Alberta Hunter Acc. By Memphis Five - Paramount 12016 (1923)

(From a store stock 78)

Was just reading where these sides are considered the first of their kind...but not exactly sure of what the "first of their kind" means.

Another article considers Jelly Roll Morton's and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings recordings, waxed a few months after these, as the first interracial jazz records...so, again, what does the "first of their kind" mean?

Alberta Hunter v / Phil Napoleon t / Charlie Panelli tb / Jimmy Lytell cl / Frank Signorelli p / Jack Roth d.

Recorded in New York in February, 1923.


Jack Hylton & His Orchestra - Victor 25555 (1935)

Excerpted from wikipedia...

After World War I Jack Hylton played with the Queen's Dance Orchestra, wrote arrangements of popular songs and recorded them under the label 'Directed by Jack Hylton.' He then formed his own band, recording the new style of jazz-derived American dance music under the Jack Hylton name from 1923. Hylton became a respected band leader with a busy schedule. Even though he was not professionally trained for business, he brought his band to success at a time when the Great Depression hit hard. With his entrepreneurial skills, he managed to sell almost four million records in 1929 according to the Daily Herald of 7 June 1930. His good reputation allowed him to make contacts with famous jazz artists of time, hence the reason he was credited for bringing Duke Ellington in England in 1933.

This overall success allowed Jack Hylton's band not only to entertain people in Britain, but also abroad. The band frequently had what were called 'continental tours' which made it famous in various places in Europe, especially in France. He became a director and major shareholder of the new Decca record label. His band developed into an orchestra and toured America and Europe into the 1940s, when it disbanded due to World War II. Hylton adopted The Soldiers In The Park (more commonly known as Oh Listen To The Band) as his signature tune.

Jack Hylton dir / Jack Raine, Phillipe Brun, George Swift t / Les Carew, Eric Breeze tb / David Shand, Benny Daniels vn / Alec Templeton p / Billy Munn p, a / Harry Chapman harp / Sonny Farrar bj, g / Andre de Vekey sb / Gilbert Webster d.

Recorded in London on August 24, 1935.



Andy Kirk & His Twelve Clouds Of Joy - Brunswick 4878 & 6027 (1930)

Excerpted from wikipedia...

In 1927, Mary Lou Williams married saxophonist John Williams. She met him at a performance in Cleveland where he was leading his group, the Syncopators, and moved with him to Memphis, Tennessee. He assembled a band in Memphis, which included Mary Lou on piano. In 1929, he accepted an invitation to join Andy Kirk's band in Oklahoma City, leaving 19-year-old Mary Lou to head the Memphis band for its remaining tour dates. Williams eventually joined her husband in Oklahoma City but did not play with the band. The group, now known as Andy Kirk's Twelve Clouds of Joy, relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Williams spent her free time transporting bodies for an undertaker. When the Clouds of Joy accepted a longstanding engagement in Kansas City, Missouri, Williams joined her husband there and began sitting in with the band, as well as serving as its arranger and composer. She provided Kirk with such songs as Walkin' and Swingin', Twinklin', Cloudy', Little Joe from Chicago and others.

From the first sides Kirk made in Kansas City, Williams was on board as pianist and arranger. (Six sides were recorded in Kansas City during 1929 and remaining 17 sides were recorded in Chicago in 1930, and a further two were recorded in New York in 1930.) During one of those trips to Chicago in 1930, Williams recorded Drag 'Em and Night Life as piano solos. Williams took the name "Mary Lou" at the suggestion of Brunswick's Jack Kapp. The record sold briskly, raising Williams to national prominence. Soon after the recording session she signed on as Kirk's permanent second pianist, playing solo gigs and working as a freelance arranger for such noteworthy names as Earl Hines, Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey. In 1937, she produced In the Groove (Brunswick), a collaboration with Dick Wilson, and Benny Goodman asked Mary to write a blues for his band. The result was Roll 'Em, a boogie-woogie piece based on the blues, which followed her successful Camel Hop, Goodman's theme song for his radio show sponsored by Camel cigarettes. Goodman tried to put Williams under contract to write for him exclusively, but she refused, preferring to freelance instead.

