Brunswick 6211 – Don Redman and his Orchestra – 1931

Posted on July 29, 2016 by R. Connor Montgomery

A young Don Redman in Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra around 1925.

July 29th marks the anniversary of the birth of musician and arranger extraordinaire Don Redman, whose innovative work during the Harlem Renaissance helped to usher in the era of swing jazz.

Donald Matthew Redman was born into a musical family in Piedmont, West Virginia on July 29, 1900. He first took up the trumpet, and could play all the wind instruments before he was a teenager. Redman first studied at Storer College in Harper’s Ferry before attending the Boston Conservatory. After graduating, he went to New York and played with Billy Page’s Broadway Syncopators, playing primarily reed instruments, and soon began arranging. In 1923, he joined Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra, with whom he created arrangements that would develop into swing in the next decade. After recording extensively with Henderson, Redman was invited by Jean Goldkette to take over the reigns of McKinney’s Cotton Pickers in Detroit, a position which he held until 1931, when he started his own orchestra. Redman kept his own band together until 1940, playing for the better part of the swing era, and appearing in a Vitaphone short in 1933. After his orchestra disbanded, he continued to arrange prolifically for a number of bands, as he had done previously. Redman died in 1964 at the age of 64.

Brunswick 6211 was recorded on September 24 and October 15, 1931 in New York City, the former being the first session by Don Redman’s newly formed orchestra under his own name. The band includes Bill Coleman, replaced in the latter session by Langston Curl, Leonard Davis, and Henry “Red” Allen on trumpet, Claude Jones, Fred Robinson, and Benny Morton on trombone, Edward Inge and Rupert Cole on clarinet and alto sax, Don Redman on alto sax, Robert Carroll on tenor sax, Horace Henderson on piano, Talcott Reeves on banjo and guitar, Bob Ysaguirre on bass, and Manzie Johnson on drums.

Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen’s “Shakin’ the Africann”, recorded on the latter date, features a vocal by Redman, rejecting “sweet” music in favor of jazz played hot.

Shakin’ the Africann, recorded September 24, 1931 by Don Redman and his Orchestra.

Redman’s own “Song of the Weeds”, most commonly known as “Chant of the Weeds”, was also recorded for Columbia with a quite different sounding arrangement.

Song of the Weeds, recorded September 24, 1931 by Don Redman and his Orchestra.

Vocalion 2587 – Cliff Edwards (Ukulele Ike) – 1933

Posted on June 14, 2016 by R. Connor Montgomery

Today we celebrate the birthday of Cliff Edwards, the man known as “Ukulele Ike”. He was one of the leading figures in the proliferation of the ukulele during the roaring twenties, and made his mark on the cinematic world as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney’s Pinocchio. Edwards’ distinctive vocal style was punctuated with his trademark “effin’,” a sort of kazoo sounding scat singing of his own creation.

Cliff Edwards as illustrated in Radio Round-Ups by Gurman and Slager, 1932.

Clifton Avon Edwards was born June 14, 1895 in Hannibal, Missouri, of no particular musical background. He took up singing in St. Louis saloons in his teenage years, and bought his first ukulele because it was the cheapest instrument he could find. He was given the nickname “Ukulele Ike” by a bar owner who couldn’t remember his actual name. In 1918, he made a hit in Chicago with “Ja-Da” and was hired onto the vaudeville stage by Joe Frisco. He made his first phonograph records in 1922 with Ladd’s Black Aces and Bailey’s Lucky Seven, for Gennett, and was signed to Pathé soon after. Over the course of the 1920s, he made his way to the top, becoming one of the most successful singing stars in America, with numerous hits on record and stage. In 1929, Edwards was brought into the world of moving pictures by Irving Thalberg, and made his mark on the budding talking pictures with his introduction of “Singin’ in the Rain” in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. He continued to appear in movies through the 1930s, and provided the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney’s production of Pinocchio in 1940. His stardom in stage, screen, and radio faded over the course of the Great Depression, though he continued to work in show business for many years, still making sporadic appearances in the 1950s and ’60s. In spite of his fame and success, Edwards was careless with his money, and died penniless of arteriosclerosis in 1971. Most of his medical bills were paid by Walt Disney Productions.

