Born in 1890 in Paducah, KY and died in 1947 in St. Louis, MO. From 1907 on, Fate worked continuously on the Mississippi riverboats, performing and forming jazz bands for these excursions and for various nightclub appearances. In the period between the two World Wars, some of America’s finest jazzmen worked in his bands. Stars such as Pops Foster, Emmanuel Perez, Al Morgan, Louis Armstrong, and a host of others got their start with Fate’s orchestras. A noted pianist, Fate also played the Steam Caliope, an instrument that got so hot he actually had to wear gloves when performing.
