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Wilbur Coleman Sweatman (February 7, 1882 – March 9, 1961) was an American ragtime and dixieland jazz composer, bandleader and clarinetist. Sweatman was one of the first African-American musicians to have fans nationwide. He was also a trailblazer in the racial integration of musical groups.Berresford, Mark. That's got'em: the life and music of Wilbur C. Sweatman, University of Mississippi Press, 2010
By 1911, he had moved to the vaudeville circuit full-time, developing a successful act of playing three clarinets at once. An Indianapolis account described his performance there:
Though somewhat diminutive in stature, Wilbur C. Sweatman has a style and grace of manner in all of his executions that is at once convincing, and the soulfulness of expression that he blends into his tones is something wonderful. His first number was a medley of popular airs and "rags" and had everybody shuffling their pedal extremities before it was half over.
He wrote a number of rags, "Down Home Rag" (1911) being the most commercially successful. The song was recorded by multiple bands in America and Europe. Sweatman moved to New York in 1913, touring widely. He was one of the few black solo acts to appear regularly on the major white vaudeville circuits. Around this time he became close friends with Scott Joplin; Joplin's will would name Sweatman as executor of his estate. Joplin's musical papers, including unpublished manuscripts, were willed to Sweatman, who took care of them while generously sharing access to those who inquired. However, as Joplin's music came to be considered passé, such requests were few. After Sweatman's death in 1961, the papers went into storage during a legal battle between Sweatman's heirs and their current location is unknown, or even whether they still exist.
In December 1916, Sweatman recorded for minor label Emerson Records, including his own "Down Home Rag". Some historians consider these recordings among the earliest examples of jazz on record. Taking note of the commercial success of the Original Dixieland Jass Band and the Original Creole Orchestra, Sweatman abruptly changed his sextet's sound and instrumentation in early 1917. Sweatman's band consisted of five saxophonists and himself on clarinet, a combo which soon signed with Pathé. They recorded rags, as well as some of the hit songs of the day.
Sweatman was the first African American to make recordings labeled as "Jass" and "Jazz". Since Sweatman can be heard making melodic variations even in his 1916 recordings, it might be argued that Sweatman recorded an archaic type of jazz earlier than the Original Dixieland band. In 1917, he became one of the first blacks to join ASCAP.
In 1918, Sweatman landed with major label Columbia Records, where he would enjoy a meteoric rise with a wide variety of songs under his own name. His band also delivered several shorter anonymous performances for the label's "Little Wonder" line of 90-second-long budget releases. The Sweatman band's first release, "Regretful Blues"/"Everybody's Crazy" would ship 140,000 copies, at a time when a third as many sales was considered a hit. Sweatman singles shipped over a million copies in 1919 alone. Several more successful releases followed in 1918–19, Sweatman's peak of popularity. His best-selling song was "Kansas City Blues" (1919), which shipped 180,000 copies. However, by 1920 sales were on the wane, perhaps reflecting the ephemeral interest in his novelty style of jazz, and the growing popularity of syncopated big bands such as Columbia's own Ted Lewis.
Wilbur Sweatman died in New York City on March 9, 1961. His daughter Barbara initially inherited his estate, consisting mostly of his publishing business and some personal papers. The estate, which also included the papers of Scott Joplin, eventually ended up in the hands of Sweatman's sister Eva.
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