1167600 
780.97 E77 19^ (2) 

reference 
collection I 
book 



city 

ic library 
ansas city, 
missouri 




.. puBaysfi 




"QOOOl 



ESQUIRE'S JAZZ 





azz book 



Edited by 

PAUL EDUARD MILLER 

Introduction by 

ARNOLD GINGRICH 




NEW YORK 
SMITH & DURRELL, INC 



*943, 1944 BY ESQUIRE, INC. 



All Rights Reserved 



This volume has been manufactured in 

accordance 'with the regulations of the 

War Production Board 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES O* AMERICA 
BY J. J. LITTLE & IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK 



Reference 



Introduction 

THERE are exciting things happening on the jazz front. Not the 
least exciting of them, we hope, is the issuance of this book. But 
the publication of this book is only one of a series of recent and 
present events calculated to give a lot of satisfaction to all those 
who are interested in ^ the development and recognition of the 
importance of this main stream of American music. The Jazz 
Concert at the Metropolitan, which promises to become an annual 
occurrence, is one of them. The vastly expanded results of 
Esquire's selection of an annual All-American Band is another. 
The snowball that Robert Goffin first packed between his two 
big hands a year ago has since rolled up to amazing proportions. 
The fact that this year's All- American represents the consensus 
of sixteen experts is another exciting phenomenon. A year ago 
nobody would have believed that you could ever get even six 
experts in this field to arrive at a clear-cut consensus, let alone 
sixteen. And the fact that this year's band so substantially resem 
bles the one first named by Robert Goffin a year ago proves that 
jazz criticism is a lot closer to the status of an exact science than 
anyone would ever have guessed by following the running fights 
that have been going on between the experts in the jazz magazines 
for practically as long as there have been experts and practically 
as regularly as those magazines have appeared. 

Coffin's own book, Jazz from the Congo to the Met, so long 
in preparation and now at last in print, would in itself be enough 
to make '44 a banner year in jazz annals. With its arrival there 
is at least and at last one more volume to relieve the loneliness 
of Jazzmen on that five-foot shelf reserved for the classics of 
jazz lore. 

On the discography side, the year '43 saw the laying of at 
least the foundations for an ultimate semblance of order in what 
is still a chaotically confused field. This was accomplished by 
the Commodore Music Shop's reissue of the i94o-amended 

v 

llG*'l>tM) APR 12 1945 



^:.. n .^:jr n :* * *"-" : -^; : ;"I: Introduction 

A*i;v; V; r: : J ^ ~ _; ;*; ? 4 _ : *; 

iona'edmoii; of'Wt collectors' Old Testament, Delaunay's 
*tioi~Discd^$y* : &^j' Paul Eduard Miller's publication of 
the second'e&tion of Miller's Yearbook of Popular Music With 
these two Vtt&s in hand, a lot of guesswork is eliminated m the 
identification and appraisal of old jazz records, but a lot is also 
still left. 

Maybe it will take a couple of Guggenheim Fellowships for 
somebody or other to produce the perfect discography that will 
give, in one volume, all that there needs to be known about every 
record of hot significance that has been issued since 1917 who 
wrote the tune or the arrangement, if any, and who played the 
date and when, and how many masters were made and how the 
label reads, and what reissues have since been made from which 
masters and approximately how widely the record was sold and 
what is its relative market value and musical worth. That such 
a not-impossible but hardly-immediately-probable book would 
run to the approximate bulk of the New York or Chicago tele 
phone directory is apparent. But the job will some day, somehow, 
have to be done, with all this fugitive information coralled into 
one piece in one place, and the longer it's delayed the harder it 
will be to do. 

Meanwhile, important contributions to the fund of knowledge 
needed for the compilation of such a dream-volume are every day 
cropping up, to appear only in such occasional and relatively- 
impermanent form as column notes in the various jazz magazines. 
The scholarly findings in this direction, that appeared in Eugene 
Williams' excellent and now unfortunately defunct Jazz Informa 
tion, have already begun to assume the status of collectors' items 
themselves! 

Aside from the suspension of Jazz Information., which it is 
to be hoped is only temporary, the progress in the field of the 
specialized jazz magazine during 1943 has been most heartening. 
Art Hodes has done well with The Jazz Record, considering its 
restrictions of size and coverage, while the continued issuance, 
and constant improvement, of Bob Thiele's Jazz Magazine and 
Gordon Gullickson's Record Changer have added inestimably to 
the interest and activity in the "paths of righteousness." Down 
Beat and Metronome have continued to fan the flame of jazz 



Introduction vii 

consciousness, and Variety and Billboard have gone on in stride. 
The Billboard Yearbook, issued this past autumn, while obviously 
too commercially comprehensive, from the viewpoint of the real 
jazz addict, is nevertheless a useful reference volume. 

To us at EsquirCy celebrating with the publication of this 
present book the tenth anniversary of the magazine's first ex 
pressed interest in jazz, the thing that has most impressed us is 
the friendly spirit of disinterested co-operation manifested toward 
every new venture in the field, on the part of those who are 
already active in it. It is thanks to this self -abnegating attitude, 
of desire to extend the boundaries of jazz appreciation, that you 
see in this book photographs from the files of Do f wn Beat and 
Metronome and Jazz Magazine, graciously opened to us, as were 
the individual collections of such stalwarts of the hot field as 
Messrs. Robert Coffin, Robert Thiele, and George Hoefer. 

In this, Esquire's first Jazz Book, we have had three avowed 
objectives. First, and probably foremost, to make available to 
the only casual listener a short course in jazz appreciation, to 
enable him to orient his taste enough to determine whether or 
not it lies in the direction of true jazz and, if it does, give him a 
guide toward further cultivation of it; second, to preserve in 
permanent form those various writings on jazz which, upon their 
appearance in Esquire over the course of the past ten years, have 
seemed to exert the most influence upon the spread of a general 
realization and recognition of the significance and importance 
of the true hot jazz as opposed to its various and sundry illegiti 
mate offshoots; and third, to provide enough jazz information 
that is not otherwise available in any single volume to make this 
book as valuable to the most seasoned collector as it is attractive 
to the relatively uninformed beginner. 

For one example, the family tree of jazz influences, which 
appears as a double spread in this book, would in and of itself 
be enough to lift the entire volume to the reference book level. 
Such a "genealogy" has been crying to be drawn up for years, 
but it has awaited this occasion to come into existence. For an 
other, the Bio-Discography section represents, at least as concerns 
the currently active jazz musicians, an enormous improvement 
over any previously available information. For here you have, "in 



Vlll 



Introduction 

one piece and one place," all the numbers and labels listed, more 
completely and compactly than you find them in the Hot Dis 
cography, along with reissue information and current market 
evaluations. 

A word about those evaluations. Paul Eduard Miller was 
unmercifully ribbed, one short year ago, for a lot of the ''exag 
gerated" values he gave to certain of the older records in his 
Yearbook. But in recent months, as the bid and ask quotations in 
the Record Changer have shown how scarce certain items actually 
are, Miller's "exaggerations" have lately come to seem understate 
ments. The very first record listed in Chapter VIII of this book, 
the Bang Oliver Southern Stomps which leads off the Armstrong 
discography, was sold in November, '43, for sixty-five dollars 
to a West Coast collector who, as it happens, is a Scotchman 
and about as canny as they come. But you will notice that Miller, 
a man who knows his own mind, still stoutly sticks to his figure 
of fifty. The same is true of his evaluation of another item in the 
Armstrong discography, the almost legendarily scarce Johnny 
Dodds Weary Blues, which Miller evaluated at forty-five in his 
newest edition of his Yearbook. That brought some catcalls, too, 
and bids of six, eight and ten dollars were confidently offered on 
that one as recently as last June. But when those bids brought in 
no copies, they began climbing, and by November that one was 
also being bid for at sixty-five dollars. So, in listing it for this 
book, Miller has more or less grudgingly raised the ante to fifty. 
That, you see is his top figure, and he doesn't particularly care 
whether you put a dollar sign beside it or not. He simply evalu 
ates by ratings from one to fifty, to indicate relative scarcity and 
desirability, and it doesn't matter whether you interpret those 
figures as standing for dollars, ergs, BTU's or buttons. 

There are no bargains in the best jazz, of course, as far as the 
original records are concerned, except for such relative bargains as 
finding things you like either before they have become, or after 
they have ceased to be, fashionable as collectors' items. Cheap 
items, in this sense, there will probably always be. Underpriced, 
for their musical value, while the collectors scramble for Jelly 
Roll Morton and Johnny Dodds, are such worthwhile but still 
relatively unprized items as the McKinney Cotton Pickers, Bennie 



Introduction ix 

Moten's Kansas City Orchestra, Clarence Williams' Washboard 
Fives (without Armstrong, as opposed to those fabulously cher 
ished Blue Fives with), Johnny Dunn on early Columbia, and 
the early Original Dixielands on Victor. (In fact, it is almost a 
sign that you know your stuff if you low-rate the Bennie Motens, 
which is a break for those with sense enough to grab off such 
delectenda as Loose Like a Goose and Elephant's Wabble.) As 
opposed to such relative bargains, absolute bargains have become 
rare. Of course, the true collector is no more daunted by being 
told that all the cream has been skimmed off the secondhand 
record piles than the true angler is deterred by being told that the 
waters have been fished out. And if you value your time at no 
more than coolie rates, you can still find, even now, an occasional 
Armstrong accompaniment or precious early Henderson among 
the mountains of Wilbur Sweatmans, Earle Fullers and Joseph C. 
Smiths. There are few greater thrills. 

But the only bargains worth counting on are the reissues. Yet 
even those you have to buy as they come out, these days. Be 
cause of the great record famine of the last year, even the reissues 
become collectors' items overnight. Decca's Brunswick Albums 
and Victor's Ellington Panorama were the only big breaks of 
the year for the hot jazz-hungry, but things are looking up in 
this respect for '44. Columbia's Hot Jazz Classics were sorely 
missed in '43. 

The most important thing to do about hot jazz is not to 
write about it, not to argue about it, not (even) to dance to it 
but, of all things, to listen to it. 

ARNOLD GINGRICH 
Chicago: December, 1943 



CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

Arnold Gingrich v 

I. HOT JAZZ: PROPHET WITHOUT HONOR 

Paul Eduard Miller i- 

II. How TO LISTEN TO HOT JAZZ 

Paul Eduard Miller 14 

III. ESQUIRE ON JAZZ 1934-1944 

Charles Edward Smith 

E. Simms Campbell 

B, S. Rogers 

James W. Poling 

Robert Goffin 24 

IV. COLLECTORS: Personalities md Anecdotes 

George Hoefer 69 

^ V. JAZZ GREATS: Musicians and Bands 

Paul Eduard Miller 79 

VI. HISTORICAL CHART OF JAZZ INFLUENCES 

Paul Eduard Miller 100 

VII. ESQUIRE'S ALL-AMERICAN BAND 

Esquire's Board of Experts 108 

VIII. MUSICIANS' BIO-DISCOGRAPHIES 131 



ESQUIRE'S JAZZ BOOK 



Ckapter I 

Hot Jazz: Prophet without Honor 

For twenty -odd years, controversy about jazz music has 
raged far-flung and endless. Time and again its critics have asked, 
"What is jazz?", "Is jazz music?", "Is jazz art?" And, "Would 
Mozart write fox trots if he were alive today?" The average man, 
when he thinks of it at all, thinks of jazz in terms of a popular 
song, like People Will Say We're in Love. Classical concert- 
goers believe that jazz began and ended with George Gershwin. 
Swing music, which recently rocked the world, sprang -from 
sincere hot jazz but was attended with so much commercial 
potpourri that it became self-conscious from the glamor. While 
the better swing bands still carry on nobly, many admirers of 
the hot school are turning to individual performers and small 
combinations or listening to phonograph .records to hear 
"righteous" jazz. Although the "hot" musician is too absorbed 
in his playing to stop and ask himsel-f, "Is this art?" the following 
chapter sketches the battle of real jazz which is his battle, too 
for a justifiable place of recognition in a hostile world. 

by PAUL EDUARD MILLER 

^WHEN in the year 1900 the agitated trumpet of Buddy Bolden 
sounded through the Mississippi delta, the jazz of America hot 
jazz was taking form. Lowly of origin, a strange new music was 
ringing out from Perdido and Basin streets, the riverboats carry 
ing the melody into the northward night. 

Up it came, slowly at first, from Buddy Bolden and New 
Orleans, up the long course of the Mississippi to Chicago and 
California and New York, until finally from this main artery 
the lifeblood of the country itself was pulsating in the steady 
inescapable rhythm of jazz. 



2 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Along the road between Madam White's Mahogany Hall and 
the Metropolitan Opera House lies the struggle of this music for 
even the smallest recognition. The Original Creoles, The Olympia 
Band, Scott Joplin, and Jelly Roll Morton fought out the battle 
of success with contemporaneous obscurity. Prior to 1917 when 
the world was occupied with other things, ragtime was consid 
ered, for the most part, an innocuous accompaniment to war, 
vice and morale. But jazz history was going on just the same. By 
1915 Creamer and Layton had composed Dear Old Southland, 
Shelton Brooks had written Some of These Days and W. C. 
Handy had set down Negro folk tunes. 

But in the main, America was indifferent to jazz. In Europe, 
conversely, Will Marion Cook's orchestra was playing an en 
gagement at no less a place than London's Philharmonic Hall, 
with Sidney Bechet as clarinet soloist. As early as 1919, the 
French classical conductor, Ernest Ansermet, who was a frequent 
listener, said: "The first thing which strikes one about the South 
ern Syncopated Orchestra is the astonishing perfection, the superb 
taste and the fervor of its playing." * 

And of the performances of Bechet, that dean of soprano 
saxophonists, M. Ansermet wrote: "They gave the idea of a 
style, with a brusque and pitiless ending like that of Bach's second 
Brandenburg Concerto . . . what a moving thing it is to meet 
this very black, fat boy with white teeth and that narrow fore 
head, who is glad one likes what he does, but who can say nothing 
of his art, save that he follows his 'own way,' and when one 
thinks that this 'own way' is perhaps the highway the whole 
world will swing along tomorrow." 2 

A few years afterward, Igor Stravinsky, admittedly under the 
jazz influence, composed his Ragtime suite, explaining later: "Its 

1 On a Negro Orchestra, by Ernest Ansermet, Revue Romande, Oct. 15, 1919, tr. 
by Walter E. Schaap in Jazz Hot, 1938. 

2 Ibid. 



Hot Jazz: Prophet without Honor 3 

dimensions are modest, but it is indicative of the passion I felt at 
that time for jazz, which burst into life so suddenly when the war 
ended. At my request, a whole pile of this music was sent to me, 
enchanting me by its truly popular appeal, its freshness, and the 
novel rhythm which so distinctly revealed its Negro origin." 3 

Gilbert Seldes, although making no attempt to distinguish the 
true jazz, did foresee something of the social implications in the 
music when he wrote in Seven Lively Arts: "We require, for , 
nourishment, something fresh and transient. It is this which makes 
jazz much the characteristic of our time." 4 

Once it developed that jazz might be assuming a position of 
influence on the social as well as musical world, the opposition 
began to muster its forces. The relaxation of morals and general 
licentiousness of the twenties had to be pigeonholed in the least 
embarrassing manner; consequently crime, a growing indifference 
to religion, and freedom of sex all were ascribed to an increasing 
prevalence of syncopated music, although, oddly enough, these 
same elements were also deemed curable by Prohibition. The 
literature of the day erupted with essays on the general depravity 
of the Jazz Age, even otherwise enlightened men like the late 
Dr. Frederick Stock being moved to announce indignantly that 
"the appeal of jazz" was directed to what he chose to call "the 
lowest part of our anatomy." In 192 1 Clive Bell went even farther 
and "blamed it for breaking down discipline and exalting the 
untrammeled free spirit." 5 

Two influences now attempted to pull jazz in opposite direc 
tions. The classical recognition of its potentialities extended not 
only to Stravinsky, but also to Ravel and Hindemith in Europe, 
and to Carpenter, Sowerby and Lane in America. Europeans par- 



8 An Autobiography, by Igor Stravinsky, Simon & Schuster, 1936. 

4 Seven Lively Arts, by Gilbert Seldes, Harper, 1924. 

5 From No More Swing? by Gilbert Seldes, Scribner*s, November, 1936. 



4 Esquire's Jazz Book 

ticularly continued to be impressed with the new tonalities com 
ing out of jazz more than they were with the rhythmic structure. 

But the old-line dignitaries of the classics must have detected 
in jazz the voice of a musical Frankenstein, about whom the less 
said, the better. By 1925, the general pattern of tonality having 
been absorbed, classical music went on cultivating its own dis 
sonances along more familiar paths of qualification. 

Another direction was taken by inspired alumni from Tin 
Pan Alley. These sought to elevate the music to concert hall 
levels, for a more popular consumption, through the program 
ming of taxi-horns, tugboat whistles and the nostalgia of Ameri 
cans in Paris. "Gershwin's Second Rhapsody" wrote one critic, 
"originally called Rhapsody in Rivets, led me to reflect on the 
fallacious notion that since American life included jazz and rivet 
ing, the music which 'expresses' this life also had to include 
them." 6 

This development of jazz with a commercial emphasis on folk 
art value was being perpetrated by inspired white composers 
who, growing weary of the ballads on Broadway, naturally must 
have looked with longing upon the fresh ideas of Negroid jazz. 
In spite of the fact that the symphonic treatment was received 
with as much controversialness as the legitimacy of jazz itself, in 
1924 these same symphonic stylists carried the word jazz to a 
comparative respectability. With one Gershwinian gesture it leapt 
from the musical comedy stage to the concert hall; and Ferdie 
Grofe, Jerome Kern, and Rube Bloom all rushed subsequently 
with Gershwin to symphonic jazz. Paul Whiteman, ever on the 
scent of commercial progress, conducted the premier performance 
of Rhapsody in Blue, earning for himself the somewhat ambiguous 
tide of King of Jazz. By 1925 the symphonic movement had 
proceeded westward, afflicted with a touch of mild surrealism, 

C B. H. Haggin, The Nation, July 3, 1943. 



Hot Jazz: Prophet without Honor 5 

and another concert by Whiteman in Chicago featured Sowerby's 
Monotony, a Symphony for Jazz Orchestra and Metronome! 

Meanwhile, real jazz remained close to its origin, the people. 
The exodus from New Orleans crystallized in Chicago between 
the years 1918 and 1928. King Oliver's band made the Royal 
Gardens, Dreamland Cafe, and the Plantation Club jazz-history 
equivalents of Elizabethan London's Mermaid Tavern, spawned 
Louis Armstrong, and cut records now numbered among jazz's 
greatest classics. In 192 1 a white group, the New Orleans Rhythm 
King's assured the future status of a shrine to the Friar's Inn 
simply by playing there for eighteen months. Sidney Bechet, 
Jimmie Noone and others were in Chicago with small combina 
tions; Erskine Tate's mighty band rocked the small Vendome 
Theatre nightly. Scores of other groups were making Chicago's 
south side reverberate. 

Stimulated by association and enthusiastic audiences, and for 
a time unharried by the money difficulties so familiar to all musi 
cians, the hundreds of jazzmen in Chicago drove hard in the 
direction of technical excellence and hence greater complexity 
for the medium, increased the variety, subtlety, and range of 
expression. Armstrong, inspired, parted company from Oliver 
to cut his own Hot Five and Seven records now lauded by many 
critics as the apex of 'jazz expression. 

Fired by the music, the memorable Austin High School class 
matesDave Tough, Jimmy McPartland, Frank Teschemacher, 
Bud Freeman, and Jim Lannigan were organizing themselves into 
the Blue Friars. By 1927 this group included the since famous 
names of Benny Goodman, Floyd O'Brien, Muggsy Spanier, Jess 
Stacy and Joe Sullivan. 

By the end of the year 1929 the basic structure of hot jazz 
had been laid down and was well on its way toward the polishing 
and refining stages. One white influence was being fostered by 



6 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Red Nichols, Miff Mole, Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke 
through a more or less restrained chamber music in the hot vein. 
Meantime, Freeman, Teschemacher, and McPartland wrought 
the spirit and rounded out the technique of what is often referred 
to as the "Chicago style," adhered to today by men such as Bud 
Freeman and Pee Wee Russell. 

The small "jam" combinations of King Oliver and the New 
Orleans Rhythm Kings were setting pace for the many jam units 
which came later. Duke Ellington's installation at New York's 
Club Kentucky (1923) marked the beginning (for him) of a 
distinctly characteristic kind of hot jazz-a style which he and his 
orchestra steadily pursued during the next seventeen years. Mc- 
Kinney's Cotton Pickers, with impetus from Don Redman and 
John Nesbit, developed the full band ensemble playing (inter 
spersed with solos) which is used by the larger bands of today. 
And finally, during this period, Fletcher Henderson, Erskine 
Tate, and Charles (Doc) Cook-among the ablest leaders in all 
hot jazz-brought their bands to an epitome of expressiveness. 

