James Reese Europe (Feb. 22, 1880 - May 9, 1919) was an African-American bandleader, arranger, violinist, pianist and composer.

Born in Mobile, Alabama, Europe's parents were musicians, and supportive of their son (and his siblings) in their musical studies. When he was 10, the family moved to Washington D.C., and Europe began studying violin with Enrico Hurlei, an assistant director of the Marine Corps Band. He also found an interest in composing, and entered a music writing contest at 14, in which he won 2nd place, right behind his sister Mary. In 1904 he moved to New York City, and worked as a pianist in town. He found himself a home in the black theater scene and composed quite a bit.

in 1910, Europe formed the Clef Club, which had its own orchestra and chorus, and was also a union and contracting agency for black musicians, having as many as 200 on its roster. The Clef Club was dedicated to playing music by black composers, including put on a concert in Carnegie Hall of music exclusively by black composers. In 1913, Europe formed another organization, the Tempo Club, which served a similar post as the Clef Club. A year later, Europe formed an association with Vernon and Irene Castles, popular dancers at the time, and with them invented the turkey-trot, and the fox-trot as well. Around this time, Europe also began making recordings; a cross between ragtime and jazz, one of his sides, "The Castles in Europe One-Step (Castle House Rag) was named to he 2004 National Registry of Recordings.

Europe signed up for the military when World War I started, and was commissioned a lieutenant for the 15th Regiment under Colonel Hayward. He was tasked with putting together a band, and he went as far as Puerto Rico to find wind musicians. This regiment became the 369th Regiment, known as the Hell Fighters, and were highly admired in continental Europe, particularly in France. French musicians tried to duplicate their sound, unable to, which only caused them to admire the Hell Fighters even more. Europe knew of, and appreciated this admiration, and attributed it to them recognizing good music, as he believed and knew his music to be original and intrinsically worthy as music. When he came back home in 1919, he was hailed by the press as a hero, and he and the Hell Fighters began a tour in New York City to rave reviews. Unfortunately before their next show in Boston, Europe was stabbed in the neck by one of his drummers, Herbert Wright, and Europe died hours later. His contributions to music helped shape music during his time and beyond.

Half and Half  one of Europe's many compositions, is a waltz for piano. What is particularly genius about this waltz is that instead of being in the standard time signature of 3/4, it is in 5/4, giving it a fun lilt. Vernon and Irene Castle invented this dance, as a combination of one slow step (comprised of beats 1, 2, and 3) and two quick steps, or three quick steps (1, 2, and 3) and one slow (4 and 5). The melody is sweet and straightforward in this little work that clocks in around three minutes.

Unfortunately we couldn't find a recording for this charming work; we hope that changes soon!