Will Marion Cook

Clorindy or The Origin of the Cake Walk was the first Broadway musical to have been entirely written and produced by African-Americans. Its composer was the brilliant violinist and composer Will Marion (later Will Marion Cook) (1869-1944), a mentor to several famous musicians, including Duke Ellington. Cook attended Oberlin Conservatory at the age of 15, and later studied violin in Europe with the legendary Joseph Joachim. Unsuccessful in his quest to become a concert violinist, Cook turned to composition, and despite many setbacks attributable to racial discrimination, succeeded in scoring an enormous hit with Clorindy.

Notes by Roy Wiseman