Meanwhile, the opposition kept sniping. Although Bookman 
magazine began a regular department of hot jazz record reviews 
by Abbe Mies, he could still note that "one of the unwritten 
mottos of sensational pulpiteers runs 'when hi doubt, denounce 

jazz.' " 

The following year the Depression caught Chicago on the 
downgrade, and what has been called the Golden Age of Jazz 
came to an end. That city, after 1930, was only a gutted shell of 
its former self. Sweet music, always the big money maker in 
the popular field, took over completely: Jan Garber was groom 
ing himself for the role of "idol of the airlanes," Wayne King, 
Guy Lombardo waltzed their way to fortunes. Depression-ridden, 
confused, dispirited, the overwhelming majority of American 
people who could pay for music preferred sentimental other- 
worldliness to any expression of the real life they sought to forget. 



Hot Jazz: Prophet without Honor 7 

No better indication of jazz's authenticity can be found, nor a 
better answer be given to those who have claimed that jazz itself is 
escape-music, than its neglect during the escapist years of the 
early Depression. Frank Teschemacher could say almost cate 
gorically, "You can't play hot and make a living at it." Ben 
Pollack, as head of a combination of some of the greatest white 
names in jazz, judiciously saw fit to take up crooning. Between 
1928 and 1932 Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Trumbauer, Joe Venuti, 
Eddie Lang, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Red Norvo, Mildred 
Bailey and others kept the wolf from the door by joining Paul 
Whiteman. Although Duke Ellington made money and McKin- 
ney's Cotton Pickers got by, most musicians had to scrape for 
sustenance. Many of the best soloists were scattered; some desti 
tute. Still others were to be drawn into radio and theatre pit 
orchestras, their chief talents obscured and unrealized. Jazz was 
localizing. Ellington and Henderson finally settled in New York; 
Benny Moten and Andy Kirk were in Kansas City; McKinney 
hibernated for a long while at Detroit's Graystone Ballroom. 
By 1932 Joe Marsala had done a stint as truck driver; Jack Tea- 
garden, Miff Mole, Red Nichols, and a host of others succumbed 
to the lure of radio money; Rappolo was in the madhouse, Beider 
becke, Teschemacher and Lang were dead. 

However, the essence of jazz survived in the men who had 
played it. In a period when the majority of the intelligentsia 
opposition was triumphantly proclaiming its death completely 
overlooking the Depression as a factor true jazz went under 
ground and stayed alive. It was kept so by musicians and almost 
no one else. 'This was the period George Frazier remembered 
through the pages of Music and Rhythm as the days when "jazz 
hot jazz was almost exclusively the concern of the boys in the 
back room. Louis and Bix and Tram were virtually unheard of 
except by musicians ... If you were a Bix devotee in those 
days you felt a little as if you were a member of a secret society." 



8 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Musicians around New York kept their interest in hot music 
alive by jamming for the love of it, recording with pick-up bands, 
and jobbing on one-nighters whenever they could find work. 
Many of them ruined their health, but they kept jazz breathing 
simply because its breath was in them, and even if they had to 
play it for nothing they couldn't stop playing it entirely. 

At the same time, strangely enough, jazz was making further 
inroads, this time along more legitimate lines, in the intellectual 
ranks. In 1930 a feature article by Charles Edward Smith appeared 
in Symposium. Two years later Robert Goffin, a Belgian lawyer, 
brought out his Awe Frontiers du Jazz in Brussels, and in 1934 
Roger Pryor Dodge contributed Harpsichords and Jazz Trumpets 
to the once famous Hound and Horn. The same year Hugues 
Panassie wrote his French edition of Hot Jazz. Hot clubs began 
to spring up in Europe and America, and by 1934 also, the col 
lecting of characteristic music was recognized by a general maga 
zine with publication in Esquire of Charles Edward Smith's 
Collecting Hot. 

Larger bands now began to make a significant appearance. 
Although Erskine Tate's Vendome Orchestra, Fletcher Hender 
son's Orchestra and McKinney's Cotton Pickers had all been 
large organizations whose recordings sometimes reveal a pre 
cocious similarity to the swing ushered in by Benny Goodman 
in the 'so's, other jazz up to this time was principally identified 
with small combinations. Mainly a New York influence, the large 
band idea now began to look attractive to hot musicians. 

In 1934 Goodman persuaded some of the men to follow 
him out of the back rooms, theatres and radio studios into a large 
band venture that would engage in the playing of real jazz. After 
months of trials, he obtained work at Billy Rose's Music Hall in 
New York and proceeded to make some headway. In 1935 he 
moved into the sedate Joseph Urban Room of Chicago's Congress 
Hotel and miraculously became the first band to bring the place 



Hot Jazz: Prophet without Honor 9 

popular success as a nightspot. At the end of six weeks his con 
tract converged into a seven-month engagement, and his meteoric 
rise to national fame commenced. In 1934 the Dorsey brothers 
struck out for themselves and organized a swing band which, 
amoeba-like, split into two bands a year later, Jimmy and Tommy 
going their separate ways to prominence. In 1935 the Ben Pollack 
group became the renowned Bob Crosby orchestra. 

To the fact that more than jitterbugging was involved in 
jazz's revival as swing, two new developments attest. In the first 
place, people began to listen instead of dance. Writing of the 
performances of the Goodman orchestra, Otis Ferguson said: 
'The guests are presently banked in a half -moon around the 
band, unable to be still through it or move away either . . ." 7 

And with a growing popular emphasis on individual ability, 
soloists began to become names in their own right, some of 
them earning such recognition that they could form bands of their 
own and that recording companies found it good business to list 
personnels on records. 

But swing really started achieving fabulous lucrative propor 
tions when in the spring of 1937 Goodman played the Paramount 
theatre in New York. Extra police had to be called in to handle 
the audience which ran and danced in the aisles and scrambled 
over each other to get closer to the band. Ballrooms, theatres, and 
hotels, eager to return to a paying basis, soon clamored for swing 
bands. Gate receipts mounted enormously. At the Astor Hotel in 
New York, Tommy Dorsey broke all records for attendance, 
attracting 4,000 people in two nights. The Saturday and Sunday 
performances of Goodman at the Paramount theatre drew 29,000 
persons, shattering all existing records for that theatre. 

In January, 1938, Goodman was presented at Carnegie Hall 
by Sol Hurok, whose more immediate connections were with 

7 The Spirit of Jazz, by Otis Ferguson, The New Republic, Dec. 30, 1936. 



io Esquire's Jazz Book 

the Ballet Russe. During the jam session which was part of the 
program, the audience, 3,000 strong, stomped its feet to the 
rhythm, jumped up and down, and generally indicated that 
Carnegie Hall had no appreciable sobering influence. Said Time 
magazine, "In the best and truest sense, the joint actually was 

rocking. " 

The same year, in August, Goodman concertized at Ravinia 
Park, classical music's own sylvan glade on Chicago's North 
Shore. Regular subscribers, as usual, held down the seats in the 
small open air pavilion, but the more ardent followers of Benny 
and swing swarmed in multitudinous droves all over the park 
at fifty cents a head, to listen if not to see. Next day the Daily 
Times front-paged the headline, "Swing Ravinia Out of the 
Red," and further embarrassed the longhairs by explaining that 
"the gate receipts paid off the deficit left over from more sedate 
types of music." 

Recognition in the national music magazine field was inevi 
table. In the United States, Down Beat led the way beginning in 
the mid thirties, with Metronome and Tempo also taking up 
the cudgel for jazz. In Europe, the London Melody Maker, 
which had been featuring excellent reviews since 1926, was met 
with new competition in 1938 by Hot News, Swing Music, and 
Rhythm, also in London; Hot Jazz in Paris; Tempo and the 
Australian Melody Maker in Sydney. Articles began to appear 
with more frequency in the U. S. quality magazines. In 1939 
several periodicals made a bid for the fan market, while purists 
were given the esoteric Jazz Information and HRS (Hot Record 
Society) Society Rag to rally round. 

In addition, a jazz literature was developing. In 1936 Louis 
Armstrong put down his own story in Swing That Music, and 
Jazz: Hot and Hybrid, by Winthrop Sargeant appeared two years 
later. Benny Goodman's autobiography, Kingdom of Swing, was 



* Hot Jazz: Prophet without Honor 1 1 

published in 1939 as was Jazzmen, by Charles Edward Smith and 
Frederic Ramsey Jr. and the list is steadily accumulating. At 
with a Horn, and Henry Steig, Send Me Down. There were 
least two novels appeared; Dorothy Baker wrote Young Man 
other books dealing with factual information and the more tech 
nical aspects, including Charles Delaunay's Hot Discography, and 
Milton Schleman's Rhythm on Record. 

With such a self-made reputation, it was only natural that 
swing music should have been awarded a movie contract. White 
and Negro jazz descended upon Hollywood, and in a matter of 
months theatre marquees were ablaze with the names of as many 
musicians as movie stars. Swing became a by-word, presently 
attracting the same amount of editorial comment and condemna 
tion that had been occasioned by the jazz of the twenties. Swing, 
however, with millions of radio, cinema, and juke box dollars 
behind it, was not as vulnerable to such attack. It was impossible 
not to acknowledge the blast that blew Ravinia out of the red; 
the opposition began to show signs of weakening. 

At the same time, small combination jazz, still regarded by 
many as the only true jazz, was carefully fostered by its powerful 
big brother, the name band. Goodman organized his "band within 
a band" (the trio, quartet, and sextet). Artie Shaw followed with 
the Gramercy Five, Woody Herman with his Wood Choppers, 
Bob Crosby with the Bobcats, and the Ellington instrumentalists 
took turns in fronting recording combinations under their own 
names.. Together they brought the small group back into the lime 
light, polishing and refining its techniques to a degree that allowed 
Otis Ferguson to remark that when Goodman's trio plays, "the 
people stand up from their tables just to hear it better." 8 With 
a decade's experience behind them, the men in these and other 
groups rarefied and reinstated the small combination "improvised" 

* The Spirit of Jassz, by Otis Ferguson, The New Republic, Dec. 30, 1936. 



12 Esquires Jazz Book 

jazz. Ferguson further stated that "no two notes are the same, 
and no one note off the chord; the more they relax ia the excite 
ment of it the more a natural genius in pre-selection becomes evi 
dent and the more indeed the melodic line becomes rigorously 
pure, This is really composition on 'the spot, with the spirit of 
jazz strongly over all of them but the iron laws of harmony and 
rhythm never lost sight of; and it is a collective thing, the most 
beautiful example of men working together to be seen in public 

today." 

Whole bands themselves were mushrooming out of the parent 
bands; today's featured soloist was tomorrow's bandleader, with 
a recording contract in his pocket, bookings assured, and a Holly 
wood agent in the foyer. The complexities of large band or 
arranged jazz grew apace. Goodman, Shaw, Ellington experi 
mented with new instruments and tonalities; at the same time they 
kept alive the small combination technique and spirit. Jam sessions, 
the clandestine breeding ground of jazz of five years before, were 
revived and made not only public but lucrative as well. 

The flurry created by the jitterbug subsiding, jazz touched 
off a new response in the gentlemen who collectively determine 
what shall and shall not be called "Art." Goodman's 1938 record 
ing and subsequent concerts with the Budapest String Quartet 
made a visible impression on those who had succumbed to the 
fallacy that the jazz musician lacks technical virtuosity, and the 
event received wide notice in the popular press. The rank and 
file of classical music lovers showed signs of unbending a little 
also when they heard Benny Goodman's band play a concert in 
Chicago's Grant Park on the same program with the Woman's 
Symphony Orchestra of Chicago in 1941. One hundred thousand 
persons stood in the rain to hear. Of this occasion, the Chicago 
Her aid- American said: "Music lovers probably had come to hear 
the Woman's Symphony Orchestra which had the first half of 



Hot Jazz: Prophet without Honor 13 

the program. But they stayed for Benny Goodman's half . . , 
Some of them even swayed a little themselves." 

Official opinion was dying hard, and at last the atmosphere 
cleared for Duke Ellington to give a concert in Carnegie Hall in 
January of 1943. Critical temperatures again ran high. Paul 
Bowles, of the New York Herald Tribune, was so disappointed 
by his maiden effort to understand jazz that he concluded: "The 
whole attempt to fuse jazz with an art music should be discour 
aged. The two exist at such distances that the listener cannot get 
them both into focus at the same time." But Boston, Cleveland, 
Washington, Philadelphia and Chicago concert-goers were given 
an opportunity to hear substantially the same concert, and as 
Ellington continued to pack the symphonic citadels with cus 
tomers, the press grew progressively more favorable, if about 
the wrong things. In form, Ellington's music is departing from 
the jazz tradition; much influenced by classical piano composition, 
his pieces have a tendency to slide into the structure and feeling 
of classical modernists. It is logical to suspect that symphony 
lovers who greeted his New World tfComiri with such thought 
ful respect will imagine that what Whiteman could not do, 
namely affiance jazz to the classics, Ellington can now be ex 
pected to accomplish. 

But whether or not the erstwhile opponents of jazz are mis 
taken about the things they respect, it is significant that they do at 
long last show signs of respecting it, and the word "art" is 
creeping with regularity into the vocabulary with which they 
describe it. Conductor Leopold Stokowski believes that "Duke 
Ellington is one of America's outstanding artists," and Clifton 
Fadiman (in the introduction to the recent Reader's Club edition 
of Young Man with a Horn), while referring to jazz as a 
"limited field," does admit its practitioners are "artists." 



Ckapter II 

How to Listen to Hot Jazz 

Eased on the assumption that there may be many music lovers 
who are awaiting an explanation of hot jazz in terms which are 
not strictly "out of this world" the substance of this chapter 
offers the interested newcomer to the listening field an oppor 
tunity to reconcile jazz with his ideas on music generally. No 
one ever passed a sound critical judgment on a piece of hot music 
who temperamentally was predisposed to dislike it. The listener's 
attitude and the guideposts to which he may address himself 
comprise the material of this essay. The suggestions offered are 
meant to be neither academe nor categorical. The subject of 
music appreciation is a difficult one: the printed word approaches 
the world of musical sound only in a roundabout manner. Like 
all ar^ hot jazz possesses an elusive quality which sets it off 
from non-art. This quality , naturally, is directly expressed only 
in the music itself. 

by PAUL EDUARD MILLER 

HALF a century was required to bring jazz from the dregs of 
New Orleans to the most celebrated concert halls of America. 
Far-flung controversy has at last consolidated into the acceptance 
of jazz as a valid form of art. An infectious enthusiasm has reached 
into the banks of eminent spokesmen on the artistic front. And 
yet it is lamentable that many people of culture are without an 
understanding of this, their most native musical heritage. 

To be sure, there are those who have attempted to cultivate a 
taste for it; some have achieved an extraordinary comprehension. 
But there are countless music lovers who believe that jazz is by 
reputation too simple a thing to be worthy of consideration, 

14 



How to Listen to Hot Jazz 15 

and although they display an unmistakable discernment in classi 
cal directions, to them jazz remains mere noise. 

The first step in the process of appreciation lies in learning 
how to distinguish more than mere noise. The accusation of 
meaningless simplicity may be leveled with justification against 
the ever-present popular song. In the case of authentic hot music, 
however, it will be found upon examination that it is not sim 
plicity which gives rise to the supposition that jazz is nothing 
more than jumbled sound, but rather, the inherent emotional as 
well as technical complexity. To the uninitiated ear this com 
plexity is no more readily intelligible than is a Bach passacaglia, 
and only by an understanding of its implications can we discover 
what it is that hot jazz seeks to express. 

Jazz began as the compensation music of a shackled race, 
singing out with the safest expression available. The song of jazz 
is at once the song of life and restraint, of passion and sublima 
tion, of laughter and lament, of sad bondage and sad freedom. 
Freely adopted by the white man who quickly discovered that 
these implications extended to his own life, the timeless art themes 
of jazz were utilized to translate similar emotional experience to 
higher social spheres. Nevertheless, the basic pattern of expression 
remained the same, the experience of both races being acted upon 
by the same essential conditions of life and environment. 

Modern living disturbs us with an infinity of excitations. 
His reactions moving in kaleidoscopic programs, modern man 
experiences more stimuli than did any of his forebears. Hot jazz, 
lending concise statement to this symbol of our era, offers a 
genuine art-counterpart to the environmental-social conditions 
under which we live. Because its underlying spirit rests so close 
to the fundamental spirit of our complex age itself, jazz interprets 
a richer variety of emotional expressiveness than so-called serious 
music written as from another world the simpler, slow-paced 
world of the past. 



1 6 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Swiftly, but with complex subtlety, jazz sings its lyrical song. 
Remembering that it constantly is varied with cross-rhythms, 
consider the unrelenting beat of the percussion section: it is the 
jazz musician's art-valuation of the limitations of time, space and 
the environment. Over and above the beat surges the soloist. 
Pitting himself against the limitations-the throb of the rhythm 
section-he seeks release from the confinements of society. With 
ecstatic abandon he pursues his unattainable objective. But the 
percussionists do not allow him forever to wander in the heights. 
They recall him; he subsides, merging once more into the restric 
tions of the orchestra where, resolving with dignity his fanciful 
flight, he again affirms life. 

To the romantic symphonists of an older era of more ex 
pansive living, the simply-phrased sentences of hot jazz would 
have seemed wholly inadequate. Whereas formerly it may have 
required long passages to conjure up and delineate a musical 
mood, this is no longer necessary or even desirable. The modern 
artist is too pressed against time to weave a background of 
extensive romantic qualification. He comes directly to his objec 
tive and tells his story along straight lines. Like the best contem 
porary architecture, hot jazz has stripped away the embellishment, 
reducing its reflection of the age to simple, severe strokes by 
which the accelerated tempo of modern life is implied rather than 
detailed* 

It was probably no more than natural that the substitution of 
such implication for the customary endless thematic embroidery 
should foster the criticism that jazz is characterized by too much 
brevity. The usual symphony, composed of four movements, 
requires from thirty to seventy-five minutes for performance. 
The various themes are stated simply at first and elaborated upon 
as the symphony progresses. A whole movement is sometimes 
given over to the presentation of the theme in one form, as for 
example, the third movement in the Tchaikowsky Fifth which 



How to Listen to Hot Jazz 17 

is a waltz, and the second, or marcia -funebre movement of Bee 
thoven's Eroica. 

In jazz we find the message presented at a tenser, more modern 
pace. The theme is at once introduced with keen thrusts of single 
shaded notes, either by full orchestra or solo instrument. From 
this point complexities are introduced in quick succession, and 
the melody is swept from one variation to another with a rapidity 
unfamiliar to the adherents of the symphonic form. A simple 
phrase in a symphony may occupy the strings for as much as 
five or ten minutes; the equivalent phrase in a jazz piece will be 
dispatched by a section of the jazz orchestra or a single instru 
ment in a matter of seconds. A wide range of meanings is present 
in hot jazz; but because the time allotted to notes and phrasing 
is extraordinarily short, it may appear to those accustomed to the 
classical treatment that jazz does not embody the emotion re 
quired of great music. 

In the actual approach to jazz we must take into account the 
necessity of subtracting from consideration all types of music 
which do not find their roots in the musical expression of the 
American Negro. It goes without saying that no art may admit 
of so banal a circumstance as racial prejudice. (This is not in 
tended to invite a renewal of the white vs. Negro jazz contro 
versy. White jazz also stemmed from the Negro.) It is likewise 
essential to disregard much of the unfounded slander against the 
jazz idiom. Even more important, perhaps, is it to regard as 
totally untrustworthy the quasi-academic criticism and apologies 
originating with classical musicologists and commentators who 
prefer to remain unsympathetic and oblivious to everything be 
yond the pale of "serious music." Lastly there must be in the 
approach a personal predisposition towards the spirit of the music, 
a positive desire to respond to it, a willingness to comprehend and 



1 8 Esquire's Jazz Book 

feel its basic messages. Such an attitude is not unique; it forms 
the basis of an approach to any art. 

Nowadays the best jazz may be heard intermittently almost 
anywherein night clubs, bars, theaters, over the radio, even on 
the concert stage. The advantage of listening to jazz in the flesh, 
especially in informal surroundings, is that the performance is 
apt to be more relaxed and uninhibited, containing the spontaneity 
so essential to the interpretation of this music. The disadvantage 
of such listening is that the finest jazz is often played side by side, 
for commercial reasons, with the mediocre and the cheap, result 
ing in confusion to the untrained ear. Much can be accomplished 
by listening to records, and to accustom the ear to the concen 
trated language of jazz, no better medium exists than the phono 
graph record. Excellently performed examples of what is best 
may be heard in this satisfactory, if mechanical, manner, and 
much good recorded jazz attains even the vitality of live per 
formance. 

Of numerous waxings in existence, I am arbitrarily choosing 
eleven versions of the same selection for brief examination. It is 
the famous Sugar Foot Stomp one of the classics of all jazz. 

