The Jungle Band - Brunswick 01145 (1931)

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

Recorded in New York on January 20, 1931.


Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds - Okeh 4578 (1922)

Mamie Smith v / ? Bubber Miley c / tb / ? Garvin Bushell cl / ? Leroy Parker vn / Everett Robbins p.

Recorded in New York on February 16, 1922.


Jelly-Roll Morton's Hot Red Peppers Dance Orchestra - Victor 38024 (1928)

Jelly-Roll Morton p, dir / Ward Pinkett t / Geechie Fields tb / Omer Simeon cl / Lee Blair bj / Bill Benford bb / Tommy Benford d.

Recorded in New York on June 11, 1928.


Clara Smith & Her Jazz Band - Columbia 14009 (1924)

From wikipedia

Clara Smith was born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina in 1894. In her youth she worked on African American theater circuits and tent shows. By the late 1910s she was appearing as a headliner at the Lyric Theater in New Orleans, Louisiana and on the T.O.B.A. circuit.

In 1923 she settled in New York, appearing at cabarets and speakeasies there; that same year she made the first of her commercially successful series of gramophone recordings for Columbia Records, for whom she would continue recording through to 1932. She cut 122 songs often with the backing of top musicians (especially after 1925) including Louis Armstrong, Charlie Green, Joe Smith, Freddy Jenkins, Fletcher Henderson and James P. Johnson (in 1929). Plus she recorded two vocal duets with Bessie Smith, and four with Lonnie Johnson.

The comparisons with near namesake Bessie Smith were inevitable. Clara Smith was on the whole less fortunate than Bessie in her accompanists, and her voice was less imposing but, to some tastes, prettier, and many of her songs were interesting (and she was the second best seller on Columbia's 14000-D series, behind Bessie Smith).
In 1933 she moved to Detroit, Michigan, and worked at theaters there until her hospitalization in early 1935 for heart disease, of which she died.

Clara Smith v / Elmer Chambers c / Teddy Nixon tb / Don Redman cl / Fletcher Henderson p / Charlie Dixon bj.

Recorded in New York on January 31, 1924.


Jelly-Roll Morton (With Johnny Dodds & Baby Dodds) - Victor 21064 (1927)

Here we have the 2 trio recordings Jelly-Roll Morton waxed with Johnny and Baby Dodds. Morton recorded later trio sides (1929) with Barney Bigard and Zutty Singleton.

Recorded at Oak Street Studio in Chicago on June 10, 1927.


The Andrews Sisters With Bob Crosby's Bob Cats - Fonit 61253 (1939) / Fred Rich's Dance Orchestra - Regal 8417 (1927)

From wikipedia...

Ray Bauduc (June 18, 1906 – January 8, 1988) was a jazz drummer best known for his work with the Bob Crosby Orchestra and their band-within-a-band, the Bobcats, between 1935 and 1942.

Bauduc was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the son of the cornetist Jules Bauduc and his elder brother Jules was also a professional musician, a banjoist-bandleader. Ray Bauduc's youthful work in New Orleans included stints in the band of Johnny Bayersdorffer and early radio broadcasts. In 1926 he moved to New York City to join Joe Venuti's band. His other work in the 1920s include recording sessions with the Original Memphis Five and a stint in the Scranton Sirens which also included Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey.

His stint with the Bob Crosby Orchestra brought him national fame. He co-composed, together with bassist Bob Haggart, the two big hits that the Bob Crosby orchestra achieved: "South Rampart Street Parade" (a New Orleans parade-type number first recorded in November 1937), and "Big Noise from Winnetka" (a bass and drums duet with Haggart, recorded in 1938).

His style, making use of woodblocks, cowbells, the China cymbal and tom-toms, marked him out from most drummers of the swing era, and made him one of the few white drummers (the others being George Wettling, Dave Tough and Gene Krupa, but they were not so obvious) to be directly influenced by Warren "Baby" Dodds.

After the break-up of the Crosby band, Bauduc organized his own small groups (often in a swing or even bebop style), rejoined Bob Crosby for occasional reunions, worked with Jimmy Dorsey (1948) and Jack Teagarden (1952–55), before joining fellow ex-Bobcat Nappy Lamare in a highly successful dixieland band that lasted until 1960, after which Bauduc went into semi-retirement in San Antonio, Texas. He died in Houston, Texas on January 8, 1988.

