Maggie Jones (Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Green) - Columbia 14063 (1924)

Thought I'd post a bit about the lesser known names from these sessions.

From wikipedia...

Maggie Jones (c.1900—unknown) was an American blues singer and pianist, who recorded thirty-eight songs between 1923 and 1926. She was billed as "The Texas Nightingale." Jones is best remembered for her songs, "Single Woman's Blues," "Undertaker's Blues," and "Northbound Blues."

She was born Fae Barnes in Hillsboro, Texas. Her year of birth is most regularly cited as 1900, although this has not been proven. She relocated to New York in 1922, where she performed in local nightclubs. She appeared at the Princess Theater in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1922, and toured the TOBA theater circuit until ca. 1926.

Her debut recording session was on July 26, 1923, for Black Swan Records, where she became the first singer from Texas to record a side. Her recording career saw Jones appear on several record labels including Black Swan, Victor, Pathé and Paramount, although the bulk of her work was released by Columbia. On Black Swan and Paramount she was billed as Fae (or Faye) Barnes; on Pathé and Columbia she recorded as Maggie Jones. It is unknown whether marriage played any part in her name change.

Over a three year period, her accompaniment was variously supplied by notables such as Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Charlie Green, and Elmer Snowden. Jones is especially noted for her six sides on which she was backed by Fletcher Henderson and Louis Armstrong; author Derrick Stewart-Baxter singled out "Good Time Flat Blues" as "her masterpiece". With Fletcher Henderson and Charlie Green she recorded "North Bound Blues", which contained trenchant references to the South's Jim Crow laws that are unusual for a classic female blues singer. By October 3, 1926, Jones had cut her final disc. In 1927 she performed with the Clarence Muse Vaudeville Company and sang in Hall Johnson's choir at the Roxy Theater in New York City.

In 1928–1929 Jones appeared with Bill Robinson in the Broadway production of Lew Leslie's revue, Blackbirds of 1928, which toured the US and Canada. She often worked outside the music industry, including co-owning a clothes store in New York. By the early 1930s Jones moved on to Dallas, Texas, and ran her own revue troupe which performed in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1934 she appeared in the All American Cabaret in Fort Worth. She subsequently disappeared from the public eye.

Charlie Green was an American jazz musician, who was born in Omaha, Nebraska in circa 1900, and died in 1936 in New York. He was one of the early jazz trombonists, and the soloist in the Fletcher Henderson orchestra (joining slightly before Louis Armstrong).

He played locally in Omaha between 1920 and 1923, before his two stints with Henderson (July 1924 and April 1926; and late 1928 to early 1929). Described as "A superior blues player who could also swing fairly early", Green played on several Bessie Smith recordings, (including one called "Trombone Cholly"), recorded in the 1920s with several other blues singers, and also worked with the bands of Benny Carter (1929–1931 and 1933), Chick Webb (several times during 1930-1934), Jimmie Noone (1931), Don Redman (1932), and at the end with Kaiser Marshall. In 1928 Green played in the orchestra of the revue Keep Shufflin' together with Fats Waller and James P. Johnson.

According to jazz historian John Chilton (in his book Who's Who of Jazz) Green's premature death was from passing out on his doorstep in Harlem on a cold February night after having been unable to get into his home, and thus freezing to death. This story was disputed by Frederick J. Spencer, M.D., in his book Jazz and Death, Medical Profiles of Jazz Greats.

Maggie Jones v / Louis Armstrong c / Fletcher Henderson p.

Recorded in New York on December 10, 1924.

Maggie Jones v / Charlie Green tb / Fletcher Henderson p.

Recorded in New York on December 18, 1924.

Miguelito Valdés With Machito & His Afro Cubans - Decca 18516 (1942)

From wikipedia…

Machito (born Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, February 16, 1908?–April 19, 1984) was an influential Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music. He was raised in Havana alongside the singer Graciela, his foster sister.

Machito was somewhat short in stature, at 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 m) in height. A lifelong Roman Catholic, he married Puerto Rican Hilda Torres on January 17, 1940, at which time he changed his nickname from "Macho" to "Machito". The cross-cultural marriage served as a sign to New York Latinos that it was possible to attain a sense of pan-Latino brotherhood. Frank and Hilda Grillo produced five children: Martha (1941), Frank Jr (1943), Barbara (1948), Mario (1956) and Paula. The family lived in Spanish Harlem at 112th Street and Second Avenue, where Machito enjoyed cooking for his children, writing the occasional song such as "Sopa de Pichon" while working in the kitchen.

In New York City, Machito formed the band the Afro-Cubans in 1940, and with Mario Bauzá as musical director, brought together Cuban rhythms and big band arrangements in one group. He made numerous recordings from the 1940s to the 1980s, many with Graciela as singer. Machito changed to a smaller ensemble format in 1975, touring Europe extensively. He brought his son and daughter into the band, and received a Grammy Award in 1983, one year before he died.