The record numbers are listed below for convenience of 
procurement: 

Performance by Make 

King Oliver Gen. 

King Oliver Okeh 

King Oliver Voc. 

Fletcher Henderson Col. 

Fletcher Henderson Col. 

Fletcher Henderson Melo. 

Fletcher Henderson Cr. 

Fletcher Henderson Vic. 

Benny Goodman Vic. 

Muggsy Spanier Blu. 

Artie Shaw Blu. 



No. 




Reissue 


5132 


HRS 


Nov. '37 


4IO8 






T 7 
1033 


UHCA 41-42 


395 


Col. 35668 


203 






j j 

I227O 






./y 
3191 


HRS 


Nov. '37 


22721 
2C6?8 


Blu. 


10247 



10506 



How to Listen to Hot Jazz 19 

Each of the eleven recordings listed is deserving of a position 
in the discerning collector's library; together they afford the 
listener an excellent opportunity to draw comparisons between 
solo styles, full orchestral treatments, and emotional interpreta 
tions. From the compositional standpoint, Sugar Foot Stomp 
blends unity of structure with variety of content. Its thematic 
line is based on the rhythmic-repetition principle which is satis 
factorily accomplished by harmonic and melodic variations. 
Though usually played at fast stomp tempo, the melody is a 
plaintive Blues characterized by a typical Negroid sadness, its 
original title having been Dipper Mouth Elms. 

My own personal preference is for the King Oliver Vocalion, 
No other, I believe, sustains the melody's inherent sadness so 
well as the version by the composer's own Plantation Club 
orchestra in 1925. The piece recreates through implication the 
feelings of joy and melancholy. A variety of emotions, easily 
discernible to the listener provided he will permit himself to 
be drawn into the feeling, radiate from the solos and ensembles. 

Each of the four choruses of the composition is divided into 
three phrases, twelve measures in length. The Oliver orchestra 
strikes out immediately with an arresting note. After the joyous 
ensemble opening which accounts for the first two phrases of the 
chorus, the theme subsides with Darnell Howard's low-register 
clarinet; then pitches higher by change of register, completing 
the third phrase, beginning the first of the following chorus. 
Next, during the final two phrases of the second chorus, Kid 
Ory's now traditional trombone asserts an emphatic voice, rising 
to an eventual crescendo leading to a brusque shift to the third 
featured instrument. Oliver's lone trumpet relieves the imagery 
created by the trombone in a solo which fills out the third chorus, 
and which has formed the basis for the trumpet solo on almost 
every subsequent recording of the piece. The solo is in a disturbed 



20 Esquires Jazz 'Book 

melodic line, the motif emphasized by broken, staccato effects 
in the low-toned reed section acting in unison with percussion. 

The final ensemble is in a counter-emotional pattern. Three 
voicings may be heard. While the trombone sketches the bare 
melody a plaintive, wailing Blues theme the reeds, seemingly 
acting as percussion, provide the rhythm. The brass, with 
dominatingly happy phrases, cuts away from the Blues sung by 
the trombone, with both orchestral sections repeating again and 
again, in a constant affirmation of the dual mood. 

In this Oliver version of Sugar Foot Sto?np, as in the others, 
each soloist not only suggests a different emotion-mood, but his 
interpretation is rich with his own individual inflections, slurs, 
breaks, modulations, intonations, phrasings, attacks all of which 
bring a variety of meanings to the music, to the phrases of the 
music, and to the individual notes whose sum total comprises 
the music. 

It is in the soloist's phrasing and grouping of a series of ideas, 
and in his attack on each individual note wherein lies the spirit 
of the piece. In hot jazz the emotional overtones are not lost 
merely because of its brevity of expression. The emotional con 
tent is tightly packed, but it is undeniably present. 

Approximately the same patterns may be traced through 
the other ten versions. The two earlier Olivers are specimens 
of a cruder but still vigorous kind of polyphonic jazz which was 
so characteristic of the time (1922). Just as Oliver set the style 
for trumpet soloists who followed him, so Johnny Dodds, in these 
two diskings, modeled the style of the clarinet solos which ap 
peared later. Only Benny Goodman departs radically from the 
original Dodds' phrasing, retaining, however, the inherent Blues 
flavor of the solo. The five Hendersons are notable for their 
profusion of great solos and precisely right ensemble-percussion 
support lent to each soloist. In particular, listen for the virility of 
the Louis Armstrong trumpet on Columbia 395; compare this 



How to Listen to Hot Jazz 21 

with the intensity of the same solo in the hands of Rex Stewart 
on the Henderson Crown, and the alternately sad and gay im 
pressions in the concentrated Harry James solo on the Goodman 
platter; check these against the early Oliver trumpet choruses. 
Each reveals a different approach to a given theme; each contains 
the essentials of jazz, technically and in the spirit reflected. 

The numerous trombone solos on the Henderson versions 
approach the theme with gaiety of stride, personalized by the 
individual soloists; Charlie Green on Columbia 395, Jimmy Harri 
son on the Crown, Claude Jones and Benny Morton on the 
Melotone and Victor. All share a marked mood-contrast, as well 
as a technical one, to Kid Ory's tromboning in the Oliver 
Vocalion and Honore Deutray's in the two early Olivers. The 
large orchestral effect of Henderson's own piano interludes on 
the Victor version injects a new concept of expansiveness into 
his interpretation. Similarly, both Spanier on trumpet and Shaw 
on clarinet, in their waxings, display a deeply felt consciousness 
of the underlying Blues melancholy of the theme, yet neither 
quite making of it a tragic, depressing episode. 

If anyone would sharpen his listening ear for hot jazz, I 
believe that these eleven interpretations of Sugar Foot Stomp 
provide ample material for a desirable beginning. In them one 
may discern all the essential characteristics of the finest hot jazz 
style both its spirit and its techniques. On the technical side are 
found frequent use of tempo rubato expressed with freedom 
of spirit, 1 intense valuation of fierce polyrhythms in both the 

1 Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians defines it as a term which "ex 
presses the opposite of strict time, and indicates a style of performance in which 
some portion of the bar is executed at a quicker or slower tempo than the general 
rate of movement, the balance being restored by a corresponding slackening or 
quickening of the remainder." It is this device which enables the hot jazz player to 
inject numerous subtleties and variations into theme-interpretations, and to bring 
to this music the emotional spirit and content through which our age is honestly 
delineated. Of course, like any technique, tempo rubato is but a means to an end- 



22 Esquire's Jazz Book 

solo and section parts of the orchestra, a radical use of dissonances 
and polytonal harmonies, generous-and successful-experimenta 
tion with the potential capabilities of the individual solo instru 
ments. To catch the spirit of jazz, the flavor of our time, the jazz 
player utilizes all these techniques: they are the materials out of 
which he hews his interpretations of the theme. The resulting 
musical sounds give off that elusive essence which I am calling 
the spirit of jazz. It is there in abundance in the best hot jazz, 
incorporating into its essence the emotional substrata required of 
music greater than folk art. The claim that jazz is a native Ameri 
can folk art sets forth a thoroughly specious argument frequently 
employed by those who do not understand the inner emotional 
nature of jazz. 

During the past ten years, since Benny Goodman first was 
featured on a commercial radio program called Let's Dance, 
Americans generally have become aware of hot jazz by the name, 
"swing." 2 One of the definitions of swing, concocted and widely 
quoted during the thirties, held that it was "collective improvisa 
tion/ 7 Now the word improvisation has been bandied about with 
out much regard for its precise meaning. Merely as a warning, 
then, I feel that it should be pointed out that its use in hot jazz 
terminology differs from the specific meaning attributed to it by 
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 

In hot jazz, the term improvisation, usually accorded only to 

that of shading and qualifying- the statement of the original motif, thus bringing it 
into conformity with the enormous complexities and extensions of present day living. 
2 The jazz purist scorns the word, prefers to retain it is a reference to big-band 
jazz exclusively; the phrase, hot jazz, is held in reserve for small combinations using 
no scored arrangements those groups which feature their instrumentalists in an 
endless series of take-your-turn solos, interspersed with occasional ensemble jam 
choruses in which the soloists interweave their melodies. While this distinction is 
not objectionable, it cannot be maintained categorically. Much of the greatest hot 
jazz recorded in the twenties was waxed by big bands. Even the purist will not 
deny that big bands such as McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Fletcher Henderson's, or 
Duke Ellington's are among the foremost representatives of the hot jazz idiom. 



Hoiu to Listen to Hot Jazz 23 

solos, implies that the player of the solo is free to ad lib his 
own individual conception of the melody. In fact, it is this very 
thing which enables hot jazz musicians to bring breadth and 
variety to the music. However, it is common knowledge that the 
original Benny Goodman Trio worked out its arrangements in 
advance of public presentation. It perhaps did not stop to anno 
tate its scores, but without question it can be assumed that they 
were imprinted vividly on the memories of Messrs. Goodman, 
Krupa, and Wilson. The Duke Ellington orchestra likewise 
deliberately plans the most effective means for producing its kind 
of jazz. Many Ellington scores, in fact most, actually are 
annotated. 

Why, then, are these two groups often cited as the ultimate in 
"hot" or "improvised" jazz? It is because they have given the 
listener the illusion of spontaneity. That is a great achievement; 
it is an artistic achievement. They play with stupendous spirit and 
vitality; they are masters in the interpretation of planned music. 
Any planned, rehearsed, memorized, or annotated music requires 
vigorous and spirited interpretation if its fullest emotional content 
is to be transferred to the listener. 



Ctapter III 

ire on Jazz 1Q34-1Q44 



This chapter Is devoted to a digest-reprint of some of the 
articles on hot jazz and hot jazz personalities 'which appeared in 
Esquire during the ten-year period since the publication of the 
now famous article, Collecting Hot, in February, 2934. It is 
fitting that, on the tenth anniversary of that notable occasion, 
Esquire should devote an entire book to the furtherance of an 
appreciation of the most American of all the artshot jazz music. 
In the main, the articles speak -for themselves. All -footnotes save 
one (the exception is so indicated in footnote $) are comments 
of the editor, and do not reflect a criticism of the author, but have 
been written solely for the guidance of the reader who wishes 
to pursue the subject more closely. It is hoped that the number 
of such readers mil be great, that their additional numbers will 
provide the greater impetus that hot jazz so richly deserves. 
The original date of publication is noted in each instance. 

COLLECTING HOT 

by CHARLES EDWARD SMITH 



(First published in February, 

IN ONE of the lesser known hot spots of Harlem the featured 
musician is Sidney Bechet Bechet plays a New Orleans clarinet. 
Amongst jazz collectors he is a venerable person, not in age but in 
experience. Although but thirty-six, Bechet has played the clarinet 
for twenty-nine years and has the further distinction of having 
taught Larry Shields (Original Dixieland clarinet) and Leon 
Rappolo, a hot musician who remains unsurpassed in the jazz 
world. 

Fugitive and tremulous, the tone of Rappolo's clarinet fills the 
listener with an overwhelming nostalgia. He made unforgettable 

24 



Esquire on Jazz iy^-iy^f 25 

records of Tin Roof Blues and of Tiger Rag, after which he 
retired to a sanitorium, his clarinet shelved and his mind shat 
tered. From then on what was immortal of Rappolo, his hot 
clarinet playing, was accessible only on a score or so of records, 
pressed before the days of electrical recording. Today these 
records the Gennetts as they are called are the cream of the 
jazz crop. Collecting hot, in any comprehensive sense of the 
word, begins with pressings made by five or six early bands on 
Gennett records. 

Collecting hot refers to collecting hot jazz records. Some 
collectors content themselves with records acquired at second 
hand or at most at standard prices, some go so far as to acquire 
master records (records from which editions are printed), and 
still others covet variations of initial recordings, recordings dif 
ferent in content but identical both in title and serial number. 
Pre-electrical records and records made to sell at low prices are 
especially rare. A classic example is that of a college student who 
paid over a hundred dollars for an old blues record, the master 
of which had been destroyed. This ardent collector refused a 
depression offer of $75.00 spot cash for this single item; but 
the pay-off came when the prospective purchaser, himself a col 
lector, picked up a clean copy of the same record in a remainder 
pile for the sum of ten cents! 

Fortunately, except in its denouement, the above transaction 
is an extreme example of what can happen (and not what usually 
does happen) in collecting hot. No doubt in time certain records 
will be stamped as collectors' items and this will give them a 
value over and above their original price, but at present collectors' 
items are to be found in remainder piles and other places where 
old or secondhand records are for sale. 1 These piles of old records 

1 During the past ten years, secondhand stores and remainder piles literally have 
been shorn clean of practically all good or fair condition copies of recordings now 
long since established as so-called collectors' items. In 1934, however, the opportunity 
for buying such discs, even in new condition, over retail counters, was still feasible; 



2 6 Esquire's Jazz Book 

are to the collector what old libraries are to the bibliophile 
prospective treasure caches. He may examine five or six hundred 
records without a single strike patience is notoriously a collec 
tor's virtue! and then come upon an old Harmony record by the 
Dixie Stompers of a piece called Snag It. If he knows his stuff he 
will recognize that this is an early record by Fletcher Henderson's 
orchestra, and a gem! 

The status of hot today is quite different from that of its 
early days, i.e., little more than a decade ago. Today a check-up 
reveals collectors of hot in almost every college and preparatory 
school in the country. 2 The substantial following enjoyed by 
Louis Armstrong is due largely to jazz enthusiasts at prominent 
universities Yale, Princeton, etc. who began collecting his 
records five or six years ago. That the popularity of hot jazz is 
not even more widespread may be attributed to the lack of any 
literature treating of hot as a special field, and also to the deaden 
ing effect of the shallow emotionalism of sweet (popular) jazz 
upon the public ear. Hot recordings in the United States average 
about two thousand sales. In England and France, where there 
has been less of sweet and a reasonably wide dissemination of 
knowledge on the subject of hot, recordings average as high as 
six thousand copies. 3 

while secondhand stores were loaded with the older Gennetts, Paramounts, Okehs, 
Vocalions, and Brunswicks. 

2 It is to Smith's credit that he recognized this minority trend which, in 1934, was 
widely scattered, completely unorganized, and in no sense a movement of any con 
siderable importance. Midwesterners, perhaps, were more fortunate in having heard 
many of the jazz greats in person during the 1920*8, when Chicago was a hotbed of 
hot jazz. 

8 The impression here is somewhat erroneous. The interest in hot jazz in England 
arid France, while more coherent and organized, was in no way comparable to that 
in the U.S., where the interest, though wide, was scattered and disorganized. While 
Europeans rarely had the opportunity to hear great hot bands-except via phono 
graph records Americans frequently gave substantial boxoffice support to the 
personal appearances of the orchestras themselves. In this country, the concentration 
was less on records than on in-the-flesh performances. In addition, the distribution 
of records here was poor during the 1920*3 and early 1930*5. Most of the hot or 



Esquire on Jazz 2 $34- 2 944 27 

From its inception the term hot differentiated what was gen 
uine and had the quality of folk musicwhether slow Blues or 
fast stompfrom what was imitative and blatantly derivative, 
called corny, and the vast field of sweet, popular jazz. Hot jazz, 
apart from its initial spurt, received no recognition from the 
higher cultural levels, and the masses, seeing that hot was in 
disrepute, succumbed to the Lorelei of sweet jazz jazz which 
plucked at the surface emotions with a monotonous persistence. 
Art Hickman and other purveyors of sweet rose to meteoric 
fame while white men who continued to play hot received the 
chauvinistic appellation of "white niggers." * 

A hot collection tells the story audibly. On the early records 
by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (both Columbia and Victor) 
one may discern the underlying spirit of Negro Blues sometimes 
conflicting with the jerkiness of ragtime. The victory of Blues 
tempo was the victory of the fox-trot over the one-step. Although 
a New Orleans band, the Original Dixieland group was composed 
of white men who had, perforce, to assimilate the Negro's music, 
and this may be one reason they exhibit, better than any other 
band, the welding of ragtime and Blues tempo. Their renderings 
are not particularly impressive to most ears but musicians and 
discriminating collectors know that this band has had an incalcul 
able effect upon hot jazz, especially as regards their facility for 
setting up an unceasing rhythmic flow within the melodic pattern. 
The Original Dixieland established a tradition, both in melodic 
and rhythmic patterns, carried on by The Cotton Pickers, reintro- 
duced by the Mound City Blue Blowers, Chicago Rhythm Kings, 

"race" records of Gennett, Paramount, Okeh, Vocation, Brunswick and Columbia 
were available, usually, only in the Negro sections of large cities, where they en 
joyed a wide sale. However, the more general outlets, where what are now collectors' 
items were available, were few and far between. 

4 Hickman dates back to about 1915. His fame was no more meteoric than that of 
the Original Dixieland Band. On the whole, Smith's implication is sound, although 
it is not a fact that all purveyors of hot either (i) starved from lack of work, or 
(2) made impossible concessions to sweet in order to earn a living. 



28 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Louisiana Rhythm Kings, Red Nichols and His Five Pennies, Bix 
and His Gang, and such jazz-conscious individuals as Duke 
Ellington, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Gene Krupa and 
Joe Sullivan. 5 

Of course, not all collectors follow the historical path in their 
choice of records. There are innumerable enthusiasts who collect 
nothing but examples of Louis Armstrong's hot vocalizing and 
trumpeting. Some confine themselves to his more recent period 
of interpreting, oftentimes with great musical originality, sweet 
numbers such as Just a Gigolo, Love, You Funny Thing, etc. 
Others prize his early race records, Savoy Blues, West End Blues, 
etc., on many of which both Armstrong and Earl Hines, the 
great Negro pianist, are discernible; and on the early King Oliver 
records. This might be going far enough for most of us, but 
purists among collectors of Louis also insist upon ferreting out 
every vocal- the singer being secondary on which the hot Arm 
strong trumpet insinuates itself between phrases. 6 

Some collectors want words as well as music. Curiously 
enough, it is not easy to satisfy this taste. The number of men 
who sing hot is extremely limited. Outstanding are Louis Arm 
strong, Negro, and Jack Teagarden, the latter being one of the 
few white men who sing with distinction. While there are many 
Negroes who sing hot some of them, like Cab Galloway, excel 
lentArmstrong is the greatest of them all. 

Teagarden is less spectacular but a favorite with collectors 
who prefer his vocalizing to that of any other white man in the 
business. And with good reason. Teagarden's best vocals are 
second to none. His trombone playing resembles his singing and, 
it might be truthfully said, vice versa. The quality of his voice 
suggests the burr of his trombone. 

5 See chapter VI, The Historical Chart of Jazz Influence, for complete historical 
picture of hot bands and instrumentalists. 

6 See chapter VIII for a complete Armstrong discography. 



Esquire on Jazz 2934- 1944 29 

Collecting, in any line, need not be a matter of discrimination. 
One man collects nothing but records of I Wish I Could Shimmy 
Like My Sister Kate. Another secures for his albums every known 
recording of St. Louis Blues. On the face of it this would seem 
to be a rather harmless method of ridding one's self of one's 
money even though the chances are that on compositions such as 
the above, recordings might average five per cent hot. They 
might. However, that would still leave about fifty per cent corny 
symphonic versions, pseudo-hot concoctions, etc. and residue 
which, when the critical thermometer was applied, would register 
a decidedly hike-warm temperature. 

As for the five per cent, that is only because certain pieces, 
these being among them, lend themselves readily to hot playing. 
Tiger. Rag, Farewell Blues and Washboard Blues are examples of 
the species. These numbers have survived the "brief span" usu 
ally accorded jazz compositions. Modern parallels are Dinah 
and Sweet Sue. 7 

From the point of view of collecting, jazz history wrote its 
greatest chapter in the Gennett period, the period of recordings 
by the bands mentioned early in this article, and one or two 
others. These records, pressed about ten years ago and now 
scarcely obtainable, represent the very purest of hot. Until they 
are re-recorded, however, most collectors will have to resort to 
more accessible examples. 8 

7 See the December, 1943, Esquire for Robert GofEn's article, The Ten Best Jazz 
Tunes, for further discussion of what might be called The Evergreens of Jazz- 
popular tunes which have been played through the years because they were par 
ticularly suitable for hot solo variations. 

8 Repressings of old recordings since have been issued in considerable .number, 
particularly during the past several years. Not only have private organizations 
reissued old or pressed new recordings of experienced hot men, but the big com 
mercial companies finally have dug into their files and come forth with many of 
die great jazz records of other days. Many, however, yet remain unissued and 
unobtainable except through collectors' channels. 



30 Esquire's Jazz Book 



SOME LIKE IT HOT 

by CHARLES EDWARD SMITH 

(First published in April, 1936) 

A CONNOISSEUR of bot jazz, president of a recently formed 
organization known as the United Hot Clubs of America, was 
in Chicago to run some swing music into the hot groove for the 
English Continental record trade. The chances are if you're in 
the right town, no matter how large, you can find a bot musician 
though his name be as obscure to the public as that of Peck Kelly, 
the Texas pianist plugged by Jack Teagarden. Aware of this, 
he questioned a Negro musician of Chicago's south side. Did he 
remember Meade Lux Lewis who recorded Honky Tonk Train 
Blues about eight years ago? The musician said, Did he remem 
ber? Lewis was his best friend! 

