Will Accooe

Willis J. Accooe (1874 – April 26, 1904) was an American performing musician and composer, mainly of musicals.[1][2] He was "an important songwriter during the birth of the black musical" according to the Library of Congress website.[2]

Will Accooe
Born
Will Accooe

1874
DiedApril 26, 1904
NationalityAmerican
OccupationMusician

Life and career

He was born in Winchester, Virginia to preacher John Harris Accooe and Anna Accooe.[3] He married fellow musician and performer Alice Mackey.[1] He studied at Princess Anne Academy in Maryland.[4]

He played organ at the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition, and his composition Tennessee Centennial March proved greatly successful.[2]

Accooe was musical director for John William Isham's Octoroons, a popular quasi-minstrel troupe,[2] and was musical director for productions with Bert Williams. With Bob Cole and Billy Johnson he produced A Trip to Coontown in 1898, "the first New York musical written, produced, and performed by black artists". He wrote songs for the show and was its musical director.[2] In addition to his other theatrical work, he also worked on Broadway musicals for white audiences, including The Belle of Bridgeport (1900), The Liberty Belles (1901), The Casino Girl (1900–1901).[1][5]

He co-wrote a musical with Will Marion Cook entitled The Cannibal King (1901), but it was never produced.[2] He was a co-composer for Harry B. Smith's musical comedy, The Liberty Belles, which was produced in 1901.[6] He composed some of the music for the musical comedy Sons of Ham. During a 1903 production of the show by Avery and Hart (Dan Avery and Charles Hart), Accooe was the orchestra's conductor.[7]

He wrote the comic opera The Volunteers in 1903, but fell ill and production was halted.[3]

Accooee wrote his own funeral oration shortly before his death. He died at age 30 on April 26, 1904, in Brooklyn, New York.[4][8]

Selected compositions

See also

References

  1. Peterson, Bernard L. (August 11, 2001). Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People, 1816–1960. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 3. ISBN 9780313295348 via Google Books.
  2. "Will Accooe (d. 1904)". Library of Congress.
  3. "AfriClassical: Will Accooe (1874–1904) Composed 'Black Patti Waltzes' (6:16) on New World Records CD 'Black Manhattan, Vol. 2' by Paragon Ragtime Orchestra". December 27, 2012.
  4. "Wrote Own Funeral Oration: It Will Be Delivered To-morrow Over Body of Will Accooe, Song Writer". New York Times. April 27, 1904. p. 2. ProQuest 96427211. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  5. Peterson, Bernard L. (1993). A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, Or Involving African Americans. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 31, 74, 215. ISBN 978-0-313-26657-7. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  6. "Reopening of the columbia theater with "the liberty belles."". The Washington Post. September 22, 1901. ProQuest 144232335. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  7. "Other Attractions". The Washington Post. April 21, 1903. p. 4. ProQuest 144426272. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  8. "Musical Author and Composer". Boston Evening Transcript. April 28, 1904. p. 7. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  9. Chicken. August 14, 1899. OCLC 51717040 via Open WorldCat.
  10. Lulu: I loves yer, Lulu. August 14, 1901. OCLC 60404619 via Open WorldCat.
  11. Love has claimed its own. August 14, 1901. OCLC 497033668 via Open WorldCat.
  12. Ma dandy soldier coon
  13. On the road to Cairo town. August 14, 1903. OCLC 1117311435 via Open WorldCat.
  14. Zapolski, Milton (February 15, 1988). "The marine band's black classics". The Washington Post. p. D3. ProQuest 139855811. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  15. Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Accooe, Will," accessed October 11, 2021, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/116854.
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