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Al Jolson
Reference Number. 5982
Description
According to the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, "Jolson was to jazz what Elvis Presley was to Rock n Roll " being the first popular singer to make a spectacular "event" out of singing a song, he became a “rock star” before the dawn of rock music. His specialty was building stage runways extending out into the audience. He would run up and down the runway and across the stage, "teasing, cajoling, and thrilling the audience", often stopping to sing to individual members, all the while the "perspiration would be pouring from his face and the entire audience would get caught up in the ecstasy of his performance". According to music historian Larry Stempel, "No one had heard anything quite like it before on Broadway." Author Stephen Banfield agrees, writing that Jolson's style was "arguably the single most important factor in defining the modern musical . . "
A lovely vintage signature in pencil on an autograph book page.
Double mounted for fine display with photographs.