Meade Lux Lewis was at work in a garage, directing the full 
play of a hose on a slightly dusty car. Yes, he said, he worked 
there, and, no, he had to admit, he hadn't played Honky Tonk 
Train Blues in seven or eight years. He'd try a hand at it two 
hands- if that was what was wanted. It was. And that was how 
Honky Tonk Train Blues happened to be re-recorded lately. 

Perhaps the most amazing case of rediscovery has to do with 
Sidney Bechet, the New Orleans Negro whose talent on reeds 
had become something of a legend, due to the limited number 
of records on which he played. Bechet had received considerable 
attention in the hot journals of England, France, and Belgium. 
He was known as the man who had shown some things about 
reeds to Larry Shields (Dixieland) and Leon Rappolo (New 
Orleans Rhythm Kings) . He was known even better as having 
conquered the Continent playing clarinet with Jim Europe's 



Esquire on Jazz 1934-1 $44 31 

fabulous conglomeration of American Negro musicians. He had 
been mentioned, readers will recall, in these columns. Never 
theless, Bechet was making a modest living in Harlem not as an 
expert on reeds but as a tailor! 

One day a friend called at his flat. A little black and white 
kitten that knew the taste of Creole gumbo was -doing a flying 
trapeze act on the portieres. Bechet seemed worried. "Fve got 
to find a home for this kitten," he said. "Fm going on the road 
with Noble Sissle." That was something of a surprise, the visitor 
observed, since not long ago the primary concern seemed to be 
the last installment on a soprano saxophone. What had happened? 
"I used to work with Noble," Bechet said, "and this boy who 
owned the sax was in the band; I wrote Noble about it and he said 
he had been wanting to get in touch with me." 

More interesting than the rediscovery of individual talent is 
the continual discovery of talent in name bands, known in trade 
circles as "popular orks." The field is so wide that it would be 
impossible to list all of the promising material. In this search 
every hot musician is a scout and every name band a fertile field, 
whether it be acting well-behaved on a "pop" tune or serving up 
corn-on-the-cob with a pre-war label. 

The peak of the carousal incognito is of course the record 
date. Here there is no color line and you are tops whether you 
play in the Rainbow Room of Radio City or in a cellar in the 
Bronx. That is, if you play hot. Add to this set-up a bit of 
swing-age folk music instead of a "pop" tune and the boys have 
already forgotten that the scene is a prosaic recording studio 
where the control man is apt to tell them to "quit building a 
house," and the hour is about noon, tantamount to grayest dawn 
for a musician. The urge to swing is, as the French critics express 
it, terrific. The "take" light flashes on and the cast of characters 



32 Esquire's Jazz Book 

for Apologies and Sendin' the Vipers (Mezz Mesirow's band) 

goes into action. 

Mezz, an old Chicagoan, 9 has credit for his record band but 
the baton is absent, Mesirow preferring a clarinet. He sits in 
with this all-in band and they keep that way for four sides, two 
of which RCA Victor released here and all of which have been 
released abroad. The flab-tone trumpet is Renald Jones from 
Chick Webb's ork. The hot trumpet is Max Kaminsky from the 
name band of Jacques Renard. Bud Freeman, also a Chicagoan 
and a master of the tenor sax, is one of the stars of the Ray 
Noble conglomeration. John Kirby, the string bass man, is with 
the new and well organized outfit brought into Roseland recently 
by Fletcher Henderson. Chick Webb is the percussion pappy of 
his own band and Floyd O'Brien interprets the slide trombone in 
the brass section of the Phil Harris ork. Bennie Carter, the alto 
sax, is touring France by this time and Willie Smith, piano, is, as 
the boys say, around town somewhere. 10 

Let us take another pressing that stirred the hot brotherhood 
recently, the Columbia of Bughouse and Blues in E Flat by Red 
Norvo and His Swing Octet. Red has his own swing outfit 
(which is not the same as this record band) and is a graduate of 
the nighteries of 5znd Street in New York. He plays a xylophone. 
Red is always in the hot groove, and in Blues in E Flat, with 

9 Author's Note: Chicagoan: Specifically, one who was in the record band, 
McKenzie & Condon's Chicagoans or Chicago Rhythm Kings. More generally, one 
who plays "Chicago" style, or a band playing this style. True Chicago style derives 
from the Dixieland style of New Orleans, modified by others. Ed. Note: Dispute 
has raged for years with regard the use of terms such as "Chicago style" and "New 
Orleans style," since there never has been any accepted standardized meaning of the 
phrases. An eloquent case against usage of the term "Chicago style" was contrived 
by critic Bob White in an article titled Chicago style?-Ws a Phony Myth! in the 
March, 1941, Music and Rhythm. 

10 Kaminsky and Freeman are now in the armed services. Webb is dead. Kirby 
leads his own combination, as does Carter. Mesirow, Smith, O'Brien, and Renault 
are still "around town somewhere." 



Esquire on Jazz 2 $34-1 944 33 

Teddy Wilson, piano (who solos at Famous Door) and Gene 
Krupa, traps (formerly w. Benny Goodman's Orchestra) con 
triving the ideal background, he plays what connoisseurs must 
admit is nothing less than a hot gamelon. The string bass is vari 
ously attributed to John Kirby'of Fletcher's band and Art Bern 
steinin vain do the critics of cacophony implore the record 
companies to list personnel not for each "date" but for each 
side! The guitar is the famed George Van Epps you recall the 
banjo playing Van Epps family and he is from Ray Noble's 
ensemble. 

Johnny Mince, clarinet, is a Noble-man. Chu Berry, tenor 
sax, hails from Fletcher's band. Jack Jenney, the Teagardenish 
trombone, was recently on the air in a Lennie Hayton series. 
Special mention should be made of the piano and cornet choruses 
which, with Norvo's send-off chorus, are the distinguishing 
features of the record. Teddy Wilson's piano playing in this 
, Blues reminds one, structurally, of a Bix chorus. It has sobriety, 
depth, and is implacably resolved. The cornet player is Bunny 
Berigan who left Benny Goodman's band to play on the air. 
Like Wilson and Krupa, his is an unmistakable talent. A clear 
full tone in clear patterns assails the ear. Berigan has considerable 
ability, and in scorning the ceiling-climbers he shows sincerity. 
This word sincerity has been worn pretty thin by the scribes 
and pharisees of Broadway but it is still the only word that 
links up hot musicians with their folk-music predecessors. 11 

When hot men turn off the heat the resultant vacuity is as 
stifling as oxygen-less air. Hence the urge to praise them when 
they're all-in, the necessity to deprecate ceiling-climbing (high 
notes qua high notes) and other feats of a purely gymnastic 
nature. 



is now in the armed services. Berry and Berigan are dead. After leading 
his own band for four years, Knipa is back with Goodman. Jenney has fronted his 
own band, is now playing with Ace Hudkins. Wilson heads his own outfit. 



34 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Various hot clubs have instituted jam sessions. These are the 
affairs, hitherto impromptu, at which the hot musicians from 
name bands "get off." The hot clubs have aroused the curiosity 
of the public. Patterned after the Rhythm Clubs abroad, with 
which they are affiliated, the United Hot Clubs of America are 
"dedicated to the universal progress of swing music" and "seek 
no personal gain." Among the founders of the clubs are some 
of the country's most prominent collectors of hot: John Ham 
mond of New York; Edwin M. Ashcraft III, of Chicago; William 
H. Coverdale, Jr., of Birmingham, Alabama; Marshall Stearns of 
New Haven, Conn. Their first act as a national entity was the 
repressing of China Boy and Bull Frog Blues on which Muggsy 
Spanier and Frank Teschemacher, clarinet, star of the old Chi- 
cagoans, are featured. The other band members had lives of their 
own (one was a dentist) and went back to them after making this 
one record. Their intention (U.H.C.A.'s) is to release further 
out-of-print numbers and perhaps also wax special pressings. 12 



JAM IN THE NINETIES 

by E. SIMMS CAMPBELL 



(First published in December, 

IN THE LATE eighties and early nineties, the era of tinsel and gilt, 
heavy furniture and mustache cups, SWING was born. Where it 
was born is particularly important, because this may account for 
its irrelevance and utter rowdyism, its very elemental nature. 
Memphis, St. Louis and a host of Southern towns claim credit 
although New Orleans seems logically to have the preference 

12 The Hot Club movement has resulted mainly in the reissuance of old records 
and the pressing of new ones featuring great hot talent. The United Hot Clubs of 
America have issued some 50 such records since 193.7, 



Esquire on Jazz 1934- 2 $44 35 

because of the great number of ragtime Negro musicians gathered 
there. 

At this time New Orleans was steeped in wickedness, bawdy 
houses running full blast, faro games on most street corners and 
voluptuous Creole beauties soliciting trade among the welter of 
gamblers, steamboat men and hustlers of every nationality. New 
Orleans was not unique in this respect, as most American cities 
had their proscribed red-light district, but New Orleans was more 
colorful. Spaniards, Italians, Germans, French and French Negro, 
Swedish and a great spattering of Portuguese and all of them 
speaking Creole, the handy bastard French, the patois French 
which even today has not changed one iota from its original form. 

Here in this port of all nationalities, this western hemisphere 
Marseilles, came a conglomerate group of itinerant musicians- 
coon shouters, honky-tonks, black butt players (Negro musicians 
who could not read music) all of them seeking their pot of gold 
in this paradise of pleasure. Most of them had little or no training 
in their respective instruments but they had a rhythm and a 
timing that appealed to the catholic tastes of this segment of 
America. The sky was the limit in hot ballads and there was no 
such thing as controlled music. New York was too far away 
and New Orleans was the mecca of entertainment to these South 
ern minstrels. 

True, respectable New Orleans as well as respectable America 
sang and played Irish ditties or saccharine sentimental tear jerkers 
Whisper Your Mother's Name r The Curse of Saloons and the 
Little Nellie's Gone Astray creations. All America cried in its 
beer over them, but the gulf was too wide for pleasure-loving 
America to span, from Stephen Foster's Old Folks at Home to the 
sedate piano music (song and chorus) of the horsehair parlor 
days. Barbershop chords were all right, too, but New Orleans had 
gone on a bender and when a man or a city goes pleasure-mad 
they want music with "umph" something that's on the naughty 



36 Esquire's Jazz Book 

side, that tickles the senses, that starts them bunny-hugging. 
Ragtime filled this bill perfectly. 

Possibly the first ragtime .number originated in a bagnio and 
I know of more than a score that were actually created in them, 

having; traced them back to the musicians who wrote them, 

^ 

tracing others through musicians who had played in bands with 
the original composer although I must confess that nothing is 
harder actually to track down than a musical score. It is stolen 
from so many sources the so-called Classics are dipped in and 
musicians are as jealous and touchy about giving credit to their 
fellows as prima donnas. A few of the numbers I actually saw 
created, written all over the backs of envelopes and policy number 
slips in all-night joints in St. Louis (pardon my misspent youth) 
and I have heard these same numbers, fifteen years later, presented 
for the edification of swing enthusiasts on the concert stage. 
Without mentioning names, many of our greatest swing artists 
have played, at some time or another, in these dens of iniquity 
or halls of learning, according to your esthetic tastes. 

One thing, you may be certain, they were never created in a 
classroom where harmony and composition were taught. It is 
sometimes sad to contemplate, but few lasting contributions to 
popular music have ever been born in cloistered surroundings. 

Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-Dee-A was written in the house of Babe 
Connors, one of the more colorful Negro madams, in 1894. 
It was essentially ragtime in 4/4 time, the name rag being given 
because the playing was ragged one played between the beats, 
not on them, just as swing today is irregular but is played in a 
faster tempo a stepped-up version. 

Every house with any pretentions to class had a beautiful 
mahogany upright piano, strewn with the usual bric-a-brac, 
cupid, Daphne and Apollo and ornate throws and the ever-present 
mandolin attachment. It added tone. A friend of mine who used 



Esquire on Jazz 193 4-1 $44. 37 

to play the piano in the famous Everleigh Club of Chicago men 
tioned that they had a gold piano where he composed many a 
piece and where his tips were the highest he had ever received, 
then or since. 

These madams were ever on the hunt for good musicians, 
but particularly good piano players, as a piano could be toned 
down and the less noise in the wee hours of the morning, the 
better. Possibly a tired Romeo could be coaxed into spending 
just a little more if the music fitted in with his mood. 

The usual procedure would be to invite the chosen entertainer 
to stay at the house while he was in the city and musicians at 
that time were not getting any hundred a week for their*playing 
and his cakes and coffee were free, with, of course, all the liquor 
he wished to hold. He could play any way he wanted to as long 
as he was good, and he could improvise all he wanted just so 
long as he didn't stop. No matter how often he played certain 
numbers, the audience was continually changing. Here, when 
liquor, used to fight off exhaustion, had befogged the brain, many 
of the discordant and eerie chords were born. I have talked with 
many a swing musician who has admitted that he has improvised 
these weird minor chords in these houses and one of them used 
to chew calabash weed to keep him going. 

Because of the tremendous amount of energy needed to play 
four to six shows a day, and then doubling every night to augment 
their meager wages, many musicians fell into this pernicious habit. 

Negro musicians were paid next to nothing, the finer white 
dance halls barring them, and their greatest revenue came from 
playing "gigs" (outside jobs special groups of three or four who 
were especially hired to play for wealthy white patrons at private 
house parties) and in playing in the finest sporting houses. 

You must remember at that time that Negroes had no union 
of their own, were not admitted to white unions, and it was 



38 Esquires Jazz Book 

impossible for them to market their songs unless they sold them 
outright to white publishers-and the top price was fifteen dol 
lars, with ten being about the average. These smart publishers 
would keep the scores of songs stowed away in drawers, much 
as a man keeps gilt edged bonds, and at a propitious time they 
would revise here and there-change the title and lo!-a popular 
hit tune was often launched on the market in New York. It 
often made a song writer who never would have reached the top 
unless he had the ideas of these Negroes to fall back on. 13 

True, many a white musician shared the same fate, but he was 
not continually relegated to the bottom as were these early-day 
Negro pioneers. 

This shunting aside naturally made the Negro draw into 
himself. With no outlet to exchange ideas on music other than 
with members of his own race, he became more and more essen 
tially Negroid in musical feeling and in interpretation. Jam 
sessions are as old as the hills among them it was their only 
medium of expressing themselves, of learning -and it was the 
training school for the colored boy who hoped some day to 
become an accomplished musician. None of them had enough 
money to study his instrument, learning everything he knew 
from these early jam sessions, improvising and going ahead purely 
on natural ability. All of them patterned their playing after some 
musical giant who was the legendary John Henry of his day, 
some powerful cornetist or piano playing fool whose exploits on 
his chosen instrument were known throughout colored America. 
Camp meetings, funerals and lodge dances gave the embryo 
musician his first chance, and much later, about 1908 I believe, 
when the T. O. B. A. (Theatrical Owners Booking Agency) 
was formed, these musicians as well as entertainers had an oppor- 

13 The uninitiated may greet this fact with skepticism. The truth of it cannot be 
denied, however, as a little personal research would soon reveal. 



Esquire on Jazz /^.j^-/^^ 39 

tunity to play before small theatres in the colored sections of 
various cities. 

Before that time, minstrels and itinerant peddlers of tunes 
would go from town to town, but because of the precarious way 
in which they made a living, many towns never had an oppor 
tunity to hear them. Now this was all changed. Bessie Smith, 
Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, Clarence Williams, Butter- 
beans and Susie, all great names in the "Blues" constellation to 
Negroes throughout the United States, were swinging and play 
ing the Blues years before white America recognized them. Tom 
Turpin of St. Louis, Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton were the 
early great swing pianists, and by great I mean that their piecTes 
were as intricate as Bach. They wrote trick arrangements, excit 
ing tempos, difficult passages, and at this time the great Handy 
was writing. Atlanta Blues, St. Louis Blues, New Orleans Blues, 
Memphis Blues, Beale Street Blues, Rampart Blues, Market Street 
Blues all these were written before 1912 just about the time 
Benny Goodman was three years old. 

And later the great flood of records, records that are now 
collectors' items to the swing enthusiast. A respectable family of 
the nineteen twenties would not be found dead with any of these 
abominable discs in its home. 

All through the nineteen twenties, came this endless stream 
of Blues records and who bought them? Dealers did not and the 
chances are ten thousand to one that you haven't five of them 
in your collection. They were a solace to Negro domestics, who, 
after working for hours over laundry tubs, mopping floors and 
shining brass, would go to the dingy comfort of a one-room flat 
in the Negro tenements and there put these records on their 
victrolas. It was a release from things whitethey could hum- 
pat their feet and be all colored. "Blues, blues jes' as blue as 
ah can be No good man done lef ' and lef ' po' me." 



40 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Sporting houses were possibly the next best bets for these 
records and they bought them by the armful. The records sold 
for fifty cents with a top price of seventy-five and they were con 
tinually needing replacement as the patrons would play certain 
favorites over and over again until the grooves in the discs were 
worn down. Every joint from New Orleans all through the 
Delta up to St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, Detroit, on out 
to the coast had stacks of these records. Dim lights and the 
Blues heady music as intoxicating as any of the wares for sale. 



SWING IS FROM THE HEART 

by B. S. ROGERS 

(First published in April } 293$) 

can't make you feel swing but can words make you 
feel what is contained in any kind of music? If you have gone 
to a concert to hear one of Beethoven's last quartets and have 
responded to it, the next morning you can probably recapture 
your experience by reading Olin Downes' or Lawrence Gil- 
man's review. Moreover, you can learn how Beethoven used 
the technical material of music to arouse that response in you. 
That is all. No amount of eloquence on the part of the eminent 
reviewers can make you respond if you didn't do so the night 
beforeand certainly their words will be just words (very fancy 
ones, to be sure) if you didn't hear the quartet in the first place. 
The latter is an important point because many people say they 
can't understand swing, when the truth is that they have never 
heard it. They have heard commercial dance bands; they may 
even have heard celebrated swing bands playing commercial 
music, but they haven't heard a hot outfit playing hot music. 14 

1 * If ^ the implication here is that no big commercial bands, so-called, ever play hot 
music, it must be put down as misleading. The author himself elucidates this point 



Esquire on Jazz 7^34-7^44 41 

For it is my conviction that anyone who isn't tone-deaf (a 
physical disability) or ultra-refined (a psychological disability) 
can learn to appreciate and enjoy swing. 

If, then, you know in advance that my words can only help 
you understand what a swing musician tries to do and how he 
goes about it, and cannot substitute for the musician himself, 
you will not be disappointed. Swing is an art, and there is no 
short cut to the appreciation of any art. 

But what does the word mean? After all, swing, like jazz, 
doesn't mean merely an emphatic and powerful rhythm. It means 
that and more. The "more" is the relationship between the 
rhythm and the melody of the composition, plus the tones 
achieved by the performers on the melodic instruments, plus the 
manner of playing the notes, plus the effects created by pauses, 
"breaks," etc. The result is an intoxicating sensation a sense of 
dancing breathlessly through space which may be felt by any 
willing listener. 

Now we're down to brass tacks. What, in musical terms, 
does the listener hear? 

The basis of swing is syncopated music in 4/4 time. In ordi 
nary 4/4 time that is, in folk and classical music the accent is on 
the first and ^hird of the four beats which make up the measure. 
In syncopation the accent is on the second and fourth beats (the 
offbeats) . 

The best jazz has the greatest amount of syncopation, while in 
commercial dance music the syncopation is weakened and sub 
dued. There is more to the story than that. It is possible to get 
strongly syncopated dance music which is not particularly good 
jazz. The question is what is happening on top of the synco 
pated 4/4 measure? 

in more detail later in his article. It is true, of course, that most of the' jazz heard 
by most people is not of the hot kind if hot jazz is taken to mean jazz containing 
varying degrees of that elusive element a sincere art-quality 



4Z Esquire's Jazz Book 

Above the bass-the unchanging, ever-recurring meter with its 
strangely upsetting offbeats-which is maintained by the rhythm 
section of the band, the melodic section plays music which is 
rhythmically contrapuntal to it. This means simply that the wind 
and reed instruments (trumpet, trombone, clarinet, sax) are creat 
ing a rhythm which is startlingly diif erent from the one laid down 
by the percussion group (drums, piano, guitar, string bass). The 
former are playing not just one but a whole sequence of different 
rhythms~an almost infinite variety of them in a single piece- 
which oppose or contrast with the base rhythm, yet correspond 
with it at certain definite points. 

