Similar Artists:
Influenced By:
- Active: '20s, '30s, '40s
- Genres: Vocal Music
- Instrument: Lyricist, Director, Songwriter
Biography
Louis Douglass was active in the overlapping worlds of song publishing and live theater in the '30s. Based out of New York, he was a true proponent of fusion long before Chick Corea and/or Scientology, collaborating with ragtime jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer James P. Johnson on a show entitled Policy Kings. An entertainment that combines a tale of corrupt policemen and gangsters skimming moolah off daily betting schemes with original songs and syncopated rhythms might be expected to have been a smash, perhaps even make Broadway history. Unfortunately, while Policy Kings may have sold a few tickets, it has been pretty much forgotten as an event.The involvement with Douglass hardly represented an exclusive venture into the theater world on the part of Johnson. That busy character was stuffing eggs into several picnic baskets during the period, also collaborating with composer Andy Razaf on shows with more lively titles such as Go Harlem and Havin' a Ball. Douglass, whose surname sometimes appears shorn of the second "s," was also an excellent dancer. Among his intriguing credits in that field is a French-German film co-production, English title Burglar, made in 1930 with music from Sidney Bechet. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide
