photographs, when their band travelled to 50 cities in 50 days. Just as effective in revealing the real life of dancers are the silent rehearsals of Mr. Coles--portraying his “woodshedding” time when he became one of the fastest tap dancers known, a precursor of bebop music (according to him). One of the very moving historical scenes shows Mr. Hinton’s family history in Mississippi, where after slavery, blacks were still relegated to discrimination. For example, his uncle, who was the nominal head of the family (Mr. Hinton’s parents broke up when he was very young), worked as the “Sunday” barber in the little Mississippi town, got his own clients, saved the money to leave, then found the law required he got permission from his boss to get on the train. His uncle had to fabricate a story to escape to Chicago, where he became a bellboy at a hotel, garnering tips from “John’s” and hookers, and saving up to bring his family north. Milt Hinton originally played violin, however, there were no jobs for professional African American classical violinists at the time, and he was forced to sell newspapers. So he took up the bass fiddle, which at that time was making its debut in jazz groups, starting in New Orleans—the bands used a bass instead of a tuba. He later became one of the most sought after musicians in the New York studio scene, and sometimes played three sessions a day. Mr. Hinton was a friend of Jackie Gleason and played in the house band of Mr. Gleason’s TV show. One scene interviews his devoted wife Mona, who went on tour with her husband and would fix dinners for the band, finding places for them to stay on the road, where there were often no accommodations for African American musicians. As a side note, during Mr. Hinton’s funeral at his church in Queens, someone asked the audience how many people he had helped there, and everyone raised their hands. A relaxed virtuoso, Mr. Coles demonstrates in one scene, how to build a tap solo from a simple walk (on the quarter note). He later describes a dancer named “Bubbles” who by using his heels, broke The Jazz Culture, VII:55
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