Now you should be aware of one of the most striking distinc 
tions between jazz and the Guy Lombardo type of music. In 
Lombardo's band the melodic and rhythm sections usually play 
in exactly the same rhythm. Now, too, you should realize how 
jazz is distinguished from a piece of classical music which has 
contrapuntal rhythms. In jazz there is always an insistent rhythm, 
a rigid bass, against which the varying rhythms are played. But 
when there are contrapuntal rhythms in classical music, all the 
rhythms are varying: none of them persists unchanged through 
out the composition. (I know there are exceptions to this rule.) 

The importance of the instrumentalists who maintain the in 
sistent rhythm can't be overemphasized, for the forceful synco 
pation on which swing music is founded comes to a large degree 
from them. But they alone don't by any means make jazz. It is the 
work of the melodic section that really determines whether a 
band is swinging or not in other words, whether it is playing hot 
music or mere ting-a-ling. 

I spoke before of rhythms being created by the wind and reed 
instruments. The word "created" is the clue. The men perform 
ing on the melodic instruments are improvising. They are invent 
ing rhythms as they go along. Moreover, they are developing an 



Esquire on Jazz 7^54-7;^ 43 

original melodic line. Each man in a small band each group in a 
big one-is creating his own melodic line. But these melodic lines 
are not only rhythmically contrapuntal to the bass rhythm; they 
are contrapuntal, both rhythmically and melodically, to each 
other. So now you know what a musician thinks when he hears 
that phrase, "collective improvisation," which has been so glibly 
bandied about by people who haven't the slightest idea wliat it 
actually means. 15 

Think of what the improviser is doing. At the same time that 
he is creating an original melodic line, inventing. or adapting hot 
licks to the mood and tempo of the piece he is playing, he must 
keep in mind the tune he started out with as the harmonic back 
ground, for his improvisation is within the outline of the piece as 
written. His chords are developments of the written chords. If 
they aren't, they don't belong; they are forced, artificial, corny. 
In collective improvisation where there are several improvisers 
performing simultaneously (a jam session) he is not only listen 
ing to the base rhythm and remembering the written chordal 
structure, but is also subconsciously listening to the improvisa 
tions of the performers beside him. There must, after all, be some 
relationship between the various melodic lines; there must be 
agreements as well as contrasts in rhythm and melody. 

The crucial factor in the last chorus or jam session is the 
quality of the clash, known in music as cacophony. The melodic 
lines do conflict in places not because the players deliberately 
decide that that is what they want, but because that is the nature 
of the music. That is hot music. If you were to write a score 
which includes all the melodic lines, you would realize that its 

15 Note carefully the paragraphs immediately following. In his next article, which 
actually is Part II of this one, Rogers approaches jazz improvisation in more detail, 
argues that the jazz purists push the point too far. The word improvisation, when 
it is applied to jazz performances, requires an understanding of the limitations of 
the term so applie.d. See an article titled Musicians' Ignorance Shackles Jazz in the 
June, 1941, Music and Rhythm; another, Musicians Are Lazy and Jam Sessions Are 
the Bunk in the March, 1941, issue. 



44 Esquire's Jazz Book 

texture is genuinely polymelodic. Polymelody is music in which 
each of the parts being simultaneously played has a melodic 
significance, as distinguished from a homophonic treatment of 
music (a sonata, for example), where one part stands out as 
the prominent melody while the others are merely support or 
accompaniment. Now, in all polymelody there is cacophony, 
clash, discordant sound call it what you will. Isn't it curious, 
then, that critics should take cacophony for granted in, say, the 
music of Bach, but object to it in jazz? Is it because in jazz they 
have no discrimination don't know how to tell cacophony that 
is valid from that which is not? The question is plainly whether 
the discords are exciting, stirring or merely disagreeable. Simple 
examples, but among the best produced in recent years: Tiger 
Rag and China Boy by the Benny Goodman Trio; Runnin* Wild 
and Ida by the Goodman Quartet. 

Improvisation is the soul of jazz. Without it there is a body 
but no personality. Listen to a performance which hasn't got it 
(and what you're listening to is probably routine dance music), 
and you take nothing away; no emotion, no feeling of energy, 
no impression of character. It isn't necessary in fact, it's im 
possiblefor every man in a large band to improvise. Sometimes 
one man does it against the normal rhythmic background, while 
the other melodic instruments quietly support the rhythm sec 
tion. Sometimes an entire group does it: the saxes, perhaps, while 
the brass ensembles provide a harmonic accompaniment. No 
matter how it's done, the music called jazz its surprising, shock 
ing rhythms, its colors and fascinating contrapuntal effects is 
produced by improvisation. Without it the music is dull, flat, 
nerveless. It isn't jazz. 

At its best the improvisation is ephemeral. Take a man with 
a fertile imagination and great skill who is working with a con 
genial band, and after a while, when the atmosphere that is 



Esquire on Jazz 1934-1944 45 

generated is truly hot, when they are all playing with a passion 
and each is stimulating the other not only by his own invention 
but also by his elaboration of the other's rhythms and melodic 
figures, he will swing out in a burst of inspiration which comes 
straight from the heart. You must not be afraid of that sugary 
phrase. From the heart is precisely the way they play. Their 
emotions are intense in such a moment; they are feeling. You 
may say that they are simple people, that at least they are not very 
cultivated if they can be so moved by such music. Quite right. 
Jazz wasn't created by intellectuals. It was created by common 
folk. 

But since an appreciation of Mozart doesn't preclude an appre 
ciation of jazz, intelligent people can and do enjoy it. They do 
so not in a spirit of slumming, but because no matter how culti 
vated you may be you are also capable of unsophisticated emotions 
of raw tempers, simple melancholy, violent passion, and slap 
stick comedy, and even moments of vulgarity. And surely you 
are capable of being delighted and moved by fantastic musical 
colors and extremely complex yet basically savage rhythms. If 
you aren't, you are too refined to live in this world. 



HOW MUSIC GETS HOT 
by B. S. ROGERS 



(First published in May, 

IMPROVISATION from the heart can't be completely captured and 
set down on paper. How can the musician, after he has cooled 
off, recall in every detail his extraordinary hot licks? How can 
he remember exactly the way he sustained this note or shortened 
that one? The way he ornamented a written phrase with porta- 
menti? The way he graced certain notes? The way he put in 



46 Esquire's Jazz Book 

some notes and skipped others altogether? The way he paused 
here and there to create tension and suspense and break the 
rhythm? He can't. Given the conditions in which he first im 
provised, he will be able to play something that closely resembles 
his original performance. The repetition may be just as good or 
better or not so good, but whatever it is, it -isn't absolutely 
identical with the first effort. If you want to find out for your 
self, next time you are listening to a top, hot outfit ask the leader 
to repeat a number they have just played. Better still, compare 
Bix Beiderbecke's trumpet solos in the Memorial Alburn issued 
by Victor with the original releases of the same numbers. The 
critical pamphlet by Warren Scholl which accompanies the album 
explains the unusual situation: "It was quite common in 1928 
(when most of the records under discussion were made) to make 
several masters of every number, the orchestra playing its selec 
tion several different times and each performance being taken 
down on wax from which masters were manufactured. Then, 
if anything happened to the first choice masters, there would 
always be'two or three others from which to pick a second choice. 
Where straight dance or symphony music was concerned, the 
two versions of the same selection were practically identical, but 
in the case of extemporaneous hot music the story was a bit 
different because stars like Bix and 'Tram (Trumbauer) created 
something new every time they improvised around a given theme. 
Therefore, the release of a record pressed from an unused master 
is comparable to the issuing of a brand new record. . . . With a 
few exceptions, every record in this album has been pressed up 
from a master other than the one used originally." 

Obviously, jazz owes a great deal to the phonograph. In 
classical music a composition is made permanent by being written, 
and the performer's task is to interpret it as faithfully and intelli 
gently as he can, In jazz the composition is the performance 



Esquire on Jazz 1^4-1^44 47 

itself, so that the performer is everything. 16 His work, his con 
tribution to the musical idiom, can only be made permanent by 
the -wax platter. The phonograph has enabled men to improve 
their own licks: I have seen musicians listening to a performance 
of their own, studying what was wrong or stale and what was 
right or fresh, so they could develop further variations in phras 
ing .and produce a finer rendition of the particular piece. More 
over, I have seen young musicians (and older ones, too) play 
the records of the great instrumentalists over and over again 

16 This sweeping statement implies that neither composers nor arrangers have a 
place in hot jazz. Unless hot jazz is limited purely and entirely to performances 
by small instrumental combinations and there is no good reason why it should 
be this is not the case. Any attempt to categorize the vocalized Blues section of 
Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige or his Ko-Ko } Henderson's Rocky Mountain 
Blues, Goodman's Sing, Sing, Sing, the Berigan version of five Beiderbecke com 
positions, or any of scores of othersany attempt, I say, to put these down as ex 
clusively the efforts of performers and yet outside the realm of hot jazz because 
they fail to adhere to that narrow formula: such an idea must be labeled ridiculous 
and not in harmony with the facts. Duke Ellington is one salient example of a 
composer who 'writes and scores his music; true, it is scored for specific instru 
mentalists, but it is, nevertheless, scored and is dependent upon the performer 
only to the degree that a sonata or concerto are dependent upon performers; that 
is to say, for the interpretation. What Raymond Scott had to say on this subject 
in the November, 1940, Music and Rhythm bears directly on the issue. Scott put 
it this way, and there can be no .questioning his argument: "Jazz is too young to 
have developed the artistic technique of playing freely and gracefully from writ 
ten notes. Jazz playing is not a technique that has been going on for hundreds 
of years. It has not yet developed the skill to interpret another's creation with 
the same complete abandon that improvisation inspires. . . . Improvised jazz is 
tailor-made jazz, in the sense that the player molds material of his own choice 
in his own way the way that is most natural and therefore easiest for him. But 
if written notes are not ideally suited to the mood and style and conception of 
the individual player, the quality of his true artistry is revealed by the degree of 
warmth and electricity with which he plays the notes. It takes years to develop a 
tradition of that kind: a lot more years than it has taken to produce a Coleman 
Hawkins, a Sidney Bechet, or a Louis Armstrong. Assuming the mechanical expert- 
ness of their reading ability, these men could undoubtedly touch off another's crea 
tion with the spark of genuine artistry. ... It is quite probable that jazz will 
develop a tradition of a sort in another generation. It will be in the hands of the 
composers (for the creation of written works) and the players (for the technically 
correct but warmly emotional interpretation of them). Composers really are impro- 
visers who create more slowly, more carefully, than the spontaneous jazz impro- 
viser. But the great jazz player, the natural jazz player, can take the composer's 
annotated 'improvisation 1 and make of it a thing of beauty." 



48 Esquire's Jazz Book 

to study what the latter did and how their stuff could be adapted 
to different styles. The phonograph has also enabled musicians 
to imitate the styles of their betters, and even to memorize com 
plicated original licks-and there is a great deal to be said in 
favor of this practice, for a secondhand good job is better than 
a firsthand bad job. Without such imitation the achievements 
of the foremost improvisers could not have been absorbed into 
the necessary tradition of swing. 17 

But I do not want to carry this thing too far. Mr. Scholl did, 
I think, in the passage quoted above. While it is true that a hot 
improvisation can't be completely recaptured, a competent musi 
cian can repeat himself closely enough so that the average listener 
won't be affected by what differences there may be between the 
two jobs. After all, such matters as the length of a pause and the 
shortening of a note are rather subtle, and only an experienced 
listener can detect and react to them. Sometimes, in fact, a 
melodic line is so simple in structure, so emphatic and clean-cut, 
that the musician can remember it perfectly, although his delivery 
may vary in intensity from one performance to the next. A 
striking, clearly outlined phrase can, indeed, be written quite 
satisfactorily. 

It is also worth noting at this point that a written score can 
direct and control improvisations. Indeed, the performance of a 
large band, containing something like three trumpets, two trom 
bones, and three or four saxes, is almost inconceivable without 
such a score. Thus, an arranger like Fletcher Henderson or Duke 
Ellington will not only indicate where a solo improvisation should 
occur and for how many bars, but will also write in the harmonic 
chords for the soloist's guidance. That is just to say, an outline 

17 Rogers' emphasis is well placed. Probably no hot jazz instrumentalist exists 
that will not freely admit that phonograph records have inspired him that what 
began as imitation ended in the creation of a personal individualized style of playing. 



Esquire on Jazz 2^34-1^44 49 

is provided a pattern which enables the soloist to improvise 
music which bears some sought-after relationship to the music 
being played by the others (both individuals and groups or sec 
tions). Without that annotated chordal structure, the perform 
ance would probably be a mess, for you can't expect eight or nine 
wind and reed instruments to wander around and still make sense. 
But this should not be misunderstood; arrangers or composers 
of hot music don't write melodic lines for their soloists, but 
merely the material from which the soloists can get off. 1 



' 18 



This brings up a question: why improvise? Most people who 
have only recently "discovered" swing put the question this way: 
why does a jazz musician take a popular song and make some 
thing so different out of it that you can't recognize the tune 
he started out with? Benny Goodman once answered it by saying 
that after a musician has played a tune over and over again what 
can he do but "kick it around"? Although that confirms my 
remark about jazz performers being bored with straight playing, 
it doesn't really answer the question. It does, however, hint at 
part of the answer by implying that Tin Pan Alley melodies 
are usually such poor stuff that they can't stand up under frequent 
repetition. They are too obvious, monotonous, and therefore 
dull. This gets us to the real answer: the performers are musicians. 
They want to create; they want to speak out for themselves; 
they want to test, exploit, and develop the potentialities of their 
instruments; they want to arouse the audience by the new and 
interesting things they do. There are great traditions behind them 

18 True; but as already suggested, the get-off is merely the instrumentalist's inter 
pretation of the composer's musical idea, and the effectiveness with which the 
idea is conceived bears a direct relationship to the artistic unity of any given piece 
of jazz music. Of course, as Rogers proclaims, the quality, or lack of quality, of 
the original composition has a great deal to do with the validity of complete free 
dom of interpretation by the instrumentalist (as in the case of current popular 
songs), or the more disciplined effort to interpret a composer's conception of a 
qualitative melody (as in the case of an Ellington). 



50 Esquire's Jazz Book 

for all of this, but my point is made when I repeat that Tin Pan 
Alley manufactures pretty poor stuff. The average commercial 
melody is rarely as interesting as the original melodic line in 
vented by a good performer in a hot jazz band. Anyone who can 
read music will agree. 

Here the question naturally arises: what is good improvisation? 
How does one tell good improvising from bad? The answer, 
briefly, is that the performer's melodic line must be both interest 
ing and logical. It must be logical not only in the sense that it has 
a definite connection with the harmonic base provided by the 
written tune, but also in that its own development is a convincing 
progression from the phrase with which he gets off. If it isn't 
logical in the latter sense, it is a broken or distorted line. What 
makes it interesting is variety in phrasing (which is to say that a 
given combination of notes must not be repeated too often) 
plus rhythmic variety. That is about as technical as I can be in 
my desire to define the simple statement that his melodic line is 
interesting when it is at once pleasing and stimulating. With a 
little experience and a fair ear, you should be able to tell it. 

The only thing that remains to be said is probably the most 
important thing of all. Our discussion of swing has so far dealt 
chiefly with its form and contents; now we must consider its 
voice. For music, like oratory, is not only something said, but 
something said in a certain way; and since (perhaps not altogether 
unlike oratory) it appeals exclusively to the emotions, the manner 
of delivery is crucial. 

The manner of delivery in jazz has been given a descriptive 
label: "the hot intonation." This way of playing has several 
remarkable features. To begin with, the way a note is attacked 
in jazz differs sharply from the way it is attacked in classical 
performance. In the latter the attack is gradual in volume but 
constant in pitch, and the change in volume is upward from 
soft to loud. In jazz both volume and pitch change; the note 



Esquire on Jazz 1934- 1944 51 

is attacked full, then diminished in volume, while the pitch 
drops too. The second point is the technique of slurring, i.e., 
sliding from one note to another without the slightest pause. 
In classical performance, on the other hand, each note is attacked 
individually and cleanly. What results from the jazz technique 
is the sounding of tones which are foreign to classical music. 
The smallest recognized interval in Western music is the semi 
tone. But when you pass from one note to the next without 
pausing, as you do in jazz, you pass through the quarter-tone, 
eighth-tone, sixteenth, etc. Thirdly, there is the extremely im 
portant phenomenon of vibrato. In classical performance vibrato 
is permitted only to the string instruments. The brasses and reeds 
are strictly disciplined to play without benefit of the pulsating 
quality which gives a musical sound its tension its nerve, so 
to speak. 

To describe the effect of this way of playing music to 
describe, that is, what the listener hears is scarcely possible. 
Certain things we can indeed pick out: the introduction of frac 
tional tones, especially quarters and eighths, is strange and dis 
tinctly stimulating; the vibrato of the wind instruments imparts 
a feeling of suppressed passion; the barely perceptible diminuendo 
which follows each note is subtly suggestive of melancholy. But 
the total effect is something that must be left to the individual. 



MUSIC AFTER MIDNIGHT 

by JAMES W. POLING 

(First published in ]une, 1936) 

jMusic is a generic term covering a multitude of sounds. Some 
people take their music in the form of opera, some prefer sym 
phonic music, others are aroused by a hillbilly band and, I am 



52 Esquire's Jazz Book 

told, there are even those who go for crooners* in a big way. 
Since I am fairly catholic in my tastes, I can listen to any of these 
forms of music without experiencing active nausea. But, for my 
money, give me hot music, music with a swing. Music after 
midnight. 

You might call it jazz. I don't. Jazz has become an ambiguous 
phrase. Today jazz means different things to different people. 
A decade or so ago jazz music and hot music were synonymous. 
To the knowing, jazz will always refer to a particular type of 
music which, in order to differentiate, I must call hot. But the 
majority of people today call any form of popular dance music 
jazz. And, sad to relate, far too much of what is commonly 
called jazz is, in my book, corny stuff played in the groove by a 
long-underwear gang. When I refer to jazz music I mean the 
red jazz and not the synthetic stuff which is customarily passed 
out to today's unsuspecting and gullible public. 19 

Hot music requires an appropriate setting. Informality is the 
keynote of this setting. Your own home or apartment will do 
nicely. Otherwise I prescribe the followinga small, intimate 
club, crowded, usually to the point of actual discomfort, and 
hazy with smoke. The hour is already later than is good for 
you; so, in resignation, you decide to stay a couple of hours 
more. After all, if you are going to feel bad on the morrow 
you might as well be thorough about it. When you look at the 
swizzle stick in your hand you realize, with perverse pleasure, 
that you've already given your wrist more exercise than your 
head will approve of. So you tell the waiter, "Another of the 



same." 



19 Ever since the mid 1920'$, jazz has meant many things to many people, and it 
is doubtful if today, any less than in June, 1936, when this article was written, or 
1928 when Guy Lombardo was the rage, the general public differentiates precisely 
between types of popular music and their relative artistic merits. Swing and sweet, 
however, have become widely accepted categories: broadly speaking, the former 
includes hot jazz. 



Esquire on Jazz 1 934-1 944 53 

And, what is all important, on the platform at the end of 
the room is a jam band that knows its way to town and evejry 
member of that band is a brilliant soloist who, when told to 
get off, is a genius at producing hot "riffs." Perhaps the band 
itself will be backed up by a singer who knows how to swing 
and how to sell his stuff. 

In other words, a hot spot. 

When I say that most of what passes as jazz today is corny 
stuff, I am applying to it the most scornful phrase in the musi 
cian's vocabulary. To define it succinctly, corny (derived from 
"cornfed") means out-of-date, rustic, old fashioned. A long- 
undergear gang is a sweet band, a band that specializes in music 
fit only for amorous morons and as a background for nasal-toned 
crooners. 

The band of my heart's desire knew, I said, its way to town. 
In other words it knew syncopation and how to play it properly. 
Each member of that band when told to get off when given 
an unscored solo break (as a matter of fact a jam band always 
plays without scores) can produce "riffs" inspired, improvised, 
syncopated musical phrases. And the singer with the outfit can 
do with his or her voice just what the soloist can do with his 
instrument, he can give. Hot music is a music of the soul. No 
musician, no matter how accomplished technically, can play hot 
unless it is in him, unless it is in his blood, his heart, his soul. 

The hot man, when he goes into one of those spontaneous, 
highly syncopated solos, is as intoxicated with his music as is his 
appreciative auditor. 

Hot doesn't necessarily refer to music that is loud and fast; 
it may very well be soft and relaxed. Hot refers to a musical 
idiom and attitude, not to a tempo. The lifeblood of hot music 
is ad lib variations on a simple theme; counterpoint, particularly 



54 Esquire's Jazz Book 

of the fourth or syncopated variety, involved harmonies, and 
syncopation, in which the accent is shifted to the unstressed part 
of a beat or measure. 

Hot music is generally polyphonic music composed of melo 
dies that support one another, as contrasted to hornophonic music 
in which the melody is supported by chords. 



