Father of the Blues William Christopher Handy (1873–1958) was born on this day in a log cabin near Florence, Alabama. The son and grandson of ministers, he loved nature and listening to the rhythms sung by field workers along the Tennessee River.

“Almost immediately I set my heart on owning a trumpet,” he recalled. After early experiments (including a homemade horn), he bought a guitar, sang in school choirs, and practiced fingering on his desk until the scales moved under his hands.

Touring with Mahara’s Minstrels in the 1890s, Handy fell in love with southern ragtime and the deep drums of dance rhythms; music that celebrated improvisation and gave voice to “the sadness of the ages.” In 1912 he published Memphis Blues and soon after founded his own publishing company.

Two years later came “St. Louis Blues,” built on the line “I hate to see that evening sun go down.” Over a lifetime he wrote more than sixty songs and performed widely. He worked to secure the rights of his compositions and those of other Black composers.

Handy’s aim was clear: to blend ragtime syncopation with melody in the spiritual tradition, music of passion and unmistakable swing.