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Eddie Jay Colston


Eddie J. Colston, Sr. made his appearance on Columbus stages as part of a 1930s tap dancing trio called the Three Flames. He managed Lionel Hampton and wrote an entertainment column for the Black press in the Columbus Advocate, the Ohio State News and the Ohio Sentinel. He was the chief publicist and booking agent for people of color and if you came into Columbus from New York, he was the man to see.

An example of his January, 1957 writings, ” Swingin’ times you have known? Shucks, man! You ain’t heard nuttin’ yet until you catch rompin’, rockin’, bouncin’ Milt Buckner, his Hammond organ and whalin’ combo. Mite but mighty Milt opened for a limited engagement at Marty’s Club 502 Monday. The newly remodeled mirrored bandstand at 502 will undoubtedly enjoy some of its swingingst moments since owner-manager Marty Mellman opened his popular jazz emporium at St. Clair and Leonard Aves.”

Eddie Jay passed unexpectedly of heart failure in 1960. The photo is of he and Madame Rose Brown taping a television show on WTVN-Channel 6 in the early 1950s.

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