BLUES ARE THE NEGROES' LAMENT 
by E. SIMMS CAMPBELL 



(First published in December, 

FIRST off, let me say that I am no musical critic, neither do I 
look upon myself as a fumbling layman appreciating the Blues 
form in American music from the pew of an enthusiastic but in 
coherent follower of Le Jazz Hot, that strange hybrid that has 
ripened in France under the aegis of Monsieur Hugues Panassie, 
who has an ear to the ground as well as an ear for Le Jazz Hot. 
Not that M. Panassie is insincere; neither are " jitterbugs" insin 
cere, but an intellectual approach to Blues that borders on the 
ridiculous with the attendant erudite mumbo-jumbo, is doing one 
of the purest forms of American music much more harm than 
good. 

It is not necessary to form a cult, to read hidden meanings 
and mystical expressions as well as pretentious symbolism into 
something as elemental as Blues. 

Books, essays and reams of scholarly European treatises have 
been written extolling jazz, the Blues and all of the music that 
American Negroes have written and played and it can only 
be forgiven because of the grossest ignorance on the part of 
intellectuals who delight in faddism. 



Esquire on Jazz 19 3 4- 1944 55 

There was in this country a "Negro Renaissance" as they 
called it when every Negro who was literate was looked upon 
as a "find." New York in 1925 and '26 was the hotbed of Intel 
lectual Parties where Negroes who were in the theatre were 
looked upon as social plums, and the dumbest and most illiterate 
were fawned over by Park Avenue Negro Art had arrived 
African Art Negro music with Carl Van Vechten, recently 
turned candid camera addict, as its Jehovah. I know what I am 
talking about because I attended many of these parties and the 
"Intellectual stink" could have been cut with a knife a dull 
knife. 

The Blues are simple, elemental they have the profound 
depths of feeling that are found in any race that has known 
slavery and the American Negro is no stranger to suffering. Out 
of the work songs and Spirituals that they sang sprang this 
melancholic note rising in a higher key because of its very in 
tensity and enveloping the Spirituals because of its very earthiness. 

One cannot continually ride in chariots to God when the 
impact of slavery is so ever-present and real. 

"Some day ah'm gonna lay down dis heavy load gonna grab 
me a train, gonna clam aboh'd gonna go up No'th, gonna 
ease mah pain- Yessuh Lord, gonna catch dat train" this isn't 
mystical. It was the cry of a human being under the lash of 
slavery of doubts of fears the tearing apart of families the 
caprices of plantation owners these hardships of slavery all fusing 
themselves together to burn into the Negro this blue flame 
of misery. 

And yet it was never a wail, but a steady throbbing under 
tone of hope. "Times is bad but dey won't be bad always" is the 
lyric carried in a score of Blues songs times are tough but 
somehow, somewhere, they'll get better. 

"Gotta git better 'cause dey can't git w'us" stevedores sweat 
ing on the levee, chain gangs in Georgia, cotton pickers in Ten- 



56 Esquire's Jazz Book 

nessee, sugar cane workers in Louisiana, field hands *in Texas, all 
bending beneath the heel of Southern white aristocracy, the 
beautiful "befo de wah" South of the crinoline days. 

One might as well be realistic about slavery. The South was 
as cruel as any Caesar to its slaves and many slaves were as 
vindictive as any Richelieu to their masters, but both sides have 
profited. Without pain and suffering, there would have been no 
Blues; and without an understanding white America, there would 
have been no expression for them. And now-what are the Blues 
and into what category of music do they fit? They are not 
Spirituals and they are not work songs nor do they fit into the 
pattern prescribed by many musical critics as folk music in a 
lighter vein. 

To me they are filled with the deepest emotions of a race, 
they are songs of sorrow charged with satire, with that potent 
quality of ironic verse clothed in the raiment of the buffoon. 
They were more than releases, temporary releases from servitude. 
The Blues were the gateway to freedom for all American 
Negroes. In song, the Negro expressed his true feelings, his hopes, 
aspirations and ideals, and illiterate though many of them were, 
there was a spiritual and ennobling quality to all of the music. 
True, many of the Blues lyrics are downright vulgar and the 
suggestive quality has crept in with the passing years, under 
standable enough when you realize that many audiences, both 
white and colored, wished to find those meanings in them. As 
paid entertainers, Negroes were only catering to popular taste and 
the taste of the American public in the mauve decade was de 
cidedly that of a slumming party toward any reception of Blues. 

They did not wish to hear lamentations in any form; they 
wanted something "hot" knowing nothing of Blues other than 
that they were "dirty"-- they received what they expected. As 
court jester, the Negro had long since learned that his very 



Esquire on Jazz 1934-1944 57 

existence depended upon his ability to please the white man. 
One was either a "good nigger," who acquiesced to the wishes of 
the plantation owner or overseer and lived, or a "bad nigger," 
one who had decided ideas about what he would or wouldn't 
do and who usually died. 

A race that has been continually on the defensive for so many 
years has developed a keen sense of impending danger and the 
Blues grew out of this form of protection. 

Melancholy though they were, they .could be interpreted a 
hundred ways, but the circumstances under -which they were 
sung had everything to do with their proper interpretation. 

Basically, the Blues are similar to Spirituals and it is important 
to note that the musical bars are practically the same length. 
For those musically minded, take the song Minnie the Moocher 
or St. James Infirmary. The Spiritual H old onKeep Your Hands 
on the Plow is identical with them and it was written more 
than forty years ago. There is a definite pattern to the Blues, 
just as there is for poetry and other forms of creative expression 
that have survived the centuries. 

The Blues-always consists of 12 bars the C yth after the first 
4 bars the F chord and the remainder of the piece is essentially 
the same. An original Blues composition must be original in the 
first four bars, the next four bars are merely relief then one 
returns to the major chords. 

Often one hears pieces on the radio termed Blues which are 
merely hybrid products because some well-known orchestra 
insists on stepping up 12 bars to 24 or even 32. 

This is Swing as we know it today, but it has nothing in 
common with the Blues, and as Clarence Williams told me, 
"the flavor and color are taken from the Blues 'when one tries 
variations and liberties with their original form." 20 

20 Present day "variations and liberties" with the original Blues form cannot 
properly be described as having "nothing in common with the Blues." Campbell's 



58 Esquires Jazz Book 

Clarence Williams is now a music publisher in New York 
who has written hundreds of Blues and who I think, as do many 
of America's finest musicians, is the greatest living Blues writer. 
If you know Blues at all, I'll give you a few of his compositions 
and then perhaps you'll know this man better. He wrote Sister 
Kate, Royal Garden Blues, Gulf Coast Blues, West End Blues, 
Sugar Blues, Squeeze Me, I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None 
of My Jellyroll, I Can't Dance, and that greatest of all Blues, 
unless, of course, you are a St. Louis Blues fanatic, the piece 
Baby, Worit You f lease Come Home. 

When he was fourteen he wrote the Michigan Water Blues: 

"Michigan water, taste like champagne wine 
Michigan water, taste like champagne wine 
Ah'm going back to Michigan 
To see that gal of mine . . ." 

This naturally led us into a discussion of the fact that Blues, 
as we know them today, were always written about love, some 
one's baby leaving him, hard luck dogging one's trail and the 
"misery ? roun yo door." "It's the mood," he exclaimed. "That's 
the carry-over from slavery nothing but trouble in sight for 
everyone there was no need to hitch your wagon to a star 
because there weren't any stars; you got only what you fought 
for. Spirituals were the natural release Times gonna git better 
in de promised Ian' -but many a stevedore knew only too well 
that his fate was definitely tied up in his own hands. If he was 
clever and strong, and didn't mind dying, he came through- 
point is well made, however, since the popular conception of the Blues (notably 
the white man's conception) is at variance with the facts. Nevertheless, any honest 
artistic attempt to -utilize and extend the material found in original Blues forms 
represents a legitimate and widely recognized use of such musical sources. Being 
indigenous to our country, the sincere jazz composer has every right to draw upon 
these original sources. No musicologist would deny that right, nor could he, 
historically, maintain any other position. 



Esquire on Jazz 1^34-2^44 59 

the weak ones always died. A Blue mood since prayers often 
seemed futile, the words were made to fit present situations that 
were much more real and certainly more urgent. Ef ah kin jes 
grab me a handfulla freight train ah'll be setalways the urge 
to leave, to go to a distant town, a far city, to leave the prejudices 
and cruelty of the South. Superstition played its part too a large 
part black cats, black women, conjures, charms, sudden death, 
working in steel mills, cotton fields, loving women, fighting over 
women, all of the most intimate and earthly pursuits." 

I asked only one question and that question started a discussion 
that ended when the neons began to blink over Broadway and 
45th Street and the taxi horns aroused us from a bygone period. 
I started "Mr. Williams, if you were a white man, you'd prob 
ably be worth a million dollars today, wouldn't you because 
the radio and motion picture rights as well as all mechanical 
rights to all of your songs would be copyrighted you'd have a 
staff of smart boys working for you, ferreting out tunes and 
buying them for a song from colored fellows who had no musical 
education and you'd never have a material care in this world- 
think hard now wouldn't you have rather been born a white 
man?" 

He laughed out loud uproariously,. and replied, "Why, I'd 
never have written Blues if I had been white you don't study 
to write Blues, you FEEL them. It's the mood you're in some 
times it's a rainy day cloud mist just like the time I lay for 
hours and hours in a swamp in Louisiana, Spanish moss dripping 
everywhere, but that's another story it's a mood though white 
men were looking for me with guns I wasn't scared, just sorry 
I didn't have a gun. I began to hum a tune a little sighing kinda 
tune you know, like this . . ." 

Clarence Williams was seated at the piano and his large 
muscular fingers began to caress the keys eerie chords rumbled 



60 Esquire's Jazz Book 

along he sang "J es as blue as a tree an old willow tree- 
nobody 'roun here, jes nobody but me" the melody trailed off. 
"Never wrote that down, never published it either. I don't know 
why I'm playin' it now." I didn't intrude on his thoughts. "You 
never knew Tony Jackson, did you no, of course not; you 
were too young" Williams was not conscious of my presence in 
the room. He talked and played. I listened. 

Tony Jackson was probably the greatest Blues pianist that 
ever lived. He was great because he was original in all of his 
improvisations a creator a supreme stylist. This all happened 
thirty years ago when the wine rooms flourished. 

New Orleans was the focal point for Negro musicians, all 
of them coming down from the various river towns, but par 
ticularly from Memphis and St. Louis, on the many boat excur 
sions that would wind up in the delta. Blues was looked upon 
as "low music" forty years ago because its greatest exponents 
were hustlers and sports, itinerant musicians who played in river 
joints and dives because these were the only places sympathetic 
to their type of playing. Negroes have always loved the Blues, 
but in attempting to imitate the white man, many of them were 
trying to stamp out of their consciousness this natural emotional 
tie because of its background of slavery. 

Cities and towns figure in the names of so many Blues because 
the writers of these pieces were definitely associated with the 
towns. In these early "jam sessions," many of them held in these 
wine rooms in New Orleans, individual musicians would compete 
with one another. They came from the length and breadth of 
the Mississippi and their styles of playing were as different as 
the sections of the country from which they came. Boogie 
Woogie piano playing originated in the lumber and turpentine 
camps of Texas and in the sporting houses of that state. A fast 
rolling bass giving the piece an undercurrent of tremendous 



Esquire on Jazz 29 34- 1944. 61 

power power piano playing. Neither Pinetop Smith, Meade Lux 
Lewis nor Albert Ammons originated that style of playing they 
are merely exponents of it. 

In Houston, Dallas and Galveston all Negro piano players 
played that way. This style was often referred to as a "fast 
western" or "fast Blues" as differentiated from the "slow Blues" 
of New Orleans and St. Louis. At these gatherings the ragtime 
and Blues boys could easily tell from what section of the country 
a man came, even going so far as to name the town, by his 
interpretation of a piece. 

In 1896 Tom Turpin his full name was Tomas Million 
Turner, of St. Louis had published the Harlem Rag, the Bowery 
Buck, the Buffalo, and Scott Joplin had just written the Maple 
Leaf Rag. This was white America's first introduction to ragtime, 
which was patterned after the Blues. The Blues were so essentially 
a part of Negro life that many musical pioneers rightly felt that 
America would not accept them, thus this offshoot, ragtime, 
which did happen to strike the public's fancy. 

It was gayer and was more in keeping with the mood of the 
American white man. Blues were always played among Negroes, 
seldom among white audiences; when they were played, they 
were set apart as the piece de resistance of the evening. 

The first Blues singer on a record was Mamie Smith and the 
first band to play Blues on a record was the white Dixieland 
Jazz Band, an aggregation of young white men who had perfected 
the Negro style of playing. 21 From 1919 through the 1 920*5 were 
the boom years for the Blues. The five Smiths were among the 
greatest single artists to interpret the Blues for the country. They 

21 Contemporaneous with the Original Dixieland Band and even preceding it to 
New York was the Louisiana Five, another white jazz combination of New Orleans 
origin. It is probable that these two groups waxed their first records about the 
same time. See the March, 1941, Music and Rhythm for a complete story of The 
Louisiana Five. 



62 Esquire's Jazz Book 

were all Negro women and were not related in any manner, 
either by family or by their varied vocal interpretations. 

Mamie, Bessie, Laura, Clara and Trixie were their names, 
and today among musicians and lovers of the Blues, the hottest 
type of argument may be started over the respective merits of 
the five. Bessie Smith is usually given credit for being the greatest, 
but to single any one out for that honor would not be fair. As 
I have mentioned before, style was important and, whereas Bessie 
Smith would sing certain numbers with all of the pathos and 
feeling that a certain Blues number required and would wring 
the song dry as it were, Mamie Smith could do certain Blues 
numbers much better in her own style. Bessie Smith was the 
depressed, mournful type her Blues were eloquent masterpieces 
of human misery bordering on the Spirituals she was Blues 
personified. 

She had a powerful voice and she sent her music in great 
waves of misery over audiences. Her Empty Bed Blues and 
Backwater Blues will forever remain classics. 

Mamie Smith, and this is purely a personal opinion, had much 
more music in her voiceshe might be compared today with 
Ella Fitzgerald in her rendition of certain numbers. 

Another great Blues star was Sara Martin, who had a flair 
for the dramatic. In a darkened theatre, with only candles on 
the stage, she would begin to wail in a low moan "Man done 
gone got nowhere to go." She literally surged across the stage, 
clutched the curtains in the wings, rolled on the floor, and when 
she had finished, the audience was as wilted as she. 

As I started this article, I wished to tell of the St. Louis, 
Kansas City and Chicago periods of the Blues. Gazing open- 
mouthed, watching beads of perspiration pour off the head of 
a trumpet player by the name of Louis Armstrong while he 
played a new piece called the Heebie Jeebies. The night King 



Esquire on Jazz 19 3 4- 1944 63 

Oliver started his famous talking on a trumpet, actually preach 
ing a sermon with it. I wished to tell about the old Vendome 
Theatre in Chicago. 22 The night there was that great fight on 
the steamer, St. Paul, an old paddle wheeler out of St. Louis 
with Fate Marable's band playing. Five miles downstream a knife 
fight started and the boat wheeled around to put ashore. 

Of such stuff are musicians made. They had come up in the 
toughest of all schools they had played the levee front from 
one end to the other night life, sporting houses, gamblers, 
rounders they knew them all. 

"And today," broke in Clarence Williams, "their music is 
played in Carnegie Hall before a selected group; one sees many 
a full dress, high hat, ermine wrap there, you know." We had 
been exchanging experiences, talking nothing but the Blues for 
over five hours and the lights of Broadway were beginning to 
flash. I made another false start to leave, although I really didn't 
want to leave when the door was quietly opened and a straight, 
elderly, copper-colored man walked in. 

"I'd like you to know Reese DTree," he said. I shook hands 
with the man, and I could see a look of resignation in his face; 
he seemed very tired and worn. Williams went on "Reese D'Pree 
wrote a number about forty-three years ago, wrote it in Georgia, 
Bibb County to be exact will you tell Campbell about that piece, 
Reese?" In simple language he told me of the number he had 
written and sung made money on a ship in 1905, wearing a 
chef's cap and apron and singing his song. He used to sing it at 
pound parties in the South pound parties were community affairs 
given by Negroes at that time where one would bring a pound 

22 Here Erskine Tate and his Vendome Syncopators held forth for nine con 
secutive years, parading a veritable Who's Who of Jazz Greats. Yet the band re 
corded but four sides, only two of which showed the group at its best. Such is the 
loss of perspective when recordings alone form the basis of jazz history and 
criticism. 



64 Esquire's Jazz Book 

of "vittles" of anything edible, a pound of chitterlings, of pigs' 
feet, of hog maw, barbecue, butter anything that contributed 
to the feast. It was a simple little piece but everywhere he went, 
they wanted him to sing it. At the present time he is having 
copyright trouble D'Pree did not impress me as being a wealthy 
man but the song must have earned over a million dollars for 
someone. Possibly you've heard it too it's called Shortnin' Bread. 
Reese D'Pree loves the Blues as much as Clarence Williams, and 
I will always remember what that man told me about what the 
Blues meant to him. "Son," he said, "the Blues regenerates a 



man/' 23 



TWELVE RECORDS AND EXILE 
by ROBERT COFFIN 

(First published in September, 1943) 

AHE BIBLE tells us that when Sodom and Gomorrah were de 
stroyed, God saved the innocent and allowed them to flee the 
cities. Three years ago something of the kind happened in Bel 
giumthough when Hitler took over not all the innocent were 
able to flee. Luckily, I escaped. The penalty I paid was to lose 
my collection of 3,000 phonograph records. 

I have never bought a phonograph record since that day. But 
I've often wondered, if I were able to go back for, say, twelve 
records, without turning into a lump of salt, which ones I would 
choose. Could I choose twelve jazz records which I would listen 
to fifty years hence without shuddering? And how would I 
choose them for the tune itself, for the arrangement, for the 

23 This article the same season as it appeared in Esquire, served as a chapter in 
Jazzmen, edited by Charles Edward Smith and Frederick Ramsey, Jr., and pub 
lished by Harcourt, Brace & Co. Jazzmen is generally recognized as one of the 
most authoritative source books in the jazz field. 



Esquire on Jazz 1934-1944. 65 

solo artist? Taste in jazz music is as personal as the contents of 
a man's trousers' pockets. This list of mine may be "expert," 
but it could cause another expert acute pain. 

Original Dixieland Jazz BandTiger Rag, Ostrich Walk. 

New Orleans Rhythm Kings Sttmme-Sha-Wabble, That Da-Da 

Strain. 

Original Wolverines Shimme-Sba-Wabble, The New Twister. 
Louis ArmstrongWest End Blues, Fireworks. 
Louis ArmstrongS'foTz^ Just a Gigolo. 
Louis Armstrong Confessin\ 
Duke Ellington- Tiger Rag (Parts I & II). 
Duke Ellington / Don't Mean a Thing, Rose Room. 
Chocolate Dandies Got Another Sweetie Now. 
Chicago Rhythm Kings/ Found a New Baby, There'll Be Some 

Changes Made. 

Mound City Blue Blowers One Hour, Hello Lola. 
Eddie Lang-Joe Venuti All Star Orch. Beale Street Blues. 

I asked six jazz specialists both men who make music and 
men who tear it apartwhat twelve records they would take were 
they fleeing from this or that wicked city. The first to be ques 
tioned was the urbane Duke Ellington. 

"Well," said the Duke thoughtfully, "I'd take Ravel's Daphnis 
and Chloe; Delius' In a Summer Garden; Debussy's La Mer and 
Afternoon of a Faun; and the Planets Suites . . ." 

On closer questioning he admitted he would take a few jazz 
records. "One of Art Tatum's records any one" and the rest 
would be: 

Coleman Hawkins' Body and Soul. 

Berigan's I Can't Get Started. 

Artie Shaw's Nightmare. 

Fats Waller's Fm Gonna Sit Right Down & Write Myself a 

Letter. 
Sidney Bechet's The Moocbe. 



66 Esquires Jazz Book 

Willie Smith's What Can I Do with a Foolish Little Girl Like 

You? 
Duke Ellington's Something to Live For. 

"About that record of my own," Duke explained. "I like it 
for the singing by Jean Eldridge." 

Art Hodes, the noted pianist, took just five minutes to make 
up his list. Though he's a Chicago pianist, not a single Chicago 
style record is included. Hodes likes the Blues and the old style 
of the men around King Oliver: 

King Oliver Canal Street Blues, Dipper Mouth Blues. 

Ma Rainey Black Bottom, Georgia Cake Walk. 

Bessie Smith Yellow Dog Blues, Soft Pedal Blues. 

Louis Armstrong Strutting 'with Some Barbecue. 

Louis Armstrong Lonesome, All Alone and Blue. 

Sippie Wallace Have You Ever Been Do f um, Dead Drunk. 

Pinetop Smith Boogie Woogie, Pinetop's Blues. 

James P. Johnson Snowy Morning Blues. 

Albeit Wynn Down by the Levee, Parkway Stomp. 

Johnny Dodds Weary Blues. 

