Erskine Tate was an American jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 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

State Street (Chicago)

State Street is a large south-north street in Chicago, Illinois, USA and its south suburbs. It begins on the Near North Side at North Avenue. For much of its course, it lies between Wabash Avenue on the east and Dearborn Street/Lafayette Avenue on the west...

. The Vendome was a movie house, and Tate's band played during silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

s; among its members were Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

 (trumpet), Freddie Keppard

Freddie Keppard

Freddie Keppard was an early jazz cornetist.Keppard was born in the Creole of Color community of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. His older brother Louis Keppard was also a professional musician. Freddie played violin, mandolin, and accordion before switching to cornet...

 (cornet

Cornet

The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...

), Buster Bailey

Buster Bailey

William C. "Buster" Bailey was a jazz musician specializing in the clarinet, but also well versed on saxophone...

 (saxophone), Jimmy Bertrand

Jimmy Bertrand

Jimmy Bertrand was an American jazz and blues drummer.James Bertrand was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, and was active on the Chicago blues/jazz scene of the 1920s...

 (drums), Ed Atkins (trombone), and Teddy Weatherford

Teddy Weatherford

Teddy Weatherford was a jazz pianist, an accomplished stride pianist.Weatherford was born in Pocahontas, Virginia and was raised in neighboring Bluefield, West Virginia. From 1915 through 1920 he lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he learned to play jazz piano...

 (piano), as well as Stomp Evans, Bob Shoffner

Bob Shoffner

Bob Shoffner was an American jazz trumpeter.Shoffner grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and played drums and bugle before settling on trumpet at age eleven. He played trumpet in a military band while serving in the U.S. Army from 1917-1919, and then played with Charlie Creath and Tommy Parker in...

, Punch Miller

Punch Miller

Ernest Miller aka Punch Miller or Kid Punch Miller , was a Dixieland jazz trumpeter.Miller was born in Raceland, Louisiana. He was known in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was based from 1919 to 1927 when he moved Chicago...

, Omer Simeon

Omer Simeon

Omer Victor Simeon was an American jazz clarinetist. He also played soprano, alto, and baritone saxophone and bass clarinet....

, Preston Jackson

Preston Jackson

James Preston McDonald, better known by his stage name Preston Jackson was an American jazz trombonist....

, Fats Waller

Fats Waller

Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...

, and Teddy Wilson

Teddy Wilson

Theodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.-Biography:Wilson was born in Austin, Texas in...

. In the mid-1930s, Tate retired from active performance and became a music teacher.