- Alright, everybody, welcome back. You know, these days more people than ever are tracing their family tree to find out about their lives. And the lives of their
ancestors, so that they can gain a better understanding
of who they really are. Well thanks to my friends at MyHeritage. The story of my next guest ancestor has been brought to life, take a look. While the history books are full of heroic stories, many stories
of unsung heroes go untold. James Reece Europe is one such hero. Quoted by some as the founding father of Ragtime and Jazz the only
thing more staggering than his legacy is the fact that he is not a household name. Born in eighteen eighty in Mobile Alabama. He learned classical violin
and piano as a child. At twenty two, he moved
to new york to pursue a career in classical music. While there he founded
the Clef Club Orchestra. The first all African American Orchestra and trade union in the country. James single handedly led the orchestra all the way to Carnegie
Hall in nineteen twelve where he made history again as the first black man to
perform at the iconic venue. In nineteen seventeen at
the height of his career he was called to fight in world war one. When not on enemy lines
he as busy introducing a whole new continent to Rag time and Jazz with his band The Harlem Hellfighters. His contribution to black culture makes his untimely death
even more shocking. In nineteen nineteen
he was stabbed to death by a member of his band. He was just thirty nine years old. James Reece Europe's
efforts to elevate the black cause through music
have earned him a place in the history books
with many referred to him as the Martin Luther King of music. (applause) Well everybody please
welcome, the great grandson of James Reece Europe, Robert F. Europe. (applause) - How you doing man? - Thanks for having me on. - So Robert before
MyHeritage how much did you know about your great grandfathers legacy? - My father James who unfortunately couldn't be here today,
he always encouraged us to learn as much as we
could about the man. But to kind of gauge the sheer impact that my great grandfather had on culture its kind of hard to comprehend. I mean I know mostly
about his big exploits as far as bringing jazz to France but. You know the finer details of his life my knowledge gets a little
sketchy so I'm excited - Yeah so joining us now is geneticist and family tree
expert Nathan Pearson. (Applause) Alright Nathan, welcome back to the show I know that you've partnered
up with MyHeritage on this. How can you help people like Robert connect with their family history? - So families we have kind of two ways of looking back into the
family past, and seeing those details that you're
craving to see Robert. And those are the DNA
that's within us and also the lore and the records
that go, that we share outside that, that we share in families and then the paper trail. And so the cool thing with
MyHeritage is they look at both. And so you get this kind of stereo view where your looking
through those binoculars and you can bring the
past into focus and depth better that way and for
your great grandfather when you look back at the records of him and his family, before he was the warrior, before he was the band leader. He was the baby of the
family, the youngest of Lorraine and Henry Europe
and they were living in Mobile, Alabama in nineteen eighty and at that time Henry
was working as a gauger. A gauger is a customs official
at the port in Mobile. But ten years earlier, in the first census after emancipation, he had been
working as a school teacher. And you can see as you
follow the family forward in the paper trail, first they go to D.C and then later when
James moves to New York he of course, in his
fathers footsteps becomes a mentor to so many young
musicians in New York. And there is amazing
paper trail there of him going to Puerto Rico and recruiting. He was trying to find the best
musicians to join his band. There's a record him
coming back with folks on that ship with new band mates and pioneering that forward. And that of course brings
us to music is his legacy. And to your own legacy,
the living legacy, there. So in your own work,
you inherited along with other people, in your
family tree and other kin. You inherited some of
that beautiful pioneering work that he did artistically
and also of course the DNA that came with it. (Applause) - What attributes from
your great grandfather do-would you think live on in you? - Well obviously, the most
obvious thing would be music um, I myself I'm a career musician. I'm a singer guitar player
for The Fostirit band. Its a little rock band, back in New York. I mean I got cousins that
are just amazing singers vocalist, songwriters and my father James Reece Europe the
third, and my brother Lieutenant James Reece Europe the fourth although they did not
take a career in music there, there both
very,very adept at music. (Applause) - How do you plan on keeping
your great grandfathers memory alive for future
generations in your family? - Well I definitely want
my kids to know about James Reece Europe but
uh I would like everyone to know about James Reece Europe. That's why my family and
I, we've actually been involved in this thing called The Three sixty ninth Experience. They actually recreated the Three Sixty Ninth Harlem Hellfighters. And all the musicians
are made of, musicians from local uh HBCU's. And they tour around the country, I mean their an incredible band and
they tour around the country and play my great grandfathers music. - Thank you for joining us today man. - On behalf of everybody
thank you Steve and thank you MyHeritage for bringing us on. (Applause) - That's really cool man
to learn it like that. Thank you Nathan and Robert. Aye! For all of you at
home you to can make amazing family history
discoveries, Just head over to Myheritage.com and right now,
if you use the coupon code Stevefifty, you'll get fifty percent off their complete subscription. We'll be right back everybody. (Applause)
If that's Steve Harvey I see in that 144p thumbnail I'm gonna go ahead and say nnnnooooo.....
what a time consuming way to meet someone