he took photographs of architecture, his friends, and landscapes. He wrote articles, poems, essays, and books. His travelogue was published posthumously.
Etheridge is playing the violin in this upper right corner of this photograph.
