Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - Brunswick 7627 (1936) & 7989 (1937)

Next up we have a couple of Ellington sides on Brunswick.

I first heard I've Got To Be A Rug Cutter on the very first Chuck Cecil's The Swingin' Years radio show I had listened to some 15-20 years ago. Although I moved away from being able to hear it on local radio...I can still catch the show online on Saturday & Sunday mornings here.

Duke Ellington p, a, dir / Arthur Whetsol, Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart c / Tricky Sam Nanton, Lawrence Brown tb / Juan Tizol vtb / Barney Bigard cl / Johnny Hodges cl, as, ss / Harry Carney cl, as, bar / Pete Clark as / Fred Guy g / Hayes Alvis sb / Billy Taylor sb (on Kissin') / Sonny Greer d / Ivie Anderson v.

Recorded in New York on February 28, 1936.



Duke Ellington p, a, dir / Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams t / Rex Stewart c / Tricky Sam Nanton, Lawrence Brown tb / Juan Tizol vtb / Barney Bigard cl / Johnny Hodges cl, as, ss / Harry Carney cl, as, bar / Otto Hardwicke as, bsx / Fred Guy g / Hayes Alvis, Billy Taylor sb / Sonny Greer d / Ivie Anderson v.

Recorded in New York on March 5, 1937.


The Arabain Knights - Gennett 6116 (1927)

Not sure where I picked this one up but I'm 100% positive that it came home with me because of the labels. This group appears to be a Nathan Glantz band with vocals by Charles Hart.

Recorded in New York on April 15, 1927.



Gulf Coast Seven (An Ellington Unit?) - Columbia 14373 (1928)

Although continuing with Perry Bradford thread, the focus here is more about James P. Johnson and quite possibly, the Ellington sidemen.

Rust lists the personnel as follows...most with question marks:

Louis Metcalf c / ? Joe Nanton tb / ? Johnny Hodges ss, as / ? Barney Bigard cl, ts / James P. Johnson p / ? Sonny Greer d / Perry Bradford v.

Recorded in new York on October 19, 1928.


Ethel Ridley & (Perry) Bradford's Jazz Phools - Victor 19111 (1923)

Continuing with the Perry Bradford theme.

Ethel Ridley apparently recorded ten sides...four accompanied by Perry Bradford either alone or with his group.

Ethel Ridley v / Gus Aiken c / Bud Aiken tb / Garvin Bushell cl, as / ? Ernest Elliott ts / Leroy Tibbs p / Samuel Speed bj.

Recorded in New York on June 26, 1923.



The Gulf Coast Seven - Columbia A3978 (1923)

Sticking with the blue Columbia label, here we have The Gulf Coast Seven, which was another name for Perry Bradford's Jazz Hounds.

This is their second recording session under this name and one of four total made for Columbia.

There is at least one more Bradford outfit, called The Gulf Coast Minstrels (basically a comic dialog), that was recorded on Columbia in 1923 also. The Nick Tosches' book Where Dead Voices Gather is the only information I could find on the net linking Bradford to the recording

Gus Aiken c / Bud Aiken tb / ? Garvin Bushell cl / Ernest Elliott cl, ts / Leroy Tibbs p / Sam Speed bj.

Recorded in New York on August 7, 1923.



Amanda Brown (Viola McCoy) With Porter Grainger - Columbia A3901 (1923)

Here is Amanda Brown (who recorded more prolifically under the pseudonym Viola McCoy) accompanied by Porter Grainger on piano on her second session with Columbia about a month after her first recording session on the Gennett label earlier in March of '23.

Recorded in New York on April 27, 1923.



Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - Victor 22791 (1927 & 1931)

Had this record for a while but never played it...not even sure where or how I acquired it...but attempting to give it a listen recently, I discovered that it was unplayable. Not sure why but the grooves are not completely round and when the stylus reached a certain part in the rotation, it would jump inward several grooves. I tried heavier tracking but there was no difference. I sleeved it, put it away and basically forgot about it.

Pulling it out today, and remembering the sick feeling of having a wonderful record and not being able to play it, I thought I would try to track it at 33 rpm (45 rpm was still too fast)...and...it didn't jump the grooves! I had recently found out that Audacity software had a speed changer for those who wanted to record 78s but didn't have access to a 78 player.

The pairing of these 2 sides seem a little odd to me (maybe someone can explain it) but they were recorded in 1927 & 1931.

Duke Ellington p, a, dir / Bubber Miley, Louis Metcalfe t / Joe Nanton tb / Otto Hardwicke ss, as, bar / Harry Carney cl, as, bar / Rudy Jackson cl, ts / Fred Guy bj / Wellman Braud sb / Sonny Greer d.

Recorded in New York on December 19, 1927.


Duke Ellington p, a, dir / Arthur Whetsel, Freddy Jenkins, Cootie Williams t / Joe Nanton tb / Juan Tizol vtb / Johnny Hodges cl, ss, as / Harry Carney cl, as, bar / Barney Bigard cl, ts / Fred Guy bj / Wellman Braud sb / Sonny Greer d.

Recorded in New York on June 16, 1931.

Mills Blue Rhythm Band - Okeh 6119 (Columbia 3087 - 1935)

Lucky Millinder v, dir / Wardell Jones, Shelton Hemphill t / Henry 'Red' Allen t / George Washington, J.C. Higginbotham tb / Gene Mikell, Crawford Washington cl, as / Joe Garland cl, ts, bar / Edgar Hayes p / Lawrence Lucie g / Elmer James sb / O'Neil Spencer d.

Recorded in New York on July 2nd & 9th, 1935.