Vocalion 2587 was recorded October 24 and 26, 1933 in New York City by Cliff Edwards. Both sides feature tunes from the 1933 motion picture Take a Chance. Edwards is accompanied by Dick McDonough on guitar on the first side, and Artie Bernstein on string bass on the second.

Here, Ukulele Ike croons the Depression-era classic “It’s Only a Paper Moon” from 1933’s Take a Chance, in which Edwards appeared. One of my personal favorites.

It’s Only a Paper Moon, recorded October 24, 1933 by Cliff Edwards “Ukulele Ike”.

Next, he sings a less remembered, but equally excellent tune, Herman “Dodo” Hupfeld’s “Night Owl”. I can relate.

Night Owl, recorded October 26, 1933 by Cliff Edwards “Ukulele Ike”.

Updated on May 31, 2017 and June 9, 2017, and with improved audio on April 1, 2018.

Another Bluebird Dance Band Double Feature – B-5049 & B-5053 – 1933/1931

Posted on December 2, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

As I’m in the process of uploading this duo of early Bluebirds to my YouTube channel (which you should most definitely take a look at if you like this kind of music), it seems like a fine time to do another Bluebird Dance Band Double Feature. Last time, I featured some of the sweet style of music that dominated pop music in the early 1930s, but this time I’ve got a couple of hotter bands for you, led by Paul Tremaine and Gene Kardos.

Bluebird B-5049 was recorded April 14, 1933 in New York City by Paul Tremaine and his Orchestra. On the first side, they play sweeter on Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler’s “Stormy Weather”, which had recently been debuted in the Cotton Club Parade of 1933.

Stormy Weather, recorded April 14, 1933 by Paul Tremaine and his Orchestra.

On the reverse, they play “Hand Me Down My Walkin’ Cane”, a remake of the rendition they had recorded for Columbia in February of 1930 (I’ll post the original sometime, too).

Hand Me Down My Walkin’ Cane, recorded April 14, 1933 by Paul Tremaine and his Orchestra.

The two sides of Bluebird B-5053 were recorded on two different occasions. The first side is another by Paul Tremaine, a wild “She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain”, recorded at the same April 14, 1933 session. That one is also a (considerably more frenetic) redo of one of their 1930 Columbia recordings. Be sure to listen for the little bit of “hinkle dinkle rooty too” between two of the choruses.

She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain, recorded April 14, 1933 by Paul Tremaine and his Orchestra.

On the flip-side, Gene Kardos and his Orchestra play a hot rendition of Carson Robison’s “Left My Gal in the Mountains”, recorded June 10, 1931 and originally issued on Victor’s short-lived Timely Tunes budget label. This was Kardos’ first session. The band consists of Sammy Castin and Willie Mayer on trumpets, Milt Shaw on trombone, Gene Kardos on alto sax, Joe Sagora on clarinet and alto sax, Morris Cohen or Nat Brown on clarinet, alto sax, and tenor sax, Joel Shaw on piano, Albert Julian on guitar, Danny Bono or Ben Goldberg on tuba, and Saul Howard on drums. The vocalist is Albert Julian.

Left My Gal In The Mountains, recorded June 10, 1931 by Gene Kardos and his Orchestra.

Updated on June 24, 2016 and April 29, 2018.

Columbia 2701-D – Harry Richman – 1932

Posted on November 26, 2015 by R. Connor Montgomery

When we last heard from Harry, he was singing “Puttin’ on the Ritz“, and I promised to post his radio theme, I Love a Parade”. Thanksgiving Day being the occasion for one of the grandest parades of the year, it seems like a fitting choice.

Columbia 2701-D was recorded August 15, 1932 in New York City by Harry Richman and issued with their short-lived “Radio Record” label, which seemed to have often featured more than just straight song singing, in a more “radio-like” performance (some of Rudy Vallée’s have announcements at the beginning, and you’ll hear what this one’s like).

First, Richman delivers an (a bit more than) exuberant rendition of what was later the theme song of his radio show in the 1930s, Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen’s “I Love a Parade”.

I Love a Parade, recorded August 15, 1932 by Harry Richman.

Next, Richman sings the popular Arthur Freed and Harry Barris (whose birthday was just a few days before this posting) composition “It Was So Beautiful”.

It Was So Beautiful, recorded August 15, 1932 by Harry Richman.