Browse Items (72 total)

Dan Desdunes was a prominent jazz musician and band leader when he moved to Omaha from New Orleans just after the turn of the twentieth century. In Omaha, he directed several bands and trained the younger generation of bandleaders in Omaha. The Dan…

Anna Mae Winburn, an Omaha native, became the featured singer for the Sweethearts of Rhythm, an influential early group for female musicians.

Nat Towles was a prominent big band leader in Omaha during the 1940s and 1950s.

This 1917 “cabaret song hit”, was written and composed by Maceo Pinkard of “Sweet Georgia Brown” fame. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection, informs us Pinkard was a booking agent in Omaha before he moved on to New…

This is a head-shot of Anna Mae Winburn, a former resident of North Omaha, who was the lead singer for the girls' group, The International Sweethearts of Rhythm. The International Sweethearts of Rhythm performed their jazz and Big Band hits at The…

This photograph of Walter Barnes shown with a clarinet, was known as "Chicago's King of Dance Rhythm." He performed at venues like The Dreamland Ballroom with his "nationally famous" Royal Creolians.

This is a photograph of native Omahan Preston Love, Sr. and his Orchestra in 1954. In 1954 they played backup for the popular jazz band, The Clovers, at The Dreamland Ballroom in North Omaha.

This is a photograph of James Moody playing tenor sax with the Dizzy Gillespie Band at the Dreamland Ballroom in 1948. The Dizzy Gillespie Band, and other popular jazz and big band musicians brought a large crowds to The Dreamland Ballroom in North…

A couple swing dance to the music of Big Jay McNeely and his Band while they performed at the Dreamland Ballroom in 1952. The Dreamland Ballroom located in the heart of North Omaha was a music venue that provided an opportunity for many couples to…

This pre-World War I song is about a baritone singer named William Washington Malone who, “Made them get so hot, they’d rag a new fox trot. The girls would Salome, they all would come and fetch the mo’ to hear old William Washington…