Cab Calloway & His Cotton Club Orchestra - Victor 24690 (1934)

Alto saxophonist, Eddie Barefield, recalled that the band recorded the rare instrumental (for Calloway that is) Moon Glow just before setting out on a European tour. After returning stateside, at a dance in Texas, a record was being played before the band took to the stage. Wondering who the group on the record was playing the tune, Moon Glow, they approached and asked the record spinner. He replied "Don't you know your own record?"

Cab Calloway v, dir / Edwin Swayzee, Lammar Wright, Doc Cheatham t / De Priest Wheeler, Harry White tb / Eddie Barefield cl, as, bar / Arville Harris cl, as / Andrew Brown bcl, as, bar / Walter Thomas cl, ts, f / Bennie Payne p, cel / Morris White g / Al Morgan sb / Leroy Maxey d.

Recorded in New York on January 22 & 23, 1934.

Walter Barnes & His Royal Creolians - Brunswick 4187 (1928)

Here we have Walter Barnes & His Royal Creolians first release. Two sides were cut for Vocalion a month before but were unissued.

Unfortunately, Barnes and his band were the subject of one of the most tragic episodes in the history of jazz.

From wikipedia...

Walter Barnes (July 8, 1905 in Vicksburg, Mississippi – April 23, 1940 in Natchez, Mississippi) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist and bandleader.

Barnes grew up in Chicago and studied under Franz Schoepp in addition to attending the Chicago Musical College and the American Conservatory of Music. He led his own bands from the early 1920s in addition to playing with Detroit Shannon and his Royal Creolians. After Shannon's retinue became dissatisfied with his leadership, Barnes took control of this group as well. He played mostly in Chicago, though the band did hold a residency at the Savoy Ballroom in New York City as well. His band recorded in 1928-29 for Brunswick Records. He toured the American South in the 1930s to considerable success, touring there yearly; by 1938 his ensemble included 16 members.

Barnes was one of the victims of the Rhythm Club Fire in Natchez, Mississippi on April 23, 1940. He played in an eight-piece band that night when the club caught fire; he had the group continue playing the song Marie in order to keep the crowd from stampeding out of the building. Nearly all of the band's members (which included Paul Stott and vocalist Juanita Avery) except for drummer Walter Brown and bassist Arthur Edward, were among the 201 victims of the fire. Barnes's death was repeatedly immortalized in song thereafter.

Was just informed about a documentary on this very subject.

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 14, 1928.

Ten Black Berries - Banner 0839 (1927 & 1929)

Sam Lanin ldr / Bill Moore, Unknown t / Tommy Dorsey tb / Jimmy Dorsey cl, as / Unknown cl, ss, ts / Irving Brodsky p / Unknown bj / Joe Tarto bb / Vic Berton d.

Recorded in New York on February 22, 1927.

An Irving Mills' outfit: Jimmy McPartland c / ? Tommy Thunen t / Jack Teagarden tb / Jimmy Dorsey cl, as / Gil Rodin as / Larry Binyon ts / Vic Bredis p / Dick Morgan bj, g / Harry Goodman bb, sb / Ray Bauduc d.

Recorded in New York on April 4, 1929.

Jones & Collins Astoria Hot Eight - Biltmore 1001 (Originally Victor 38576) (1929)

Still waiting for their original New Orleans recordings on Victor and Bluebird to fall into my lap...so until then, this Biltmore bootleg will suffice nicely.

From wikipedia...

The Jones & Collins Astoria Hot Eight were led by cornetist Lee Collins and tenor saxophonist David Jones. They took their name from the Astoria Gardens, the dance hall room of the Astoria Hotel on Rampart Street in New Orleans where they were the house band in 1928 and 1929. The group included a number of noted New Orleans jazz musicians in its relatively short life.

The ensemble recorded only once, doing a session at the Italian Hall in New Orleans on December 15, 1929. A total of four sides were released from these sessions: Astoria Strut b/w Duet Stomp, issued on Victor Records, and Damp Weather b/w Tip Easy Blues, issued on Bluebird Records. Alternative takes of Damp Weather and Tip Easy Blues survived to appear on reissues decades later.

Lee Collins c / Sidney Arodin cl / Theodore Purnell as / David Jones ts / Joe Robechaux p / Emmanuel Sayles bj / Al Morgan sb, v / Joe Strode-Raphael d.

Recorded in New Orleans on November (or December...sources differ) 15, 1929.

Jelly Roll Morton - Victor 21064 (1927)

Excerpted from wikipedia...

Morton returned to Chicago in 1923 to claim authorship of his recently published rag, "The Wolverines", which had become a hit as "Wolverine Blues" in the Windy City. He released the first of his commercial recordings, first as piano rolls, then on record, both as a piano soloist and with various jazz bands.

