Blanche Calloway & Her Joy Boys - Victor 22661 (1931)

A while back, I posted Blanche Calloway's Victor 22733 showing where it was among Ben Webster's first recordings.

Well, here's his first.

Blanche Calloway v, dir / Joe Keyes, Edgar Battle, Clarence Smith t / Alton Moore tb / Booker Pitman cl, as / Leroy Hardy as / Ben Webster ts / Clyde Hart p / Andy Jackson bj, g / Joe Durham bb / Cozy Cole d / Billy Massey v.

Recorded in Camden, NJ on March 27, 1931.



Thomas Morris & His Seven Hot Babies - Victor 20179 (1926)

From wikipedia...

Ward Pinkett (April 29, 1906—March 15, 1937) was an American jazz trumpeter remembered for playing two notable solos in recordings by jazz pianist and bandleader Jelly Roll Morton. His promising musical career was cut short by alcoholism and illness.

The son of an amateur cornet player, Ward Pinkett started playing the trumpet when he was ten years old. He played in the school band at Hampton Institute and later attended the New Haven Conservatory of Music.

After working with the White Brothers Orchestra in Washington D.C., Pinkett moved to New York City. He played for brief periods with the bands of Charlie Johnson, Willie Gant, Billy Fowler, Henri Saparo, Joe Steele and Charlie Skeete. During his stint with Jelly Roll Morton in 1928–30, he participated in seven of Morton's recording sessions and his solos on "Strokin' Away" and "Low Gravy" (both recorded on July 14, 1930) are considered by music historians to be the best of his career. He also worked with Chick Webb, Bingie Madison, Rex Stewart (1933) and Teddy Hill, but was never able to achieve fame. In 1935 he teamed with Albert Nicholas and Bernard Addison at Adrian Rollini's Tap Room and also had a short stint with Louis Metcalf's Big Band. In addition to the Jelly Roll Morton recordings, he recorded with King Oliver, Bubber Miley, Clarence Williams, James P. Johnson and the Little Ramblers.

Ward Pinkett died of alcoholism-aggravated pneumonia six weeks short of his thirty-first birthday.

Tom Morris, Ward Pinkett t / Geechie Fields tb / Ernest Elliott cl, as, bar / Happy Caldwell cl, ts / Marlowe Morris p / ? Lee Blair bj / Bill Benford bb. 

Recorded in New York on July 13, 1926.



Helen Humes - Okeh 8467 (1927)

A couple of years ago, I had posted one of Helen Humes earliest recordings from when she was only fourteen years old.

Now, I'm posting her debut recording from when she was thirteen. Here she is accompanied by Lonnie Johnson on guitar and either De Loise Searcy or J.C. Johnson on piano.

Recorded in St. Louis on April 30, 1927.


Carolina Twins - Victor 21363 (1928)

Besides being part of the Carolina Tar Heels, Gwen Foster, along with David Fletcher made up the Carolina Twins.

Gwen Foster g, hmca, v / David O. Fletcher g, v.

Recorded in Atlanta on February 20, 1928.


The Wabash Dance Orchestra - Duophone 4001 (1928)

Here we have a still 19 year old Gene Krupa just nine short months after making his debut recording.

Red Nichols t, a, dir / Manny Klein t / Miff Mole tb / Arnold Brilhart, ? Jimmy Crossan cl, as / Fud Livingston cl, ts / Kurt Dieterle, ? Murray Kellner vn / Arthur Schutt p / Perry Botkin bj, g / ? Hank Stern bb / Gene Krupa d / Dick Robertson, Charles Small v.

Recorded in New York on September 11, 1928.

Carolina Tar Heels - Victor 20545 (1927)

Just got back from summer vacation where I traveled the back roads of North & South Carolina looking for records.

This is the first offering from a small stash of mainly North Carolina stringband & old time artists that I found on the way back home.

(Here's another record by Gwen Foster found in the same batch)

From wikipedia...

The Carolina Tar Heels was an American old time string band. It originally consisted of Dock Walsh (July 23, 1901 – May 28, 1967) on banjo and Gwen Foster on harmonica. Later Clarence Ashley (September 29, 1895 – June 2, 1967) joined on guitar and Garley Foster (January 10, 1905 – October 5, 1968) would replace Gwen on harmonica. Despite sharing a surname Gwen and Garley were not related.

Doctor Coble Walsh (July 23, 1901 in Lewis Fork, Wilkes County, North Carolina – May 28, 1967), better known as Doc/Dock Walsh, was an American banjoist, and bandleader of The Carolina Tar Heels. He formed that group with Clarence Ashley in 1925, followed by the addition of Gwen Foster. Walsh is known as the "Banjo King of the Carolinas."

He played in a clawhammer style, but was one of the first to record the three-finger style. He also invented a method of playing with pennies under the bridge and the strings played with a knife, similar to bottle neck guitar style.

The Carolina Tar Heels were active in the 1920s, and disbanded in 1932.

Gwen Foster g, hmca, v / Dock Walsh bj, v.

Recorded in Atlanta on February 19, 1927.