Jelly Roll Morton-Black Bottom Stomp, The Chant. 

Jelly Roll Morton Kansas City Stomp, Grandpa's Spell. 

Both Hodes and Leonard Feather, radio emcee of WMCA'S 
Phtterbrains jazz quizz, swing critic for Look, Metronome and 
other publications, chose their records~for~exile with an eco 
nomical eye. They selected not so much the best records ever 
made, but the best couplings. Most of Feather's list below are 
more or less obtainable and all are stand-outs on both sides: 

Louis Armstrong West End Blws, Muggles. 
Barney Bigard Minuet in Blues, Barney Qoirf Easy. 
King Cole Trio S<weet Lorraine, This Side Up. 
Duke Ellington The Flaming Sword, Warm Valley. 
Duke Ellington Portrait of Bert Williams, Bojangles. 



Esquire on Jazz 1 934-1 944 67 

Duke Ellington Crescendo and Diminuendo in Blue. 

Duke Ellington Battle of Swing, Jazz Potpourri. 

Benny Goodman Quintet (with Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wil 
son)/ Cried "for You; Goodman Trio Where or When. 

Billie Holiday (with Shaw, Berigan) Billie's Blues, Summertime. 

Jimmie Lunceford Uptoim Blues, Put It Away. 

Metronome All Star Band (with Harry James, Cootie Williams, 
J. C. Higginbotham, Benny Goodman, Benny Carter, Cole- 
man Hawkins, Count Basie, etc.) One o'Clock Jump, Bugle 
Call Rag. 

Muggsy Spanier Relaxin' at the Touro. 

Teddy Wilson Quartet (with James, Norvo) Just a Mood (I 
& II). 

Art Tatum & Band (\jpth Joe Turner) Wee Baby Blues, Battery 
Bounce. 

Tenor saxophonist Eugene Sedric never heard of Sodom but 
he did know twelve good records. Sedric formerly played with 
Fats Waller and is rated by Panassie as second only to Coleman 
Hawkins. His list is no amateur's catalogue; Sedric is a technician 
and though a wonderful improvisor, he prefers organized jazz 
to the pure jazz of improvisation: 

Louis Armstrong My Sweet. 

Casa Loma For You. 

Tommy Dorsey Lonesome Road. 

King Cole TrioHoneysuckle Rose. 

Duke Ellington Slapping *jth Avenue with the Sole of My Shoe. 

Fletcher Henderson Whiteman Stomp. 

Jimmie Lunceford Tm Nuts About Screwy Music. 

Paul Robeson Water Boy. 

Fats Waller A Million Dreams of You. 

Paul Whiteman Rhapsody in Blue. 

Teddy Wdson-Don't Blame Me. 

George Frazier, who has written on jazz for music magazines 
but is currently working for Life, said, "No arrangements. No 



68 Esquire's Jazz Book 

modern-style swing. Just sentiment and spontaneity." With these 
twelve examples of pure jazz, Frazier would be banished, smiling: 

Armstrong 2V0 One Else But You. 

Armstrong Tight Like This. 

Mildred Bailey Honeysuckle Rose. 

Bix Beiderbecke Sorry. 

Berigan / Can't Get Started. 

Chicago Rhythm Kings Therein Be Some Changes Made. 

Eddie Condon BalHri* the Jack. 

Duke Ellington Jungle Blues. 

Earl Hines A Monday Date. 

Bessie Smith Give Me a Pigfoot. 

Count Basic Quintet Lady Be Good. 

Jess Stacy Barrelhouse. 

Charlie Barnet, a bandleader whose popularity blooms like 
a hardy perennial, spoke for modern swing. A glance at his list 
of "twelve records I would take from Sodom" tells where Barnet's 
band gets its musical inspiration: 

Duke Ellington Lzg&mzV. 
Duke Ellington Echoes of Harlem. 
Duke Ellington Cotton Tail. 
Duke Ellington The Gal from Joe's. 
Duke Ellington Warm Valley. 
Duke Ellington Tie Flaming Sword. 
Duke Ellington Roc kin' in Rhythm. 
Duke Ellington Sepia Panorama. 
Louis Armstrong Knockin* a Jug. 

Charlie Barnet- You're My Thrill; Afternoon of a Faun; Daphnis 
and Chloe. 



Chapter IV 

Collectors: Personalities and Anecdotes 

For more than four years the author of this chapter has con 
ducted a column. The Hot Box, given over entirely to the 
interests of the hot record collector. Twice a month, through 
the pages of Down Beat, he had f written of new discoveries of 
a Bix or Louis chorus, of a corrected personnel on this or that 
record, of the special interest and preferences of hundreds of 
collectors scattered throughout the world, and of dozens of 
other newsy and informative subjects of particular value to the 
hot collector His reader reaction has been strong: he has drawn 
enormous quantities of mail so much that it would require a full 
time job to carry out the required research in answering ques 
tions. Here he has set down his own brief reflections on the jazz 
collector, with mimerous accompanying stories and many sound 
suggestions. He has appended a short list of highly desirable 
collectors* items, selected mainly by numerical groupings for 
the purpose of wide coverage. 

by GEORGE HOEFER 

IT HAPPENED in a small New England village a few years back 
during the frantic hunt for old jazz records. Our vintage jazz 
collector had just spent an hour going through a nest of records 
from which he had extracted one lone platter, a recording of 
Loveless Love by Jack Teagarden's Orchestra on the rare Crown 
pressing. The junk shop proprietor had watched the proceedings 
with suspicion and misgivings. When our bland record devotee 
offered the sum of five cents for the single item, the dealer's 
endurance suddenly snapped. Down cracked the priceless Tea- 
garden upon the knee of the irate junk dealer. Without a word, 

the jazz record collector strode out of the shop sadder but wiser. 

6 9 



70 Esquire's Jazz Book 

This experience depicts a typical occurrence during the pioneer 
days of collecting hot in the middle thirties. 

The advent of war and its attendant scrap record drives have 
put limitations on the old methods of record collecting. Long 
gone may be the rugged collecting modes of the last ten years, 
but not gone is the pioneer collector. Today the seasoned jazz 
collector has his shelves complete or nearly complete with files 
of his favorite jazzmen and jazz bands. He frequents the stage- 
bars where well known jazz names are featured and allows as 
how what's his name's chorus on the last number was not up to 
par as evidenced by his work on shelf L album 75 waxing 7. 
If the old-time record-ferreter disdains to undertake a little foot 
work on the old junk shop beat, he soon gives up in disgust 
when the dealer announces that he has sold the pile of wax to a 
music store for scrap. This selling has brought in more to the 
secondhand dealer than did the old rate schedule of from three 
cents to a dime per platter in effect when record hunters worked 
the sidewalk furniture line. In fact, some of the wiser collectors 
themselves are unloading hope waxing* as scrap at two cents each. 
These are the sides originally picked up with a blind hope of 
finding a hidden pearl in the form of a Louis or Bix chorus on 
some disguised band title. The smart collector if contemplating 
a junket out of town now knows enough to eliminate from 
consideration any town serviced by Greyhound bus. Back in 
1937-38 William Russell and his Hot Record Society associates 
covered the hinterlands like dew with a carefully prepared list 
of dealers and a GreyKound ticket* 

The old mimeographed record list priced according to the 
vendor's whims has now been replaced by the printed auction 
list with minimum bids, the record going to the highest bidder 
which on certain rarities has reached a sum of sixty-five dollars. 
This disposal method has helped some collectors to realize a 



Collectors: Personalities and Anecdotes 71 

considerable sum before going to war many prominent ones 
are now in the armed services. However, the majority of the 
soldier-collectors have cached their platters away until better 
days. The famous Sullivan collection in Chicago now reposes 
in a storage warehouse the rarities therein unsullied by needle. 
Harry Lim's enormous record library in Batavia, Java, is prob 
ably being looked upon as an inscrutable oddity by the hara- 
kiring Japs. 

The collecting field began to get a little crowded during 
the waning weeks of the record bonanza days. Even a city the 
size of Chicago wasn't large enough to hold all those on the 
search when out of town collectors began to move down 
Cottage Grove Avenue. As much as a collector enjoys meeting 
his compatriot for a chat and trading, the get-together must 
be on neutral ground. The enjoyment does not hold when col 
lector A comes upon collector B going through a pile of wax in 
Flo's Re-sale Shoppe that A had always considered his own 
private property out on lease to the dealer. The usual query 
when entering a used furniture emporium changed from a polite, 
"Have you any old records?" to "Got any records, Jack, and 
has anybody been in looking?" Eventually, after an eight hour 
foray, the catch would be just one questionable item. There had 
been days when following a short visit to one shop a collector 
would get*on a street car with a pile of wax too high to see over 
and then would leave behind records that he'll pay five dollars 
for today. 

The fraternity of big time collectors brought together in 
mutual interest as variegated a group as there are walks of life. 
Different in a thousand ways, these individuals share a character 
istic sameness in regards to their hobby. This heterogeneous group 
is identical in its lack of race discrimination and its passion to hear 
jazz regardless of circumstances. A record classic might be 



72 Esquire* s Jazz Book 

cracked, or fuzzy to the point of noise; a joint might be a little 
rough on a tough side street, but the jazz enthusiast will brave 
these things. The group has long outgrown the cult stage, with 
the field beginning to become broken up into separate types. 
Rabid devotion to the hobby was a characteristic of the late 

thirties. 

A Cleveland collector who once worked as a mail clerk on 
the Twentieth Century Limited has retired to quiet married life 
with his Armstrong collection complete. He used to arrive in 
Chicago at 9:30 A.M. on the Century. From the station to the 
south side record marts he made a straight line and didn't stop 
collecting until 3:30 P.M. when the Century headed east to New 
York while he sorted mail all night. This same procedure would 
take place at the other end with his sleeping layover allotted to 
the acquisition of jazz. Every third day would be spent sleeping 
in Cleveland. Another Cleveland collector no sooner completed 
an Armstrong file than he started accumulating a duplicate Louis 
catalogue for playing purposes. Even Army life didn't prevent 
Oak Park Charlie Mitchell from completing an Ellington collec 
tion six months after joining the busy Army training program. 

The collector's frugality of the early period became a subject 
for cartoons in the jazz magazines. He was pictured filching 
needles from a music counter while asking for a record he per 
fectly well knew to be unavailable, or sitting on one beer in a 
cabaret all night while asking the bandleader for a tune said 
leader regretted recording fifteen years before, or pestering some 
star sideman for a record personnel on a record the sideman 
didn't know he was on. The jazz collector is not necessarily 
eccentric but he is most certainly colorful. A Texas rancher- 
collector upon arising before dawn closes a switch on Ellington's 
Cotton Tail while dressing for a busy day covering a vast ranch. 

Most collectors take their acquiring and exchanging of items 
quite seriously. There have been trading sessions that have reached 



Collectors: Personalities and Anecdotes 73 

an intense and frictional heat. A great many trading deals are 
handled by mail and generally there have been very few at 
tempts to take advantage of this sight unseen method by mis 
representation of condition. The most satisfactory trading method 
is on a record for record basis, but the scarcity of duplicates 
makes it harder and harder to accomplish this. In many cases, a 
method by which one collector offers or accepts one rare item 
for a batch of mediocre items has been resorted to. Sometimes 
the entire floor of a room is covered with wax plates being 
balanced for a grand trade. A little less valuable item here to 
balance off that record which is a little better than that other one, 
ad infinitum. A collector might trade off a valuable rarity but if 
he sells it for cash he is frowned upon. 

There isn't an occupation or profession that has not produced 
collectors. An insurance agent out collecting farm premiums 
winds up with the back seat of the car full of records; a business 
executive passes up the convention banquet to go out to hear 
an old-time jazzman play his horn; a civil engineer for a railroad 
gets train passes to extend his collecting operations; a draftsman 
surveys and maps a town block by block for record hunting 
purposes; a librarian edits and publishes a collector's catalogue; a 
newspaperman writes articles pertaining to the game of collect 
ing hot. 

Back in 1940 an unhappy collector's wife protested emphat 
ically: 1 Married a Wax Head. Writing in Music and Rhythm, 
the collector's mate cried out against finding wax platters in her 
oven (warped records are heated in an effort to straighten them 
out it doesn't work) and the incessant resounding from her 
home of unhappy clarinets, famished horns, and that rhythm 
beat. She asks, "Don't they ever vary that thump-thump?" Di 
vorces have been granted on discord due to the unsympathetic 
feeling regarding jazz. On the other hand there have been exam 
ples of a very happy married life based on a mutual interest in 



74 Esquire's Jazz Book 

collecting jazz. There are several collecting teams made up of 
husband and wife. 

With the passing of the old collecting days, the bigtime 
collectors are branching out into other phases and angles. Phil 
Featheringill of Chicago, besides operating the Session Record 
Shop, takes moving pictures of jazzmen in action. Gordon Gul- 
lickson of Washington, D. G, a statistical wizard, publishes The 
Record Changer, a monthly pamphlet that has replaced Charles 
Delaunay's Hot Discography. (Collectors have memorized this 
work.) Another statistical giant is John Phillips of St. Louis who 
develops charts and questionnaires aiding and abetting the facility 
of collecting. John Steiner, a chemist, and Hugh Davis, an engi 
neer, both of Chicago, have perfected recording apparatus to the 
nth degree. They have built up a marvelous library of original 
recordings made on the spot in Chicago bistros where jazzmen 
of note have been playing. Their portable equipment is familiar 
to most bartenders. Hot jazz collectors were called in to testify in 
the recent litigation between RCA- Victor vs. Decca & Columbia 
regarding the use of the red label. Edwin "Squirrel" Ashcraft 
before his enlistment in the Navy held open-house on Monday 
nights for jazz instrumentalists in the Chicago area. Jam sessions 
lasted from ten P.M. to noon the next day. Lawyer Ashcraft 
rarely invited piano players to his bashes for he himself usedto 
play piano with the Wolverines on gigging dates and still enjoys 
sitting in. Paul Eduard Miller, a jazz student who really cannot be 
called a collector because he bought the records when they came 
out, continues to write innumerable articles on jazz based on first 
hand information derived from actual contact with jazz bands and 
jazzmen during the Golden Age in Chicago. Miller as a youth 
was on the scene (few jazz writers and critics can match that) 
when Oliver played the Plantation, Noone the Apex, Cook the 



Collectors: Personalities and Anecdotes 75 

Dreamland, Tate the Vendome, King Louis the Sunset and Savoy, 
and when Bessie picked up those half-dollars from the dance floor. 
Other collectors have been writing columns in trade papers, 
editing and publishing jazz magazines (a mania that has taken the 
foreign collectors by storm) or conducting jazz record programs 
over the radio. Bill Love, a civil engineer for the Louisville & 
Nashville Railroad, in conjunction with a Nashville, Tenn., 
librarian, helped edit and publish a Collector's Catalogue in 1942. 
A University of Washington student, who -collected jazzpiano, 
is now holding down the piano chair in Jack Teagarden's Orches 
tra. Ben Lincoln, a furniture buyer, and Dan Qualey, a New 
York City bartender, have both issued records on their own 
private labels. Orin Blackstone of New Orleans, a city editor 
of the Times-Picayune, is an accepted authority on New Orleans 
musicians and records. Les Zacheis, an Iowa jeweler, is a Bix 
Beiderbecke specialist. William Russell of Pittsburgh has traced 
the boogie woogie style of piano from A to Z, as well as com 
pleted historical research of importance on New Orleans music. 
Mitchell's complete Ellington collection is one of the seven 
wonders of jazz. Harry Avery of California and Phil Diamond, a 
University of Michigan, professor-collector, concentrate on white 
groups using all-Negro band recordings to trade for their fond 
Red Nichols combinations. Likewise, there are the collectors 
of nothing but the great colored jazz bands and they won't keep 
a Nichols except to trade off for their own specialty. George 
Beall of Detroit and Ken Hulsizer of the U. S. Army have 
dedicated themselves to obtaining all information possible on the 
little known jazzmen and records made under blind titles. 

As a consequence of a centering of New Orleans musicians 
in Chicago with the ever present local students who are to later 
become famous as the Chicagoans, there was developed a potential 
market for recordings along the southwestern tip of Lake 



76 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Michigan. This record buying market was much stronger at the 
source than anywhere else in the world. A great many, if not 
the majority, of classic jazz records, were recorded originally in 
Chicago. In fact, the race catalogue (from which a good many 
jazz records were released) of the various now-gone recorders 
was made up of waxings cut in Chicago studios. Located right in 
the Loop or close by were the Okeh, Paramount, QRS, Bruns 
wick- Vocation, Autograph, and Columbia studios. The Gennetts 
were made a few miles east of the State Street sector in Rich 
mond, Indiana. It is logical to assume that recordings sold better 
where the public knew something about the artists involved. 
Riding on the "L" one Sunday, through the south side tenement 
district of Chicago, Sullivan, the cartoonist-collector, was heard 
to remark, "Man, if I could only go through those flats with a 
search warrant." 

Collecting in Chicago was most profuse on Cottage Grove 
Avenue, south State Street from 2 2nd to 55th, and the Maxwell 
Street market section. It wasn't until later that the collector was 
forced to resort to the single, out-of-the-way, used furniture 
store or Salvation Army-Goodwill dump. Cottage Grove Avenue 
from 35th to 4yth streets was one solid mass of junk shops door 
to door. These shops had victrola records stowed away in every 
imaginable corner, in cylindrical cans, on shelves, in phonographs, 
in trunks, and more were coming in each day. It was depression 
and south siders were selling their machines crammed full of wax 
for a few necessary pennies. Walking into one of these shops on 
a cold November morning, I found the owner huddled over a 
coal stove full of burning wax. He was using his pile of records 
for fuel. 

For a representative jazz collection on recordings it is neces 
sary, of course, to begin with the Original Dixieland Band on 
Victor; one of these should suffice, since the waxings of that 
band are not the kind that will stand repeated playings today. 



Collectors: Personalities and Anecdotes 77 

Chronologically, the Gennetts, 4000 and 8000 series on Okeh, 
the Columbia blue label "A" series, and the miscellaneous Para- 
mounts and Black Swans are next in line. They include the 
famous King Oliver band with Armstrong and Dodds and the 
great white band, The New Orleans Rhythm Kings, as well as 
The Wolverines with Bix and the Bix & His Rhythm Jugglers 
disc (all Gennetts) . The Okehs account for more King Olivers, 
the Clarence Williams Blue Five with Armstrong and Bechet, 
in addition to Blues vocals, many with accompaniments by great 
instrumentalists. The latter category are the Columbias, Para- 
mounts, and Black Swans, although some bands of importance 
appeared on them, too. 

During the 1925-30 period came the Brunswick 7000 race 
series, and the regular 3000 and 4000, and later 6000 series. Here 
we find the rare Jabbo Smiths, Mary Lou Williams' Night Life 
and Drag 'Em, all the early Five Pennies and Jungle Band 
(Ellington), and The Louisiana Rhythm Kings, Chicago Rhythm 
Kings, early Andy Kirks, and a host of other greats. On the 
Columbia black label of this period (series numbers from 100 
to about 1500) are the brilliant Fletcher Henderson recordings, 
some with Armstrong, all with Hawkins. Columbia's race series 
14000 and 15000 include the Bessie Smiths and many other Blues 
vocalists. The white label Vocalions (1000 to 1200 series and 
15000 series) boast the rare Erskine Tate Stomp Off and the 
Dodds New Orleans Stomp, both with Armstrong, in addition 
to the Plantation Club King Olivers, more Louisiana Rhythm 
Kings, the boogie woogie piano of Pinetop Smith, several fine 
solos by Jelly Roll Morton, the Apex Club Jimmy Noones with 
Earl Hines, and miscellaneous other bands and Blues vocals. Vic 
tor's race series (-38000 numbers) was instigated, accounted 
for many Ellington's, Jelly Roll Mortons, late King Olivers, 
McKinney's Cotton Pickers, and Fats Waller piano and organ 



78 Esquire's Jazz Book 

solos. Okeh 8000 and 40000-41000 embraced the Armstrong Hot 
Fives. The almost mythical Hines QRS piano solos were issued 
in the late twenties. 

The thirties decade brought Benny Goodman on 2000 and 
3000 Columbia series all are now sought after items, as are the 
Red Norvo Septet and Octet in the same series. More Fletcher 
Hendersons and some fine Blue Rhythm Bands likewise fall into 
this group. Many of the Brunswick 7000 and 8000 series are now 
collectors' items in the form of Ellingtons, Shaws, Norvos, etc. 
The Master and Variety labels came and went during the late 
thirties; they include Ellingtons and small Ellington combinations. 
And when the new Vocalion label shifted to new Okeh, and 
then discontinued entirely, the action created shorts in many 
items which already are in great demand as for example, Choo 
Berry's A Ghost of a Chance with the Cab Galloway band. 

Looking back, I think it's safe to say that a wise collector 
buys his records when they are issued. 



