Just happened to be browsing the February 25th, 1959 edition of the Eugene Register-Guard from Eugene, Oregon when I stumbled upon this article about Athens, Ga. Dave Brubeck was set to perform on the UGA campus in 1959 but the show was cancelled by the University because the bass player was “a negro”. It’s also ironic that the article names the bassist “Eugene White” while his real name is Eugene Wright. I don’t remember hearing anything about this when Brubeck was in town a year or two ago, but I could have missed it. Here’s the article:
Jazz Show Called Off
ATHENS, Ga. - A March 4 jazz concert featuring Dave Brubeck has been canceled because the bass player is a Negro.
President Stuart Woods of the sponsoring University of Georgia Jazz Societ, a senior from Manchester, Ga., said the society learned Monday that one of the performers was a Negro.
When notified of this, university officials decreed that the group, on of the top jazz bands in the country, could not perform on the university campus, Woods said.
Brubeck reached by Woods in New York, termed the decree “unconstitutional and ridiculous.” Asked if he would play without the Negro, Eugene White, Brubeck was quoted by Woods as saying, “not for a million dollars.”
