Langston Hughes, "Killer Joe" Piro, and the Mambo

How did legendary African-American poet Langston Hughes come to be serving coffee to "Killer Joe" Piro, the renowned emcee and dance instructor at the Palladium Ballroom? Blame it on the Harvest Moon Ball! While the images might seem in-congruent on first glance, they speak to the vibrant multi-cultural cauldron of New York City in the 1940's and 1950's. They also reference other important intersections with the Latin-music scene.

A decade before he became the emcee and dance instructor at the iconic Palladium Ballroom, New York's 'Home of the Mambo' during the height of the craze, Frank "Killer Joe" Piro (Mar. 2, 1921 - Feb. 5, 1988) had his first taste of fame when he won the Jitterbug contest at New York's 'Harvest Moon Ball' as a 21 year old in the US Coast Guard in 1942. His nickname 'Killer Joe' stemmed from his ability to 'wear-out' a string of dance partners due to his sheer stamina. Among the 'prizes' was being re-assigned to duty as a dance instructor and exhibition dancer at the Stage Door Canteen, at which celebrities donated their time to rub-elbows with off-duty soldiers to boost morale during WWII.

Photographer Carl Van Vechten staged a series of photos designed to capture the 'vibe' of the Stage Door Canteen, featuring a range of celebrities chatting with and or 'serving' soldiers. Now in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York, several of the vignettes feature "Killer Joe" Piro, including these showing him clowning around, dancing jitterbug with U.S. Sailor Andy Mann, as 'Junior Hostess' Ruth Last looks on. But sharp eyes will notice that serving coffee on the far left is none other than legendary poet Langston Hughes. The photo references Hughes' having been discovered as a young man in the 1920's Washington DC while working as a hotel busboy (from which the noted DC cafe 'Busboys and Poets' takes its name).

While best known for his focus on capturing images of African-American entertainers, intellectuals and noteables of the Harlem Rennaissance, Van Vechten was apparently taken with young Piro's dancing skills as well as his bold, decidedly Italian features. Over the next couple of years, Van Vechten would photograph "Killer Joe" both in a solo/portrait setting, as well as in a few other 'Canteen' montages, with the likes of Broadway star Shirley Booth, and poet Owen Dodson.

In the late 1940's, "Killer Joe" Piro would become immersed in New York's burgeoning mambo movement. Initially hired by the Palladium Ballroom as an instructor (partly to stem his string of mambo dance contest wins), Piro would soon become the Ballroom's emcee. With his wild, head-bobbing antics and dynamic personality, Piro was the 'ring-master' for New York City's hottest dance-scene of the mid-1950's - the epicenter of the Mambo craze. The Palladium's fabled Wednesday night dance contests drew celebrities ranging from Marlon Brando, Eartha Kitt, Kirk Douglas and Kim Novak, to the crowned heads of Europe.

But there are other Mambo intersections hidden in this photo... In a further example of 'six degrees of separation' (or fewer), Langston Hughes frequently collaborated with noted African-American pianist/ composer Margaret Bonds (March 2, 1913 - April 26, 1972), who would set many of his works to music. At the very time this photo was taken, among her prized students would have been a young Charlie Palmieri (Nov. 21, 1927 - Sept. 12, 1988), a child prodigy who would become one of the great pianists and bandleaders of the Mambo-era and beyond. In an interview on my radio program with his younger-brother, Grammy-winner Eddie Palmieri (b. Dec. 13, 1936) revealed that he too would later study with Ms. Bonds (at left in a 1956 photo by Van Vechten), and credits her with providing the training which under girds both his and his late brother Charlie's acclaimed piano skills.

Piro would parlay his association with what would soon come to be called the 'Jet Set' into even greater personal fame. To many, he became the face of the 'Discotheque' movement (drawing its name from small European dance clubs rooted in the then-novel practice of dancing to DJ's in-lieu of more expensive live-bands). By the mid-1960's, Piro was frequently featured on the top TV variety shows and in countless magazines demonstrating dances such as The Frug and The Watusi to the likes of First Daughter Linda Bird Johnson. Coming up with the dance 'The Mule' to promote the Smirnoff cocktail of the same name, Piro was prominently featured in a series of ads for Smirnoff vodka, photographed by Richard Avedon alongside top arteurs, scene-makers and beauties of the day, ranging from Woody Allen to Julie Newmar. "Killer Joe" Piro passed away in 1988.