In 1926, Morton succeeded in getting a contract to record for the largest and most prestigious company in the United States, Victor. This gave him a chance to bring a well-rehearsed band to play his arrangements in Victor's Chicago recording studios. These recordings by Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers are regarded as classics of 1920s jazz. The Red Hot Peppers featured such other New Orleans jazz luminaries as Kid Ory, Omer Simeon, George Mitchell, Johnny St. Cyr, Barney Bigard, Johnny Dodds, Baby Dodds, and Andrew Hilaire. Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers were one of the first acts booked on tours by MCA.

Jelly Roll Morton p / Johnny Dodds cl / Baby Dodds d.

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

Arcadia Peacock Orchestra Of St. Louis - Okeh 40044 (1924)

Here's trumpeter, Bob Pope, before joining the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks and also leading his own North Carolina based band more than a decade later.

Jack Ford vn, dir / Bob Pope t / Tommy Moore tb / Bud Hassler, Bill Schmidt cl, as / Jules Schneider cl, ts / Al Carsella pac / Eddie Ward p / Porter Brown bj / Chick Harvey bb / Marty Gardner d.

Recorded in St. Louis in January, 1924.

Rev. J.M. Gates - Herwin 92035 (1926)

From wikipedia...

The Reverend J.M. Gates (July 14, 1884 – August 18, 1945) was an American Christian preacher and Gospel music singer.

From 1914 to his death, Gates was the pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Rock Dale Park, Atlanta, Georgia. He had a very prolific recording career, recording over 200 sides between 1926 and 1941, including frequent rerecordings. Experts estimate that at least a quarter of all sermons commercially released on record before 1943 were recorded by Gates.

His first best-seller, 1926's "Death's Black Train Is Coming", sold 35,000 copies by the end of its release year. Many of his recordings were strong warnings of the hellish punishments that awaited sinners.

Gates is credited with introducing the gospel music of former blues artist Thomas A. Dorsey into the black gospel market via his crusades. His funeral drew the largest crowd of any memorial service in the city before Martin Luther King, Jr. In addition to a Columbia Records collection and a "complete works" set from Document Records, Gates' work has been frequently featured in gospel and roots music anthologies, including Harry Smith's influential Anthology of American Folk Music.

Herwin Records was an American independent record label founded and run by brothers Herbert and Edwin Schiele, the trademark name being formed from their first names (HERbert and EdWIN).

Herwin Records was based in St. Louis, Missouri, and produced records starting in 1924. Most of the material released on the label was from master discs leased from Gennett Records and Paramount Records. In 1930 Herwin was sold to the Wisconsin Chair Company, the parent of Paramount Records, which discontinued the Herwin label.

Recorded in New York in August, 1926.

King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band - Brunswick 02200 (Originally Gennett 5132 & 5133) (1923)

Fresh off the riverboat up from New Orleans, here we have young Louis Armstrong from his very first recording session (plus a tune from the following day).

These are obviously reissues and was curious about the distortion at the beginning of Dipper Mouth Blues. No visual anomaly that would lend to the sound can be seen on the playing surface (The record is virtually blemish free and shiny). Could it have been from whatever master source that was used by Brunswick?

King Oliver, Louis Armstrong c / Honore Dutrey tb / Johnny Dodds cl / Lil Hardin p / Bill Johnson bj, v / Baby Dodds d.

Recorded in Richmond, IN on April 5 (Canal Street Blues) & 6 (Dipper Mouth Blues, aka Sugar Foot Stomp), 1923.

Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven - Okeh 8482 (1927)

I do believe this was the first recording (Willie The Weeper), not by the Hot Five, but by the Hot Seven.

Louis Armstrong c, v / John Thomas tb / Johnny Dodds cl / Lil Armstrong p / Johnny St. Cyr bj, g / Pete Briggs bb / Baby Dodds d.

Recorded in Chicago on May 7 & 10 (Alligator), 1927.

New Orleans Rhythm Kings (With Jelly Roll Morton) - Gennett 5221 (1923)

Here we have an early (the first?) pairing of black and white jazz musicians on record. According to sources, no one is certain if these Gennett sessions were planned or impromptu.

Either way, doesn't matter...just lucky it happened.

Paul Mares c / George Brunies tb / Leon Roppolo cl / Jack Pettis Cm / Glenn Scoville as, ts / Don Murray cl, ts / Jelly Roll Morton (London), Kyle Pierce (Mad) p / Bob Gillette bj / Chink Martin bb / Ben Pollack d.

Recorded in Richmond, IN on July 18, 1923.