Andy Kirk bsx, bb, dir / Edgar Battle, Harry Lawson t / Allen Durham tb / John Harrington cl, as / John Williams as, bar / Lawrence 'Slim' Freeman ts / Claude Williams vn / Mary Lou Williams p, a / William Dirvin bj, g / Edward McNeil d.

Recorded in Chicago on April 30, 1930.



Recorded in Chicago on December 15, 1930.


New Orleans Bootblacks - Columbia 14337 (1926)

Lil Hardin Armstrong set up recording dates for what basically was Louis Armstrong's Hot Five/Seven ensemble with Columbia Records...only one problem, Louis was tethered to a contract with OKeh.

So, she tapped George Mitchell to replace Satch on cornet. More information on him here.

Here are two of the sides that were waxed in Chicago on July 14, 1926.

Personnel: George Mitchell c / Kid Ory tb / Johnny Dodds cl / Joe Clark as / Lil Armstrong p / Johnny St. Cyr bj.


Chick Webb & His Orchestra - Decca 483 (1934)

From wikipedia...

William Henry Webb, usually known as Chick Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939) was an American jazz and swing music drummer as well as a band leader.

Webb was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to William H. and Marie Webb. From childhood, he suffered from tuberculosis of the spine, leaving him with short stature and a badly deformed spine; this was why he was always seen hunchbacked. The idea of playing an instrument was suggested by his doctor to "loosen up" his bones. He supported himself as a newspaper boy to save enough money to buy drums, and first played professionally at age 11. Webb had three sisters: Bessie, Mabel and Ethel. Mabel married Wilbur Porter around 1928.

At the age of 17 he moved to New York City and by 1926, he was leading his own band in Harlem. Jazz drummer Tommy Benford said he gave Webb drum lessons when he first reached New York.

He alternated between band tours and residencies at New York City clubs through the late 1920s. In 1931, his band became the house band at the Savoy Ballroom. He became one of the best-regarded bandleaders and drummers of the new "swing" style. Drumming legend Buddy Rich cited Webb's powerful technique and virtuoso performances as heavily influential on his own drumming, and even referred to Webb as "the daddy of them all". Webb was unable to read music, and instead memorized the arrangements played by the band and conducted from a platform in the center. He used custom-made pedals, goose-neck cymbal holders, a 28-inch bass drum and other percussion instruments. Although his band was not as influential and revered in the long term, it was feared in the battle of the bands. The Savoy often featured "Battle of the Bands" where Webb's band would compete with other top bands (such as the Benny Goodman Orchestra or the Count Basie Orchestra) from opposing bandstands. By the end of the night's battles the dancers seemed always to have voted Chick's band as the best. As a result Webb was deemed the most worthy recipient to be crowned the first "King of Swing". Notably, Webb lost to Duke Ellington in 1937. Although a judge declared Webb's band the official winner in 1938 over Count Basie's, and Basie himself said he was just relieved to come away from the contest without embarrassing himself, surviving musicians continued to dispute the ruling for decades to follow.

Webb married Martha Loretta Ferguson (also known as "Sallye"), and in 1935 he began featuring a teenaged Ella Fitzgerald as vocalist. Together Chick and Ella would electrify the Swing Era of jazz with hits such as A-Tisket a Tasket, which was composed by Ella to cheer Chick up while he was ill. Despite rumors to the contrary, "Ella was not adopted by Webb, nor did she live with him and his wife, Sallye," according to Stuart Nicholson in his Fitzgerald biography.

In November 1938, Webb's health began to decline; for a time, however, he continued to play, refusing to give up touring so that his band could remain employed during the Great Depression. He disregarded his own discomfort and fatigue, which often found him passing out from physical exhaustion after finishing sets. Finally, he had a major operation at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1939. William Henry "Chick" Webb died from spinal tuberculosis on June 16, 1939, in Baltimore. Reportedly his last words were, "I'm sorry, I've got to go." He was just 34 years old. Webb was buried just outside Baltimore, in Arbutus Memorial Park, in Arbutus, Maryland.

