Finding anything other than what he called " Uncle Tom " roles proved di cult , and although singing was little more than a hobby , it was as a singer and not an actor that Mr . Belafonte has found an audience . In early 1949 , he was given a two-week contract to perform during intermissions at the Royal Roost , a popular Midtown jazz nightclub . It was an immediate success and the two weeks became five months . Paid by singing folk , pop and jazz numbers at gigs in New York clubs , where he was backed by bands whose members included Miles Davis and Charlie Parker , Belafonte enjoyed some success but little creative satisfaction as a jazz-oriented pop singer , Mr . Belafonte will look elsewhere for inspiration . With guitarist Millard Thomas , who would become his accompanist , and playwright and novelist William Attaway , who would collaborate on several of his songs , he immersed himself in the study of folk music . ( Calypso singer and songwriter Irving Burgie later provided much of his repertoire , including " Day-O " and " Jamaica Farewell .") The song would spend 18 weeks on the UK Singles Chart , including three weeks at No . 2 . Its version of Mary ' s Boy Child later topped the UK charts . That year , as Island in the Sun reached # 3 . In total Belafonte will have released 30 studio albums , as well as collaborative albums with Nana Mouskouri , Lena Horne and Miriam Makeba . This latter version won him one of his two Grammy awards ; he later received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement and the Academy President ' s Award of Merit . Bob Dylan ' s first recording – playing harmonica – was on Belafonte ' s 1962 album , Midnight Special . The year before , Belafonte had been hired by Frank Sinatra to perform at the presidential inauguration of John F Kennedy .
Dr . Martin Luther King rejoins his civil rights marchers near Montgomery , the Alabama State Capitol , March 24 , 1965 . An Army observation plane flies over the flag-carrying demonstrators . With King are his wife , Coretta Scott King , right , and singer Harry Belafonte , at center beside Dr . King . ( AP Photo )
34 Flashmag ! issue 140 April 2023