Black Patti Troubadours

Black Patti Troubadours was a vaudeville company led by famous soprano Sissieretta Jones aka Black Patti. They toured internationally until 1915, performing operatic arias, and sentimental ballads.

The Black Patti Troubadours, as pictured in their souvenir booklet, "Songs as Sung by the Black Patti Troubadours." Was the largest and most prestigious African American minstrel company of the ragtime era, ranked with the landmark black musical comedy companies led by Williams and Walker, Cole and Johnson, etc. The photo dates from 1897-1898, when the roster included both aging minstrel pioneer Sam Lucas, standing in the back row with top hat, and up and coming star Ernest Hogan, seated in the center, surrounded by the ladies of the company.

Sissieretta Jones (1869-1933) was a pioneering African American concert singer who established an international reputation during the 1890s. When a critic for the New York Clipper dubbed her “the Black Patti” in reference to famed Italian soprano Adelina Patti, the name stuck. Her extensive tours across the Americas and Europe included performances for three Presidents and the Prince of Wales. In spite of these successes, she was denied many opportunities due to prevailing racial barriers, including a chance to sing at the Metropolitan Opera. Frustrated by such limitations, Jones formed her own traveling revue in 1898, known as the Black Patti Troubadours. The troupe comprised about 40 comedians, dancers, acrobats and singers, and featured such prominent black performers as Bob Cole, Sam Lucas and Ernest Hogan. The Troubadours toured for nearly two decades, presenting Jones’ operatic arias alongside minstrel songs and vaudeville acts, a unique blend of high culture and popular entertainment.

Sources: Ragged but Right: Black Traveling Shows, "Coon Songs," & The Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz by Lynn Abbott & Doug Seroff