Webb's death hit the jazz/swing community very hard. After his death, Ella Fitzgerald led the Chick Webb band until she left to focus on her solo career in 1942 and caused the band to disband. Art Blakey and Duke Ellington both credited Webb with influencing their music. Gene Krupa credited Webb with raising drummer awareness and paving the way for drummer-led bands like his own. Webb's thundering solos created a complexity and an energy that paved the way for Buddy Rich (who studied him intensely) and Louie Bellson.

On February 12, 1940 a crowd of about 7,500 people attended a Chick Webb Benefit in Baltimore, Maryland. In attendance was Sally Webb, Chick's widow, his mother Marie Webb, his sister Mabel Porter, Governor Herbert R. O'Conor, Ella Fitzgerald and boxing champion Joe Louis.

Chick Webb d, dir / Mario Bauza, Bobby Stark t / Taft Jordan t, v / Claude Jones, Sandy Williams tb / Pete Clark as / Edgar Sampson as, a / Wayman Carver, Elmer Williams ts / Don Kirkpatrick p / John Trueheart bj, g / John Kirby sb.

Recorded in New York on November 19, 1934.



Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five - Okeh 8535 (1927)

Louis Armstrong c, v / Kid Ory tb / Johnny Dodds cl / Lil Armstrong p / Johnny St. Cyr bj / Lonnie Johnson g.

Recorded in Chicago on December 13, 1927.



Walter Barnes' Royal Creolians / The Rhythm Aces - Brunswick 4244 (1928 / 1929)

Here is Walter Barnes' Royal Creolians second release...their first can be heard here

Walter Barnes ts, dir / Cicero Thomas, George Thigpen t / Ed Burke, William 'Bullet' Bradley tb / Irby Gage, Wilson Underwood cl, ss / Lucius Wilson ts / Paul Johnson p / Plunker Hall bj / Louis Thompson bb / Billy Winston d.

Recorded in Chicago on December 24, 1928.



From wikipedia...

Jabbo Smith, born as Cladys Smith (December 24, 1908 – January 16, 1991) was a United States jazz musician, known for his hot virtuoso playing on the trumpet.

Smith was born in Pembroke, Georgia. At the age of 6 he went into the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, South Carolina where he learned trumpet and trombone, and by age 10 was touring with the Jenkins Band. At age 16 he left the Orphanage to become a professional musician, at first playing in bands in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey before making his base in Manhattan, New York City from about 1925 through 1928, where he made the first of his well regarded recordings.

In 1928 he toured with James P. Johnson's Orchestra when their show broke up in Chicago, Illinois, where Smith stayed for a few years. His series of 20 recordings for Brunswick Records in 1929 are his most famous (19 were issued), and Smith was billed as a rival to Louis Armstrong. Unfortunately, most of these records didn't sell well enough for Brunswick to extend his contract.

In March 1935 in Chicago, Smith was featured in a recording session produced by Helen Oakley under the name of Charles LaVere & His Chicagoans, which included a vocal by both Smith and LaVere on LaVere's composition and arrangement of Boogaboo Blues. It is an early example of inter-racial blues recordings, although far from the first as such had been made at least since c. 1921.

In the 1930s, Smith moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin which would be his main base for many years, alternating with returns to New York. In Milwaukee he collaborated with saxophonist Bill Johnson. Subsequently, Smith dropped out of the public eye, playing music part-time in Milwaukee with a regular job at an automobile hire company.

Jabbo Smith made a comeback starting in the late 1960s. Many young musicians, fans, and record collectors were surprised to learn that the star of those great 1920s recordings was still alive. Smith successfully played with bands and shows in New York, New Orleans, Louisiana, London, and France through the 1970s and into the 1980s.

Jabbo Smith t / Omer Simeon cl / Cassino Simpson, another p / Ikey Robinson bj.

