Tag Archives: Champs Elysees Music hall

Frisco (Joslin Bingham)

Joslin Bingham was known simply as ‘Frisco’ and became one of the most celebrated performers in Paris during the Jazz Age of the 1920s and then replicated his success in London in the 1930s. He was a jack of all trades, a fixer and a man behind the scenes who helped many black artists in Paris and London including Josephine Baker,  Bricktop and Adelaide Hall.

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Fernando (Sonny) Jones

Fernando (Sonny) Jones was an intriguing, if somewhat elusive, black performer who made his life and career in Europe and especially in Paris in the 1920s.  He was an accomplished dancer and made it big headlining in the Palace Theatre show Paris Voyeur in Paris in the 1925-1926 season. Throughout his career he was closely linked to Louis Douglas, another high profile black artist.

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The Ambassadeur Show 1926

The Ambassadeur Show 1926

Edmund Sayag’s first show at the newly renovated Café des Amabassadeurs was Lew Leslie’s all-black production Blackbirds of 1926. Direct from New York, Blackbirds capitalised on the success of The Revue Negre, featuring Josephine Baker, staged earlier in 1925 and was an instant hit.

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