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    • Hot Dance Bands from OKeh 1923-1931

    03/19/2007 | Retrieval Records 

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      HOT DANCE BANDS FROM OKEH 1923-1931 / VARIOUS

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    All Music Guide Review

    In 2007 the Retrieval historic reissue label brought out a chronologically arranged double-CD anthology of obscure hot dance band recordings made between November 1923 and February 1931 and released on 78-rpm platters bearing wine-red labels imprinted with the OKeh logo. Back then it was standard practice for phonograph record companies to maintain racially segregated catalogs. This compilation focuses upon 24 Caucasian OKeh dance bands, most of them quite obscure from the retrospective vantage point of the 21st century. Individuals who are lucky enough to own a copy of this amazing collection will have ready access to the sounds of the Scranton Sirens (from Pennsylvania), the Palledo Orchestra of St. Louis; Harold Leonard & His Red Jackets; trumpeter Frankie Quartell & His Little Club Orchestra; violinist Ace Brigode & His Fourteen Virginians; and bands led by violinist Irwin Abrams and pianists Mike Markel and Fred Rich. Ensembles named after landmark businesses include Vincent Lopez & His Hotel Pennsylvania Orchestra; trombonist Mickey Guy & His Rose Tree Café Orchestra; Gus Arnheim & His Ambassador Hotel Orchestra (with "Whispering Cornetist" Roy Fox and violinist Russ Columbo); Jack Glassner & His Colonial Inn Orchestra; and pianist Arnold Frank & His Roger's Café Orchestra, whose OKeh record was cut on site at the Radisson Hotel in Minneapolis in September 1927. Although the exact identity of the Carolina Club Orchestra is surprisingly difficult to ascertain, it was likely led by Hal Kemp. When he wasn't operating a dance band under his own name, Sam Lanin fronted the Arkansas Travelers (with trombonist Miff Mole, C-melody saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer, pianist Rube Bloom, and vocalist Vernon Dalhart) as well as the Melody Sheiks (with trumpeter Red Nichols, tuba titan Joe Tarto, and legendary early jazz drummer Vic Berton). Other supreme but nearly forgotten delights include music by Milt Shaw & His Detroiters, the Jazz Pilots (one of many novelty groups led by banjoist Harry Reser), a band directed by Cleveland violinist Emerson Gill, and another by pianist Sol S. Wagner with incidental vocals by the Brown Sisters & Green. Ed Kirkeby, later famous for being Fats Waller's manager, steered two of the bands on this collection; the "Ted Wallace" orchestra and the Goofus Five. Both were quite similar to Kirkeby's main group, a prolific recording ensemble known as the California Ramblers. In addition to the handful of authentic early jazz heroes already mentioned, trombonist Jack Teagarden, saxophonists Jimmy Dorsey and Adrian Rollini, and guitarist Dick McDonough show up as members of a dance band led by pianist/accordionist Cornell Smelser. Retrieval's Hot Dance Bands from OKeh 1923-1931 is a unique and fascinating archive of historical treasures that are guaranteed to amuse, amaze, and entertain. ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide

    Track Listing

  • Track#
  • Title
  • Artist
  • time
  • 1
  • More
  • Brigode, Ace & His Ten Virginians
  • 2:38

