Red Nichols & His Five Pennies - Vocalion 15536 (1927)

Red Nichols t, a / Miff Mole tb / Jimmy Dorsey cl, as / Joe Venuti vn / Arthur Schutt p / Eddie Lang g / Vic Berton d.

Recorded in New York on March 3, 1927.

Whoopee Makers - Perfect 15126 (1927/1928)

Jimmy McPartland, Al Harris t / Jack Teagarden tb / Benny Goodman cl, as / Gil Rodin as / Larry Binyon ts / Vic Bredis p / Dick Morgan bj / Harry Goodman bb / Ray Bauduc d.

Recorded in New York on November 23, 1928.

Sam Lanin dir / Bill Moore and another t / Tommy Dorsey tb / cl / cl, as / cl, ts / ? Irving Brodsky p / bj / bb / d.

Recorded in New York on March 11, 1927.

Billy Banks & His Orchestra - Perfect 15615 (1932)

From wikipedia...

Billy Banks (c. 1908-October 19, 1967, Tokyo, Japan) was an American jazz singer. Banks is most prominently remembered for being a successful female impersonator on record.

Banks recorded in 1932 with an all-star, multi-racial jazz lineup made up of Red Allen on trumpet, Pee Wee Russell on clarinet, Tommy Dorsey on trombone, Joe Sullivan on piano, Zutty Singleton on drums, and Fats Waller, also on piano; most of the black musicians were from Luis Russell's retinue, while the white ones had been brought to the studio by producer Irving Mills. The vocals were once thought to have been performed by Una Mae Carlisle, but Banks is the actual vocalist.

Banks worked with Russell as a showman and vocalist, and later worked with Noble Sissle. He later performed in cabarets under Billy Rose, then toured Europe, Australia, and East Asia in the 1950s. One of his last recordings was done in Denmark in 1954 with Cy Laurie. Late in the 1950s, he relocated to Japan, and died there in Tokyo in 1967.

Henry Red Allen t / Pee Wee Russell cl, ts / Joe Sullivan p / Eddie Condon bj / Jack Bland g / Al Morgan sb / Gene Krupa (Bugle), Zutty Singleton (Spider) d / Billy Banks v.

Recorded in New York on April 18 (Bugle) & May 23 (Spider), 1932.

The Washingtonians - Harmony 557 (1928)

If memory serves me right, this was the first 78 I purchased on eBay back in the '90s. I do believe that I created my account after seeing this listing in order to bid.

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

Recorded in New York on January 9, 1928.

Cab Calloway & His Orchestra - Brunswick 80016 (Originally 1930 & 1931)

Here are a couple of sides reissued by Brunswick. Wish I could have come across the whole set but this was the only one that turned up in the stack.

St. Louis Blues - Cab Calloway v, dir / R.Q. Dickerson, Lammar Wright, Reuben Reeves t / De Priest Wheeler (& Harry White?) tb / William Thornton Blue cl, as / Andrew Brown bcl, ts / Walter Thomas as, ts, bar, f / Earres Prince p / Morris White bj / Jimmy Smith bb, sb / Leroy Maxey d.

Recorded in New York on July 24, 1930.

Bugle Call Rag - Cab Calloway v, dir / Edwin Swayzee, Lammar Wright, Reuben Reeves t / De Priest Wheeler, Harry White tb / Arville Harris, William Thornton Blue cl, as / Andrew Brown bcl, ts / Walter Thomas as, ts, bar, f / Benny Payne p / Morris White bj / Jimmy Smith bb, sb / Leroy Maxey d.

Recorded in New York on September 23, 1931.

Frank (And The Metronome All Star Band - Victor 27314 - 1941)

Continuing with my Veterans Day theme...

About 15 years ago, my parents moved into a neighborhood that had its share of snowbirds and retirees. It didn’t take long for them to start joining in the neighborhood parties and meeting everyone.

Dad started talking to an older gentleman, Frank…a WW II veteran and after a while discovered that although a generation apart, they were from the same small rural town in North Carolina.

Before I ended up moving to the same neighborhood myself a few years later, I happened to be visiting my parents when one of these neighborhood get togethers was going on. I met Frank & Shirley that night and even though he was 50 years older…I sat and talked to him the whole evening.

The conversation began with the common North Carolina town and eventually turned to music. Frank had moved to Kansas City early on and was there right smack in the middle of the Swingin’ The Blues era. He recounted the times he saw Basie’s group and also how he knew Jay McShann personally. (I can still remember the day he called to tell me Jay McShann had passed away.)

He then mentioned how he had been looking for a certain recording, Bugle Call Rag & One O’Clock Jump by the Metronome All Star Band. Being a record collector, I had several copies and would later make a recording and give him a copy of the Victor 78.

For years, Frank and his wife Shirley would invite me to the annual Big Band concerts that came to town by The Glenn Miller & Tommy Dorsey Orchestras. My wife and I still go with Shirley because, unfortunately, I lost my friend Frank a couple of years ago. He passed away just short of the opening of the WWII Museum in New Orleans where he had been invited to the dedication.

I am often reminded of Frank almost everywhere I look as he just happened to be a bystander in one of the most famous photographs ever taken.

This one’s for you Frank!

Frank is the 'other' sailor (on the left)