Southern Syncopated Orchestra (SSO), established first in the U.S. as the New York Syncopated Orchestra, was an early jazz group known for bringing Black musicians to the UK. The group was founded by
Will Marion Cook
William Mercer Cook (January 27, 1869 – July 19, 1944), better known as Will Marion Cook, was an American composer, violinist, and choral director.Riis, Thomas (2007–2011)Cook, Will Marion ''Grove Music Online.'' Oxford Music Online. Retrieved ...
. Members of the group included
clarinetist
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic tempe ...
British vocalist
Evelyn Dove
Evelyn Mary Dove (11 January 1902 – 7 March 1987) was a British singer and actress, who early in her career drew comparisons with Josephine Baker. Of Sierra Leone Creole and English parentage, Dove is recognized as a "trailblazing performer": ...
(using the name Norma Winchester),
[Howard Rye]
"Southern Syncopated Orchestra: The Roster"
''Black Music Research Journal'', Volume 30, Number 1, Spring 2010. and soprano
Hattie King Reavis. The SSO toured the UK and Ireland between 1919 and 1921.
The orchestra made successful annual tours around Britain and the Continent performing classical music, rag tunes, blues, slave songs and jazz.
Highly popular, they attracted 328,000 paid admissions to hear them at the
Kelvin Hall,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, in 1920. During their 1921 Farewell Tour of Europe they completed three weeks at the Lyric Theatre, Glasgow, in October 1921, which would be their last performance. The public was shocked to hear of the sinking of the ship
SS ''Rowan'' taking them on to their next venue,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
. Of the 120 on board, 36 people died, including nine players, when in dense fog late at night off
Corsewall Point, Wigtownshire, the ''Rowan'' was struck by the American freighter ''West Camak'' and then cut in two by the ''Clan Malcolm'', outward-bound from Glasgow for South Africa, which had come to the rescue at full speed. The survivors came back to Glasgow, where theatres staged Relief Fund concerts in aid of the surviving members and to help replace their musical instruments, all of which had been lost. On 17 October 1921, the orchestra opened at
La Scala Theatre, Dublin for the delayed two-week engagement, before going on to play venues in Derry and Belfast. The orchestra disbanded in November 1921.
Legacy
In 2013, two of the SSO musicians who died in the sinking of the SS ''Rowan'' were commemorated with blue plaques erected by the
Nubian Jak Community Trust
Nubian Jak Community Trust (NJCT) is a commemorative plaque and sculpture scheme founded by Jak Beula that highlights the historic contributions of Black and minority ethnic people in Britain. The first NJCT heritage plaque, honouring Bob Marley, ...
on properties where they had resided in London: vocalist Frank Bates and drummer Pete Robinson.
Memorial, London Remembers.
References
American jazz ensembles
Musical groups from New Orleans
British jazz ensembles
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