  • 2
  • Never Again
  • Brigode, Ace & His Fourteen Virginians
  • 2:31

  • 3
  • Unfortunate Blues
  • Leonard, Harold & His Red Jackets
  • 2:48

  • 4
  • Georgia Blues
  • Arkansas Travelers
  • 2:51

  • 5
  • Lost My Baby Blues
  • Arkansas Travelers
  • 2:58

  • 6
  • She Loves Me
  • Arkansas Travelers
  • 2:49

  • 7
  • Any Way the Wind Blows (My Sweetie Goes)
  • Arkansas Travelers
  • 3:04

  • 8
  • Copenhagen
  • Arkansas Travelers
  • 2:54

  • 9
  • Those Panama Mamas (Are Ruining Me)
  • Arkansas Travelers
  • 2:58

  • 10
  • Heartbroken Strain
  • Quartell, Frankie & His Melody Boys
  • 3:14

  • 11
  • Prince of Wails
  • Quartell, Frankie & His Melody Boys
  • 2:58

  • 12
  • Tokio Blues
  • Melody Sheiks
  • 2:54

  • 13
  • Why Should I Believe in You?
  • Scrantion Sirens Orchestra
  • 2:36

  • 14
  • Sob Sister Sadie
  • Melody Sheiks
  • 2:34

  • 15
  • Cheatin' on Me
  • Melody Sheiks
  • 3:04

  • 16
  • Birmingham Bound
  • Gill, Emerson & His Orchestra
  • 2:52

  • 17
  • Collegiate
  • Carolina Club Orchestra
  • 2:49

  • 18
  • Rose of the Nile
  • Carolina Club Orchestra
  • 3:04

  • 19
  • Rose Tree Strut
  • Guy, Mickey & His Rose Tree Cafe Orchestra
  • 2:58

  • 20
  • So That's the Kind of a Girl You Are
  • Guy, Mickey & His Rose Tree Cafe Orchestra
  • 2:42

  • 21
  • Stomp Off, Let's Go
  • Lopez, Vincent & His Hotel Pennsylvania Orchestra
  • 3:04

  • 22
  • What-Cha-Call-'Em Blues
  • Palledo Orchestra Of St. Louis
  • 2:30

  • 23
  • T-N-T
  • Lopez, Vincent & His Casa Lopez Orchestra
  • 2:46

  • 24
  • I Love My Baby (My Baby Loves Me)
  • Glassner, Jack & His Colonial Inn Orchestra
  • 3:10

  • 25 (2)
  • Hot Coffee
  • Glassner, Jack & His Colonial Inn Orchestra
  • 2:49

  • 26 (2)
  • My Bundle of Love
  • Gill, Emerson & His Castle of Paris Orchestra
  • 2:46

  • 27 (2)
  • The Rhythm Rag
  • Gill, Emerson & His Castle of Paris Orchestra
  • 2:38

  • 28 (2)
  • Rhythm of the Day
  • Lopez, Vincent & His Casa Lopez Orchestra
  • 2:50

  • 29 (2)
  • Deep Henderson
  • Markel, Mike Orchestra
  • 3:06

  • 30 (2)
  • Who'd Be Blue?
  • Markel, Mike Orchestra
  • 2:55

  • 31 (2)
  • I Gotta Get Myself Somebody to Love
  • Lanin, Sam & His Orchestra
  • 3:05

  • 32 (2)
  • You Don't Like It, Not Much
  • Wagner, Sol S. & His Orchestra
  • 2:55

  • 33 (2)
  • Vo-Do-Do-De-O Blues
  • Goofus Five
  • 3:13

  • 34 (2)
  • Magnolia
  • Abrams, Irwin & His Orchestra
  • 2:57

  • 35 (2)
  • Black Maria
  • Frank, Arnold & His Roger's Cafe Orchestra
  • 3:04

  • 36 (2)
  • Cornfed
  • Wallace, Ted And His Orchestra
  • 2:57

  • 37 (2)
  • Buffalo Rhythm
  • Wallace, Ted And His Orchestra
  • 2:44

  • 38 (2)
  • Zulu Wail
  • Wallace, Ted And His Orchestra
  • 2:49

  • 39 (2)
  • If I Can't Have You (I Want to Be Lonesome)
  • Arnheim, Gus & His Ambassador Hotel Orchestra
  • 3:09

  • 40 (2)
  • Feelin' Good
  • Arnheim, Gus & His Ambassador Hotel Orchestra
  • 3:08

  • 41 (2)
  • Where the Shy Little Violets Grow
  • Shaw, Milt & His Detroiters
  • 3:14

  • 42 (2)
  • Wedding Bells (Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine)
  • Jazz Pilots
  • 3:21

  • 43 (2)
  • Down Among the Sugar Cane
  • Jazz Pilots
  • 3:22

  • 44 (2)
  • Collegiate Love
  • Cornell & His Orchestra
  • 3:19

  • 45 (2)
  • Accordion Joe
  • Cornell & His Orchestra
  • 3:20

  • 46 (2)
  • The Free and Easy
  • Selvin, Ben Orchestra
  • 3:10

  • 47 (2)
  • Rollin' Down the River
  • Lanin, Sam Famous Players & Singers
  • 3:21

  • 48 (2)
  • The One Man Band
  • Rich, Fred & His Orchestra
  • 3:18

    • Credits

    • Phillip Cole
    • Banjo, Violin, Drums, Clarinet, Sax (Tenor), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Bass), Sax (Alto)
    • Chris Ellis
    • Producer, Author, Compilation, Original Material, Photography


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