Machito's music had an effect on the lives of many musicians who played in the Afro-Cubans over the years, and on those who were attracted to Latin jazz after hearing him. George Shearing, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Stan Kenton credited Machito as an influence. An intersection in East Harlem is named "Machito Square" in his honor.

Machito suffered a stroke before a concert in London, England in 1984, collapsing while waiting to go on stage at Ronnie Scott's club. He died four days later on April 19, 1984, at University College Hospital in London. His son Mario carried forward the legacy by leading The Machito Orchestra after his father's death. His daughter Paula, though dedicating her life to scholarly studies, has occasionally fronted the group as its singer.

Wingie Manone & His Orchestra - Bluebird 10401 (1939)

Nice lineup on these sides.

Wingie Manone t, v / Buster Bailey cl / Chu Berry ts / Conrad Lanoue p / Danny Barker g / Jules Cassard sb / Cozy Cole d.

Recorded in New York on April 26, 1939.

Ted Lewis Jazz Band / Louisiana Five Jazz Orchestra - Columbia A2857 (1919)

While not Ted Lewis' first recording (that can be found here), I am assuming that this is the first recording by the Ted Lewis Jazz Band judging from the fact that it is the earliest side listed in Rust's discographies.

Walter Kahn c / Harry Raderman tb / Ted Lewis cl, as, ldr / Ernie Cutting p / John Lucas d.

Recorded in New York on September 5, 1919.

The flipside is by the Louisiana Five Jazz Orchestra (here's another post of theirs on Edison).

Charlie Panelli, tb / Alcide Nuñez cl / Joe Cawley p / Karl Berger bj / Anton Lada d / Billy Murray v..

Recorded in New York on October 30, 1919.

Meadowlark Lemon's Bucketeers (1979)

Here is an example of "...& Other Musical Notes."

After posting Brother Bone's Sweet Georgia Brown, which became the version that the Harlem Globetrotters' used as their theme song, I remembered that I had a New Orleans jazz inspired theme on a 45 rpm of the most famous Globetrotter of all, Meadowlark Lemon and his new team at the time (1980), The Bucketeers. The flipside is a catchy disco tune with Meadowlark adding his vocals.

Meadowlark came back to his hometown to give motivational speeches and show off his half court hook shot at the local schools...which I attended during junior high.

Coincidentally, two of the most worldwide recognized names in basketball, Meadowlark Lemon and Michael Jordan are from the same town in North Carolina.

Also, the Harlem Globetrotters put out an album in the early 70s in which they provided backup vocals on the tracks. One of them caught on in the Carolinas and has become a staple of the Beach Music / Shag crowd.

Brother Bones & His Shadows - Tempo 652 (1949)

A pleasant surprise to find this over the holiday weekend!

From wikipedia…

Brother Bones (October 4, 1902 – June 14, 1974) was an American whistling and bone playing recording artist from Montgomery, Alabama. Born Freeman Davis, his late 1940s recording of the 1925 standard "Sweet Georgia Brown," became internationally famous after being adopted as the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team in 1952. Despite the success of this record, Brother Bones himself remained relatively unknown.

He died in June 1974, in Long Beach, California, at the age of 71.

Mills Music Masters - Melotone 12091 (1931)

Just who are the Mills Music Masters?

My first step was looking them up in Rust's Jazz discography only to find "See Mills Blue Rhythm Band." So I flipped over a few pages to find that there was no listing at all for these sides under that band. I flipped a few more pages to Irving Mills and found the recordings listed...but only the instrumentation was noted...no names.

My next step was to hit the web. I found an excerpt from Google Books, The Dorsey Brothers: That's It! by Robert Stockdale, which listed this group as a Brunswick Studio Band.

I found no mention of these recordings under The Dorsey Brothers in Jazz & Ragtime or American Dance Band discographies.

Lastly, I pulled the first edition of Mills Blue Rhythm Band on Chronological Classics (#660) from the shelf to see that the first two numbers on the cd were the ones I was searching for.

Does anyone know for a fact which band this is? I definitely don't have the discerning ears that other record collectors have.

Bob Effros tp / Tom Dorsey tp, tb / Jimmy Dorsey cl, as, bar / unknown as, ts / Joe Venuti vn / p / g / Hank Stern or Joe Tarto bb / d / Charlie Lawman v.

Recorded in New York on January 21, 1931.

OR

Wardell Jones, Shelton Hemphill, Ed Anderson t / Harry White, Henry Hicks tb / Crawford Wethington cl, as, bar / Ted McCord cl, ts / Edgar Hayes p, a / Benny James bj / Hayes Alvis sb / Willie Lynch d / Charlie Lawman v.

Recorded in New York on January 21, 1931.

Andrews Sisters - Decca 3598 (1941)

Just uncovered a Decca 3598 in the garage...don't know how I skipped over it in my previous searches.

Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen & His Orchestra recorded in Hollywood on January 2, 1941.