Louis Thomas Black (June 8, 1901 – November 18, 1965) was one of the foremost

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

players of the Jazz Era. Born in Rock Island,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, he began playing

during early childhood and became professional in 1917. In 1921, he joined the famous

New Orleans Rhythm Kings The New Orleans Rhythm Kings (NORK) were one of the most influential jazz bands of the early to mid-1920s. The band included New Orleans and Chicago musicians who helped shape Chicago jazz and influenced many younger jazz musicians. History The ...

Friar's Inn Friar's Inn (also called New Friar's Inn) was a nightclub and speakeasy in Chicago, Illinois, a famed jazz music venue in the 1920s. Though some sources refer to it casually as "Friar's Club", it was not related to the New York Friars Club. Locate ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. With this band, he participated to the first-ever interracial recording session with pianist Jelly Roll Morton. He left the band in 1923 to play with other bands. From 1925 until 1931, he was a staff musician for radio station WHO in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. He left music in early 1930s, but began playing again in 1961. He sat in with several bands during a brief stay in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, then played gigs in

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline, Illinois, East M ...

from the fall of 1963. While recovering in a Rock Island hospital from injuries sustained in an automobile accident, he suffered a fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

Further reading