DESCRIPTION:
If you are a student of jazz history, you are aware that Emmet Ray -- the subject of Woody Allens "Sweet and Lowdown" -- really existed.
And not only did he exist, Emmet resembled many of the jazz musicians of the 1940s.
At one point in his career he lived off the money earned by a couple of prostitutes, a practice not unheard of in jazz circles beginning with Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morton. However, these jazz musicians prefer the term "manager" to the phrase pimp.
Like many jazz legends, Emmet was an anti-hero, but his guitar playing -- makes up for his multitude of sins.

Emmet was also a traveler who not only toured America but has played extensively in Europe.
The guitarist lived at a time when jazzmen first traversed the country, spreading consciousness of jazz even to American audiences who were beyond the modest reach of radio and recordings.
This original American art form not only spread across the country but to Europe in the 20s and 30s.
The way was paved by such men as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington who were welcomed enthusiastically when they appeared on the other side of the Atlantic Armstrong in 1932 and Ellington in 1933.

(http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0016851/bio)