by Zak Harper
If you were hanging around Howard Street throughout the 1950’s you probably knew the name Jimmy Adcock. You may have seen him playing at the Rhythm Bar on N. Howard, or on East Exchange at Michael’s Grille. You may have heard his voice on WJAY broadcast out of Cleveland or you may have read his articles in Akron’s short-lived Black newspaper, The Ohio Informer. Adcock was one of those guys who seemed to do it all. His love for jazz was so great that all of his ventures through life were done to promote the music and make Akron better because of it.
Adcock, most notably, chose to be in Akron, when his musical connections could have taken him elsewhere. A 1949 Akron Beacon Journal article in reports that Adcock played with Eddie Lyle and Tiny Bradshaw’s orchestras and later formed a rumba band and “toured the country with the great Lethia Purdy, Lupe Marino and Buzzy Sanchez” but came back to Akron, where he worked at Arbogast’s fishing tackle company and played gigs at night.
James “Jimmy” Adcock was born in Cedartown, Georgia in 1911 but his family moved to the Akron area by 1923. According the Beacon, he would hang around some of the Akron places that Count Basie would play at before Basie became famous. Basie played the piano and accordion with his band but it wasn’t long after he set his accordion down that Adcock would pick it up and start playing it after The Count would switch over to his piano. Apparently Adcock would try to play along with the band until Basie had to chase him off the bandstand because he was interrupting rehearsals.
A few years later he moved to Atlanta and finished high school at Morehouse College Prep but moved right back to Akron after graduation. He had been taking piano lessons by this time and had become quite good. He started working in radio upon his return to Akron but joined the military sometime around the early 1940’s. He was discharged in 1946 and moved back to Akron once more where he stayed for the remainder of his life. He started a band of three called The Tritones who boasted a piano, drums and tenor saxophone. The Tritones played at Michael’s Grille on 663 E. Exchange Street regularly along with many other places during their tenure as a band.
Of course, playing jazz wasn’t enough for Adcock. He wrote multiple articles for The Ohio Informer: Musically Speaking and The Band Box. In both he talked about the inner workings of jazz, new records that were worth listening to and invited people to check out a couple of local record stores: Dot’s Record Store on N. Howard and The Band Box. The Band Box article in the Informer was also used to promote his jazz club where he invited people to come in and just talk about the genre every week and if you were a member of the club you got discounts on records at the store. An article in 1958 in The Ohio Informer titled “The Rambler” mentioned that Adcock’s new jazz nights with Irwin Hahn had taken off and was doing well with participants. Along with all this jazz, he worked as assistant to Samuel Shepard who was editor of The Ohio Informer.
At some point in the 1950’s Adcock created another band called The Debonnaires. The Debonnaires played at The Ritz and seemed to be local celebrities. In 1955, an Ohio Reporter gossip column called The Rambler talks about Jimmy’s Adcock’s band battling Jimmy Noel’s band at The Ritz and how the crowd had a good time watching them try to outdo each other. On the same page, an article about the grand opening of Janek’s Ballroom at 18 N. Howard Street mentions both Noel and the Debonnaires would be playing to celebrate the occasion.
It’s guys like Jimmy who can make communities come together by being present and letting people have a good time listening, reading about and seeing good music. He was a true local superhero with the influence he put into the world and it’s a shame his life came to an end at the young age of 63. On February 8th, 1974, Jimmy Adcock died after battling an illness. His life was well lived and gave joy to thousands of people who saw him during his 42 years in Akron. Because of him, musicians like Theron Brown have devoted their time to bringing the Jimmy Adcock era back to Akron in 2024 and work to create that thriving jazz scene Akron once had.
Sources
Smith, Oscar. “Negro Musician Gets his Start Here.” Akron Beacon Journal, March 9, 1949. Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/147337572/?terms=jimmy%20adcock&match=1
“James H. Adcock, 63, Area Piano Player.” Akron Beacon Journal, February 10, 1974. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/152244892/?terms=james%20adcock&match=1
“Janek’s Ballroom in Grand Opening.” Ohio Informer, January 22, 1955. Summit County Historical Society. Summit Memory.com https://www.summitmemory.org/digital/collection/shepard/id/52/rec/3
“Join Band Box Jazz Club.” Ohio Informer, March 12, 1955. Summit County Historical Society. Summit Memory.com. https://www.summitmemory.org/digital/collection/shepard/id/89/rec/2
Adcock, Jimmy. “Musically Speaking.” Ohio Informer, March 13, 1948. Summit County Historical Society. Summit Memory.com. https://www.summitmemory.org/digital/collection/shepard/id/24/rec/2
“The Rambler.” Ohio Informer, January 22, 1955. Summit Memory.com. https://www.summitmemory.org/digital/collection/shepard/id/52/rec/3
“The Rambler.” Ohio Informer, February 19, 1955. Summit Memory.com. https://www.summitmemory.org/digital/collection/shepard/id/79/rec/1
“The Rambler.” Ohio Informer, September 20, 1958. Summit Memory.com https://www.summitmemory.org/digital/collection/shepard/id/240/rec/7
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