“To me he was the greatest comedian + dancer in my race. He didn’t need black face—to be funny. Better than Bert Williams. I personally Admired Bill Robinson because he was immaculately dressed — you could see the Quality in his Clothes from the stage. Stopped every show. . . . I don’t think that there will ever be a Bojangles Bill Robinson again. They might try to Duplicate him, but I doubt it. May the Lord bless his soul. I am very proud to say that I shared the stage with the great Bill Bojangles Robinson’ many times for many years. Yessir.“
from Louis Armstrong + The Jewish Family in New Orleans, La., The Year of 1907, reprinted in LOUIS ARMSTRONG IN HIS OWN WORDS, ed. Thomas Brothers.
4 responses so far ↓
sam parkins // June 5, 2009 at 10:05 PM
THANK YOU !! It’s easy to forget that this world had room for such pure elegance in that pre-war time (and BTW near the bottom of the Great Depression). I dream that this current depression will throw off some art as elegant as this — seems unlikely in Hip-Hop Heaven but I can dream … sam p
Stompy Jones // June 8, 2009 at 10:27 AM
Bill Robinson had a gift for phrase-making. I remember when the Dodgers staged a Jackie Robinson Day at Ebbets Field late in the 1947 season. Bojangles was there, paying tribute to the ballplayer he called “Ty Cobb in Technicolor.”
ironcloudz // June 8, 2009 at 10:39 PM
the way his foot solo builds momentum.
Like a Jo Jones drum solo, who was also a tap dancer.
Stompy Jones // June 10, 2009 at 7:45 AM
PS to my Bill Robinson-Jackie Robinson recollection: the next day’s NY newspapers featured a photo of Bojangles tapdancing atop the Dodgers’ dugout. If some internet detective out there could track down this photo and post it here, I’d be most grateful.