Billy Butterfield t / Warren Smith tb / Irving Fazola cl / Eddie Miller ts / Bob Zurke p / Nappy Lamare g / Bob Haggart sb / Ray Bauduc d / The Andrews Sisters v.

Recorded in New York on February 6, 1939.



Here we have a 21 year old Ray Bauduc from 1927.

Fred Rich p, dir / Nick Casti, Benny Bloom t / Earl Kelly tb / Ted Klein, Benny Fairbanks cl, as, ss / Phil Walzer cl, ts / Phil Oliwitz or Al Duffy vn / bj / bb / Ray Bauduc d / Irving Kaufman v.

Recorded in New York on November 12, 1927.

Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers Dance Orchestra - Victor 38010 (1928)

Jelly Roll Morton p, dir / Ward Pinkett t / Geechie Fields tb / Omer Simeon cl / Lee Blair bj / Bill Benford bb / Tommy Benford d.

Recorded in New York on June 11, 1928.


Garber-Davis Orchestra - Victor 19216 (1923)

In keeping with the previous post, here is the (Jan) Garber-(Milton) Davis Orchestra with Tommy Christian on tenor sax.

Chelsea Quealey, Harry Goldfield t / ? Johnny Cook tb / Carlyle Stevenson as / Bill Grady or Russ Hoffman cl, as / Tommy Christian ts / Jan Garber vn, ldr / Milton Davis p, ldr / Joe Astoria bj / Joe Rhodes bb / Steve Brodie d.

Recorded in Camden, NJ on December 7, 1923.


Tommy Christian & His Orchestra / Frank Cornwell & His Orchestra - Harmony 333 (1926

A great article, with orchestra pictures, about Brewton, Alabamian (as was Hank Locklin and William Lee Golden) Tommy Christian here.

Phil Fisher, Ted Fisher t / Frank Troxell tb / Art Manners, Harold Lawson cl, as / James De Angeles cl, ts / Tommy Christian bar, ldr / Victor De Angeles pac / Carl Pickel p / Paul Close bj / Harry Rich bb / Art Barnett d, v.

Recorded in New York on December 28, 1926.


With help from Mae West, John Forrest 'Fuzzy' Knight got his first notable film role in the 1933 movie She Done Him Wrong which also starred Cary Grant. The movie is also known for spawning West's most famous...if not misquoted...quip, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?"

Morris Selzer t / Carl Loeffler tb / Joe Gillespie, Tom Neary cl, as / Bob Montgomery cl, ts / Frank Cornwell vn, ldr, v / Gus Gudarian p / Cameron Anderson bj / Paul Weston bb / Forrest 'Fuzzy' Knight d.

Recorded in New York on February 13, 1926.

Cleartone Jazz Band - Cleartone 121 (1921)

This is the only record I could find recorded by the bandleader, Charles Kritzler. The rest of the group is apparently unknown.

These sides were released on Clarion (1101) as by the Clarion Dance Orchestra or Century Jazz Band...on Phantasie 14250 by Rudy Graham's Dance Orchestra...on Cardinal 2033 as the Cardinal Jazz Band...and on Olympic 15106.

Instrumentation listed as: c / tb / cl / as / p / d.

Recorded in New York in February, 1921.


Johnny Hodges & His Orchestra - Vocalion 4941 (1939)

Johnny Hodges is, hands down, my favorite figure in all of jazz.

Cootie Williams t / Lawrence Brown tb / Johnny Hodges as / Harry Carney bar / Duke Ellington p / Billy Taylor sb / Sonny Greer d.

Recorded in New York on March 21 & June 2, 1939.


Jean Goldkette & His Orchestra (Bix) - Victor 20273 (1926)

Sounds like Katharine Whalen of the Squirrel Nut Zippers may have found a bit of inspiration from the vocals of KS&L.


Bix Beiderbecke c / Fuzzy Farrar, Ray Lodwig t / Bill Rank, Spiegle Willcox tb / Don Murray cl, as, bar / Doc Ryker as / Frank Trumbauer Cm / Joe Venuti vn / Paul Mertz p / Howdy Quicksell bj / Eddie Lang g / Steve Brown sb / Chauncey Morehouse d / Bill Challis a / Frank Bessinger, Keller Sisters & Lynch v.

Recorded in New York on October 15, 1926.