Recorded in Chicago on January 29, 1929.

Washboard Rhythm Kings / The Missourians - Bluebird 6084 (1932 / 1929)

What a great pairing of early Victors on a re-issued Bluebird!

From wikipedia...

The Washboard Rhythm Kings 1931 to 1933 (aka. Washboard Rhythm Boys, Georgia Washboard Stompers from 1934 to 1935, Alabama Washboard Stompers 1930 to 1932) were a loose aggregation of jazz performers, many of high calibre, who recorded as a group for various labels between about 1930 and 1935.

The band played goodtime swinging music, featuring spirited vocals, horns, a washboard player and occasionally kazoo, and were popular around the time of the Great Depression. They mostly covered current hits from other artists.

Their personnel varied considerably between sessions, with guitarist Teddy Bunn a regular member from 1930 to 1931. Later recordings included singers Leo Watson or Steve Washington, washboard player and vocalist Bruce Johnson (aka Bruce Wiley Robinson?), trumpeters Valaida Snow and Taft Jordan, and clarinetist Ben Smith.

Their 1932 recording of Tiger Rag has been cited for its "wild, informal feel" as an early precursor of rock and roll. Their music was also highly influential on the skiffle music of the 1950s and later.

For the most part, they recorded for Victor. The 'Alabama Washboard Stompers' were on Vocalion. There was a March 8, 1933 session of 8 sides recorded for John Hammond at Columbia primarily for export to the UK. Two of the tracks were subsequently issued in the US on Columbia 14680-D, which was the last issued record on the legendary 13000-D/14000-D Race Series.

They also recorded for ARC in August, 1933 and those sides were issued on their Banner, Domino, Melotone, Oriole, Perfect, and Romeo labels. As 'Georgia Washboard Stompers', they were on the newly formed Decca label in late 1934 and early 1935.

Taft Jordan t / Ben Smith cl, as / Carl Wade ts / Eddie Miles p / Steve Washington g / Ghost Howell sb, v / H. Smith wb.

Recorded in Camden, NJ on July 6, 1932. (Originally released on Victor 24059)



From All Music...

The Missourians started out as Wilson Robinson's Syncopators in the early 1920s and then formed their identity while operating as Andrew Preer's Cotton Club Orchestra from 1925-27, when they were the house band of the Cotton Club. The ten-piece group toured with Ethel Waters in 1927 and changed its name to The Missourians at the time, since it was no longer based at the Cotton Club.

The band played regularly at the Savoy Ballroom from 1928-29 under the direction of altoist George Scott. Although they had recorded I've Found a New Baby under Andrew Preer's leadership in 1927 (when one of its trumpeters was Sidney DeParis), its main accomplishments were the dozen hot recordings that it made as The Missourians for RCA from 1929-30. However, the band was struggling and would have broken up were it not for Cab Calloway, who had first started working with The Missourians in 1929. Calloway hired all of the musicians as the nucleus of his orchestra in 1930 and once again they had great success at the Cotton Club. But this time The Missourians (whose name was dropped) were quite subservient to its leader, no longer having its own separate identity. And over time, one by one, the musicians were replaced by Calloway as The Missourians passed into history.

Lockwood Lewis dir / R.Q. Dickerson, Lammar Wright t / De Priest Wheeler tb / unknown, George Scott cl, as / Andrew Brown cl, ts / Earres Prince p / Morris White bj / Jimmy Smith bb / Leroy Maxey d.

Recorded in New York on June 3, 1929. (Originally released on Victor 38084)

Trixie Smith & The Jazz Masters - Black Swan 14127 (1922)

Here is the first of several upcoming posts featuring store-stock 78s found in an abandoned store decades ago.

This is Trixie Smith's fourth recording and was also released on Paramount 12164.

Besides Smith's vocals, Fletcher Henderson is floated as possible pianist in the six piece band in Rust's Jazz & Ragtime Records.

Recorded in Long Island City in September, 1922.