Joe Jordan (musician)

Joe Jordan (February 11, 1882 in Cincinnati, Ohio – September 11, 1971 in Tacoma, Washington) was an American musician and composer. Jordan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and received musical training at the Lincoln Institute (now Lincoln University) in Jefferson City, Missouri.

In 1900, young Joe performed as fiddler and percussionist with the Taborian Band of St. Louis. He also appeared with Tom Turpin, Sam Patterson, and Louis Chauvin in a singing four piano act. In 1902, he went to New York City to collaborate with Ernest Hogan, known in show business as "The Unbleached American".

At the beginning of the 20th century, much of the entertainment industry was founded upon the exploitation of ethnic stereotypes. Hogan's big hit was called "All Coons Look Alike To Me", and the stage show that he and Jordan cooked up was "Rufus Rastus". Another example of the prevalent racial thematic was "Dandy Coon", created by Chauvin and Patterson in 1903. Jordan stage-managed and directed the music for this bit of minstrelsy, which toured with a cast of thirty including a "beautiful octoroon chorus".

When the show disbanded in Des Moines, Iowa, Jordan left for Chicago. He began performing at the Pekin, a former casino/saloon at 27th and State that had been converted into a beer garden by Robert T. Motts. This location became the "Pekin Theater Stock Company" featuring many African American performers.

Jordan commemorated this hot spot with the "Pekin Rag", published in 1904. He briefly returned to St. Louis in order to play the Faust Restaurant at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Now known as an expert at rapid orchestration on demand, Jordan returned to New York in 1905 to work with Ernest Hogan and James Reese Europe at organizing and directing the Memphis Students, a group of seventeen African-American men and women who were not students, nor were they from Memphis. In the spring of 1905, they premiered at Proctor's 23rd Street Theater.

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