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The Rise and Fall of Black Swan: Episode One from\xa0The Vanishing of Harry Pace,\xa0a six-part series created by Jad Abumrad and Shima Oliaee.\xa0

Harry Pace founded Black Swan Records exactly 100 years ago.\xa0Pace\xa0launched the career of Ethel Waters, inadvertently invented the term rock n roll,\xa0played an important role in W.C. Handy becoming "Father of the Blues,"\xa0inspired\xa0Ebony\xa0and\xa0Jet\xa0magazines, and\xa0helped desegregate\xa0the South Side of Chicago in an epic Supreme Court battle.\xa0Then, he disappeared.\xa0\xa0The\xa0Vanishing of Harry Pace\xa0is a series about the phenomenal but forgotten man who changed the American music scene. It's a story about betrayal, family, hidden identities, and a time like no other.

This series was produced in collaboration with author Kiese Laymon, scholar Imani Perry, screenwriter Cord Jefferson, and WQXR\u2019s Terrance McKnight. Jami Floyd is our consulting producer; our fact checker is Natalie Meade. Peter Pace\xa0lent his voice for our readings. Based on the book\xa0Black Swan Blues: the Hard Rise and Brutal Fall of America\u2019s First Black Owned Record Label\xa0by Paul Slade. The series features\xa0interviews with Pace's descendants and over forty musicians, historians, writers, and musicologists, all of whom grapple with Pace\u2019s enduring legacy.