Erskine Tate

Who was Erskine Tate?

Erskine Tate was an American jazz violinist and bandleader.

Tate moved to Chicago in 1912 and was an early figure on the Chicago jazz scene, playing with his band, the Vendome Orchestra, at the Vendome Theater, which was located at 31st and State Street. The Vendome was a movie house, and Tate's band played during silent films; among its members were Louis Armstrong, Freddie Keppard, Buster Bailey, Jimmy Bertrand, Ed Atkins, and Teddy Weatherford, as well as Stomp Evans, Bob Shoffner, Punch Miller, Omer Simeon, Preston Jackson, Fats Waller, and Teddy Wilson. In the mid-1930s, Tate retired from active performance and became a music teacher.