SALISBURY — In World War I, an all-Black regiment from Harlem earned a reputation for battlefield ferocity but left behind another legacy in Europe — jazz.

Livingstone Band Director Anthony Jones is joining a group in Paris next week to pay homage to the regiment that became known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

“It’s something else,” Jones said.

The regiment, formally known as the 369th, and its band, the 369th Regimental Army Band, led by James Reese Europe, created a feverish European love for jazz.

Today, the group that Jones is traveling with is called the 369th Experience Band. It pulls Black and Puerto Rican musicians from historically Black colleges and universities into the fold to recreate the sounds of its namesake.

“The band consists of African-Americans and Latinos because that’s the way the band was,” Jones said. “We kept that same formula. We went to all the HBCUs and got someone from pretty much everybody … from Bethune-Cookman to Delaware State to Livingstone, we have had them all in there.”

In keeping with the period-appropriate attire, the band dresses in doughboy uniforms when playing the 369th tunes.

“We went off the music that James Reese Europe used when he was alive,” Jones said. “The songs that he wrote are what we use.”

When they arrive in Paris, Jones indicated they will have just a few days to rehearse with the band before their performance.

“On the third of July, we actually do the thing,” Jones said of the concert.

Jones has been with the program since its inception.

“People were receptive to the idea and loved it,” Jones said.

The band director indicated that he is excited about being able to share a story that has not received all the attention he feels it deserves.

“It’s been put under wraps for so long,” Jones said. “It’s one of those, I-didn’t-know-that [stories]. In Paris and Europe, jazz is loved. People don’t know why all the jazz musicians stay over there. It’s because James Reese Europe took that music over there, and they had never heard anything like it before.

“When I was coming through in undergrad, I had never heard of it. You start doing your research, and there are so many things that happened. They also had to fight in the war. They didn’t just play in the band.”

According to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, during the war, the Harlem Hellfighters spent more time in continuous combat than any other American unit of its size, with 191 days in the front-line trenches. They also suffered more losses than any other American regiment, with more than 1,400 total casualties. They were notably the first American regiment to cross the Rhine into Germany.

“The sad thing is that with Jim Crow going on at that time, the US did not acknowledge them, and that’s how they ended up in France,” Jones said. “They basically kept putting them on the bench. We can get you to build this, build that, dig this and wash the dishes, but they wanted to fight. So, they put them with the French patrol. You can’t wear our uniforms. You have to use French equipment, guns and everything. They fought, and once the war turned around and the Germans were so scared of these guys, that’s how they got the Harlem Hellfighters nickname.

“This is one of those stories like the Buffalo soldiers, the Tuskegee Airmen, and you got the 369th. It’s an awesome story.”

The upcoming Paris performance is just the latest installment in the 369th Experience Band’s journey to publicize the World War I regiment’s legacy. They have performed in New York City and Washington, DC.

“The people of France want us to come over,” Jones said. “There are two schools of music that we are going to be over there teaching this to. It’s going to be a big to-do.”