Chapter V 

Jazz Greats: Musicians and Bands 

The people most often talked about in jazz are its performers. 
Hot music adheres to high standards of performing excellence; 
an incompetent player could no more get a position in any of the 
foremost jazz bands than he could in a symphony orchestra. The 
jazz musicians mentioned in this chapter are all artists in their 
own right, playing hot jazz because they would rather be doing 
that than anything else. Their admirers, placing particular listen 
ing-emphasis on technical skill, are in fact much more critical of 
musicianship than the average concert-goer. An interesting by 
product of this critical sense in the listener is the stimulation and 
impetus to even greater achievement which it imparts to the 
musician. Instrumentalists playing to such appreciative and en 
thusiastic audiences often are inspired to unbelievable climaxes 
of endeavour. The hot fan is ardent in his likes and dislikes and 
frequently expresses his preferences in no uncertain terms, but 
by and large there is considerable corroboration of opinion as to 
which soloists are truly great. Here is the resume. 

by PAUL EDUAED MILLER 

VIEWED in perspective, the achievements of trumpeter Louis 
Armstrong mark him as a titan among the greats. No other 
single instrumentalist matches the influence which he brought 
to bear upon the hot virtuosi of the twenties and thirties. For 
many years his enormous stature as a performer was known 
chiefly to musicians; the limited public which heard him, mostly 
in Chicago nightspots and theatres, probably realized it was hear 
ing an inspired performer, but did not perceive the full measure 
of his greatness. This is not surprising. None of the great hot 

79 



8o Esquire's Jazz Book 

jazz bauds and instrumentalists of the twenties and early thirties 
received wide public acclaim; in each section of the country 
where hot jazz flourished, it remained the localized music of 
the night club, ballroom, and theatre patrons who supported the 
particular spots in which the music was played. Not until the 
year 1935 when Benny Goodman caught the fancy of a large 
general public did the national taste trend in popular American 
music move away from the stylized novelties of the sweet band 
to the individualized instrumentation of the hot band. Since then 
the interest in hot musicians, bands and records has grown at an 
ever-heightening pace. 

The awkward, gaudily dressed young man who traveled from 
New Orleans to Chicago in the summer of 1922 at the behest 
of King Oliver took his place as second trumpeter in the Oliver 
orchestra with becoming modesty and youthful eagerness. He 
was soon to make jazz history, but neither he nor the men who 
worked with him nor the musicians who heard him were think 
ing in such terms. They all lived their lives without premonition 
of what was to come; they took their music with undisguised 
fervor, played and listened that way, too. In such an atmosphere 
Louis Armstrong was nurtured and brought to musical maturity. 
By mid 1924, when he left Chicago to join Fletcher Henderson 
in New York, Armstrong already had left an indelible impression 
upon the musicians who had heard him. He had worked in perfect 
accord with Oliver: their trumpet duets on the Gennett and 
Okeh and Columbia Oliver recordings stand today as incon 
trovertible testimony to this fact. After a year with Henderson 
he returned to Chicago, soon began his recording series with his 
Hot Five and Hot Seven studio combinations. These waxings 
became immensely popular in the Negro sections of urban areas. 
But only the habitues of Chicago's night life heard the great 
trumpeter in person during the next three years probably his 
peak period. 



Jazz Greats: Musicians and Bands Si 

Although his recordings offer overwhelming evidence of his 
greatness, the inspired passion with which he played is fullest 
appreciated by those who heard him in person during those years. 
Night upon night and sometimes he even doubled theatres and 
cafes he executed solos with impeccable taste, originality of 
phrasing, conciseness of attack, mellowness and clarity of tone. 
His melodic lyricism was unbounded; the bubbling spirit of jazz 
was in him and he poured it out with unexcelled enthusiasm. I 
remember one occasion in particular when he was spurred to his 
mightiest heights. It was the summer of 1927 when for a short 
time he fronted his own band at the Sunset Cafe. Fletcher Hen 
derson's great band was playing an engagement at the Congress 
Hotel. The two orchestras were brought together at the Coliseum 
for what was then a common occurrence: a battle of bands. It 
was a titanic struggle; no decision was rendered, but the several 
thousand listeners who happily filled their ears with the hottest 
jazz obtainable needed no decision it was a draw. The men of 
both orchestras, pitted in competition, were inspired to their 
highest efforts: that, for Louis Armstrong, meant vital, driving, 
incredibly hot music such as is possible to achieve but rarely. 

Of the Armstrong recordings of the period, it is possible, 
I think, to select certain waxings as most typical those which 
display the greatest exuberance of his in-the-flesh performing. 
Among these, surely, are the crackling stomp tempos of Hotter 
Than That (Okeh 8535), Fireworks (Okeh 8597), Knee Drops 
(Okeh 8631), Monday Date (Okeh 8609), Mahogany Hall 
Stomp (Okeh 8680, reissued Columbia 35879), and Drop That 
Sack (Vocalion 1037). The slower-tempoed waxings, which are 
available in greater abundance, might well include West End 
Blues (Okeh 8597, reissued Columbia 36377), Savoy Blues 
(Okeh 8535), Wild Man Blues (Okeh 8474), Muggles (Okeh 
8703, reissued Columbia 36377), Gully Low Blues (Okeh 8474), 
and Melancholy Blues (Okeh 8496). These were all recorded 



82 Esquire's Jazz Book 

under Armstrong's name with the exception of Drop That Sack, 
which is listed as the work of LiTs Hot Shots, a studio pseudonym 
for the Hot Five. If one were to select a single great record 
from this group, it of course would be the classic West End Blues, 
in which the lyricism of Armstrong reaches an ultimate. As will 
be observed by reference to the Armstrong Bio-Discography in 
Chapter VIII, many waxings of a more recent date and therefore 
more easily obtainable will serve as an introduction to the trum 
peter's musical prowess. From a strictly critical standpoint, I 
think it can be said fairly that the Deccas and Victors do not 
match his Okehs; neither is the quality of the Armstrong band as 
a whole in the later platters comparable to other contemporaneous 
top-ranking bands. Nevertheless, among the more acceptable are 
Dipper Mouth Blues (Decca 906), Save It Pretty Mama (Decca 
2405), Struttin' with Some Barbecue (Decca 1661), and Baby 
Won't You Please Come Home (Decca 2729). 

In relation to Armstrong, no hot jazz trumpeter can point 
to such long and continued achievement on a high level of artistic 
performance. Since 1925 Armstrong has been one of the very 
few soloists who recorded regularly as a recognized leader and 
soloist. It may be argued endlessly that Armstrong is the greatest, 
and the points in his favor may be accumulated with ease for 
the very reason that his recordings stand as testimony. Since 
records have attained great historical value as an actual repro 
duction of how virtuosi actually sounded even though the 
musician may be dead or may have passed his peak periodthe 
fact that Armstrong has appeared on wax so profusely some 
times leads the more uninitiated jazz fan to a distorted perspective. 
Nevertheless, competition in the twenties was keen, and it can 
not be claimed justifiably that no other trumpeters ran him a 
close race. 

The fact that men like Bobby Williams, who played with 



Jazz Greats: Musicians and Bands 83 

John Wycliffe, and Joe Sudler, who played with Doc Cook, left 
no recorded transcript of their work does not mean that they 
drew less attention in the Chicago of the early twenties than did 
Armstrong. Ask the musicians who were active in those days and 
they will tell you not only about Sudler and Williams, but also 
about Freddie Keppard and King Oliver, about George Mitchell 
and Ruben Reeves and Bob Schaff ner. Oliver, of course, has been 
granted the recognition which he deserves; significantly, he too 
recorded profusely. In addition to his Gennetts, Okehs, Para- 
mounts and Columbias, he may be heard to good advantage on 
his white label Vocations his Plantation Club orchestra after 
Armstrong departed from the fold. Standouts among these wax- 
ings are Snag it /Too Bad (Vocalion 1007), Deep Henderson/ 
Jackass Blues (Vocalion 1014), Siigar Faot Stomp/ Wa Wa Wa 
(Vocalion 1033), Tack Annie /Wang Wang Blues (Vocalion 
1049), Black Snake Blues/Willie the Weeper (Vocalion 1112), 
and Every Tub /Showboat Shuffle (Vocalion 1114). These par 
ticular platters, I have observed, are underrated by collector-jazz 
fans; I think that one day they will be more highly regarded, 
since it was this band which formed the nucleus of the great Luis 
Russell aggregation of 1928-30. Snag It was reissued but recently 
on Brunswick; it is to be hoped that many more of these Olivers 
will be made available. 

More than any other early and already matured trumpeter 
who pointed his hot horn northward from New Orleans, King 
Oliver carried the genuineness of the jazz spirit and blew it with 
incomparable gusto into the willing ears of a small coterie of 
Chicago night lifers. The later Victor recordings of Oliver, 
waxed by pick-up studio combinations in both New York and 
Chicago, seldom feature the Oliver trumpet. By this time his 
health had begun to decline; he assigned the trumpet choruses to 
men like Louis Metcalfe, who in the face of die Armstrong ver- 



84 Esquire's Jazz Book 

sion, accounts for himself admirably on West End Blues (Victor 
38034). These Victor Olivers too offer enormously interesting 
jazz; a few have been reissued on Blue-bird, but the reissues now 
are unobtainable. As with the Vocations, I strongly recommend 
that the whole series be reissued, especially New Orleans Shout/ 
Nelson Stomp (Victor 23388) which is as rare as the QRS Hines, 
My Good Man Sam/Can I Tell You (Victor 38049) and Mule 
Face Blues/Boogie Woogie (Victor 38134), all of which are 
desirable items for the collector's library, since they feature ac 
complished soloists. 

Freddie Keppard, in addition to being a loud, dynamic open- 
bell trumpeter, was an intense personality, a character which 
reflected his time. Onah L, Spencer's excellent story about Kep 
pard appeared in the June, 1941, Music and Rhythm; it is a 
revealing and exciting tale. As for Keppard's ability, it cannot 
compare to Armstrong, of course, but it boasted a flavor distinctly 
reminiscent of the raucous Storyville days of New Orleans. 
Pungent, loud, but with abundant vitality and drive, his horn- 
blowing was a phenomenon not only of Chicago (1918-30) 
when he played with Sidney Bechet directly across the street 
from King Oliver and Johnny Dodds, but of the entire nation 
(1912-17) when he toured extensively with the Original Creole 
Band. His recordings are few. With Cook's Dreamland Orchestra 
he is featured on Moanful Man (Gennett 5373), Spanish Mama/ 
Here Comes the Hot Tamale Man (Columbia 727), High Fever/ 
Brown Sugar (Columbia 813); with Cookie's Gingersnaps, a con 
tingent of the large Cook orchestra, on Messitf Around (Okeh 
8390) and High Fever /Here Comes the Hot Tamale Man (Okeh 
8369). 

George Mitchell recorded extensively with the studio com 
binations of Jelly Roll Morton; he played his regular job with 
Doc Cook at Dreamland Ballroom and White City. His tone 
was plaintive, his phrasing exciting. The fact that for several 



Jazz Greats: Musicians and Bands 85 

years jazz collectors credited Louis Armstrong with trumpet 
solos actually played by Mitchell stands as genuine testimony 
to his playing qualities. The discs on which this error occurred 
were by the New Orleans Wanderers; the titles Gate Mouth/ 
Perdido St. Blues (Columbia 698) and Too Tight/Papa Dip 
(Columbia 735). Perdido has been reissued on UHCA 15-16. 
A good sample of his work with Morton is Grandpa's Spells/ 
Cannon Ball Blues, originally issued on Victor but reissued on 
Bluebird 10254. Bob SchafFner worked with King Oliver's Plan 
tation Club band (he's second trumpeter on the white label Vo- 
calions), Erskine Tate at the Vendome and Metropolitan Thea 
tres, Earl Hines at the Grand Terrace, and Dave Peyton at the 
Regal Theatre, to name but a few. He is featured on one record 
by Luis Russell, Sweet Mumtaz/2<?th and Dearborn (Vocalion 
1059). During his several years with Erskine Tate, Ruben Reeves 
played a sensational, high-speed, technically expert trumpet. He 
was well on his way toward becoming an established artist when 
he suddenly dropped from the musical scene. Under his own 
name, with a contingent from the Tate orchestra, he made four 
good sides: Zuddan/ Mazie (Vocalion 2723) and Yellow Five/ 
Nuts and Bolts (Vocalion 2638). 

In New York, too, the hot jazz combinations both large and 
small were spawning great virtuosi. Among the trumpeters of 
renown were Bubber Miley, Joe Smith, Tommy Ladnier, Rex 
Stewart, Bobby Stark, Cootie Williams, Red Allen, Sidney de 
Paris, Roy Eldridge. It would require pages fully to delineate the 
merits of these soloists. Each has carved a name for himself in 
the jazz Hall of Fame. Bubber Miley gained his high reputation 
for his plunger-growl style, later expanded and perfected by 
Cootie Williams both played with Duke Ellington. Miley was 
the possessor of a more fantastic and delicate approach to his 
interpretations than is Williams, and it is purely a matter of 



86 Esquire's Jazz Book 

personal taste when naming one as the preferred choice over 
the other. For simple lyricism Miley gets the nod, but in tense 
impassioned playing Williams surpasses him. No better compari 
son of their styles can be found than their interpretations of 
Black and Tan Fantasy. Miley's, found on Victor 24861, is filled 
with poignancy; Williams', on Master 8204 and 8063, strikes 
the same patterns with force, somber resentment and protest. 
More typical, perhaps, of Miley are Creole Love Call (Victor 
24861), Blue Bubbles (Victor 22985), and Doin' the Voom 
Voom (Brunswick 6807, reissued on Columbia 35208), all by 
the Ellington orchestra; and What Is This Thing Called Love 
(Victor 22746) and Without That Gal (Victor 24862) by 
Leo Reisman's orchestra. Williams is represented in many solos 
recorded with Ellington; see his Bio-Discography in Chapter VIII 
for list. In passing, Black Beauty (Vocalion 4958) and Echoes of 
Harlem (Brunswick 7656) might be cited as among the finest 
representation of the scope of his style. 

Out of the Fletcher Henderson band came Joe Smith, 
Tommy Ladnier, Bobby Stark, Rex Stewart, Roy Eldridge and 
Red Allen. The first two named played as a team in Henderson's 
great band of the mid and late 1920'$. Smith, sometimes called 
the Black Bix, was the greatest lyricist and melodist of his time. 
With a warm tone and broad legato phrasing he shaped his 
interpretations into songs of beauty; recorded examples: Have 
It Ready (1069), Tm Coming, Virginia (Columbia 1059); Sen 
sation/Fidgety Feet (Vocalion 1092, reissued UHCA 21-22), 
Livery Stable Blues (Columbia 1002) by Henderson; and Gee 
Ain't I Good to You (Victor 38097, reissued Bluebird 10249) 
by McKinney's Cotton Pickers. In the Henderson titles, Tommy 
Ladnier's hard-hitting trumpet easily may be distinguished from 
Smith's; both men alternated numerous solo spots on many Hen 
derson platters. However, Bobby Stark's phrasing and attack, 
similar to Ladnier's may be heard on the Henderson Feelitf 



Jazz Greats: Musicians and Bands 87 

Good/Oh Baby (Harmony 636), one of the finest examples of 
the rhythmic and solo power of Fletcher's 1927 band. Rex 
Stewart's style has undergone several changes since he launched 
his big-time career with Elmer Snowden in 1924. With Hender 
son he played tempestuous choruses, as witness Sugar Foot Stomp 
(Crown 3191) and The Stampede (Columbia 654, reissued 
Columbia 35669) in which he plays all the trumpet work except 
a chorus by Joe Smith, easily distinguishable as in the case of 
Ladnier. Stewart accounts for himself with credit likewise on 
Ellington's Merry -Go-Round, Boy Meets Horn, Buffet Flat, 
Giddy bug Gallop (in 1935 he joined the Ellington band) and on 
Do You Believe in Love at Sight with McKinney's Cotton 
Pickers (Victor 22811) a band with which he accomplished 
sensational work. Like Stewart and Cootie Williams, Roy Eld- 
ridge represents the more advanced technical facility of today's 
trumpeters. His forte comprises a rapid-fire high pitched 
frenzied tone with phrasing to match. A creditable all-around 
sample of his playing: Body and Soul/Stardust (Commodore). 
Red Allen, originating in New Orleans, touching Chicago and 
then New York established himself as a featured trumpeter with 
Luis Russell, with whom he recorded profusely, often under his 
own name; later he attached himself to the Blue Rhythm Band, 
Fletcher Henderson and Louis Armstrong. With the first three 
bands named he waxed, in order, these typical solos: Feeling 
Drowsy /Swing Out (Victor 38080), Ride Red Ride/ Congo 
Caravan (Columbia 3087), and Queer Notions/Can You Take It 
(Vocalion 2583), reissued Columbia 35671). A Don Redman 
alumnus, Sidney de Paris put some of his greatest solos on wax 
with McKinney's Cotton Pickers; he takes solos on all the Me- 
Kinney sides listed under Coleman Hawkins' Bio-Discography in 
Chapter VIII. Of this entire group of trumpeters, only Cootie 
Williams and Roy Eldridge are in the forefront today; but all 



88 Esquire's Jazz Book 

deserve a place in the jazz greats category, since their work might 
be considered as the backbone of modern trumpeting. 

There is one other Negro trumpeter, however, who needs 
attention before passing on to the great white horn-blowers. 
He is John Nesbit, who played and recorded with McKinney's 
Cotton Pickers (1925-30). As an arranger, a section man and 
soloist he offered inestimable support to the first great ensemble 
band of hot jazz. His all-around musicianship enabled him to 
execute his clipped, racy style of phrasing with undeniable ease; 
his tone was alternately lyrical and pungent. Even more than 
Joe Smith, perhaps, his style is reminiscent of Bix Beiderbecke; 
yet, so far as I know they had no direct influence upon one 
another. Of all the trumpeters thus far discussed (among those 
who recorded) Nesbit has been the most neglected. I -call atten 
tion to his best discs in the hope that others, too, will rate him 
as do I among the ten greatest of all time: Milenberg Joys/ 
Shimme-Sha-Wabble (Victor 21611) a classic, and the finest 
extant recordings of these tunes, notwithstanding the excellent 
Don Redman Bluebirds of the same two titles; Til Make Fun 
for Yon (Victor 38142), Zonky (Victor 38118), Stop Kidding/ 
Put It There (Victor 38025), Nobody's Sweetheart /Sighing and 
Crying (Victor 38000), Okay Baby (Victor 23000). 

Among the first of the great white trumpeters, Bix Beider 
becke played for a living during much of his musically active 
life with non-hot bands. That is why collectors prize the Paul 
Whiteman and Jean Goldkette recordings containing his brief 
solos in spite of the fact that little else of value appears on the 
discs. However, to obtain an accurately representative selection 
of his deep feeling and complete originality of phrasing and 
attack, one must seek out the platters he made under his own 
name. In particular I would suggest the Okeh titles: At the Jazz 
Band Ball/ Jazz Me Blues (40923), Since My Best Gal Turned 



Jazz Greats: Musicians and Bands 89 

Me Down/ Sorry (41001), Thou Swell/Somebody Stole My Gal 
(41030), Old Man River /W a Da Da (41088), and Rhythm 
King/ Louisiana (41173). Some of these have been reissued on 
both the Vocalion and Columbia labels. 

Just as Bix displayed a flair for contrapuntal, close-knit jam 
ming, so Red Nichols, another of the great white trumpeters 
of the twenties, possessed the same ability. The argument cannot 
be sustained with justification that he is a "mechanical" imitator 
of Bix; too many waxings exist to indicate that Nichols is no 
more imitator of Bix than Artie Shaw is of Benny Goodman. 
Red's work with the Louisiana Rhythm Kings for example, 
dispenses with the customary Nichols' refined and polished tone 
and goes gutbucket. Lady Be Good (Brunswick 4706), an un 
usually fine example, features two jam choruses in which Nichols 
leads the ensemble; no jazz trumpeter has ever done better on 
contrapuntal playing of this kind; the same may be said of his 
Panama/ Margie (Brunswick 3961, reissued UHCA 19-20) and 
Honolulu Blues/Oh Peter (Brunswick 6198), both under his 
own name. In fact, few are the waxings by The Five Pennies 
and the many pseudonyms under which they recorded in which 
Nichols does not come forward with an excellent lead horn on 
one or two jam choruses. The charm of his performing shines 
forth in River boat Shuffle (Brunswick 3627); it gives the inter 
ested listener an opportunity to compare his playing with Bix's, 
since the latter takes the solo in Frankie Trumbauer's version of 
the same tune (Okeh 40822). Both these Riverboat solos are 
great; they are distinctly individual; but one is not imitative of 
the other. 

Bobby Hackett is yet another trumpeter who has been likened 
to Bix. Hackett, to be sure, is lyrical, attains a clear, vibrant tone 
coupled with a legato attack; but like Nichols, he has absorbed 
whatever Bixian influence he might have felt and transformed 



90 Esquire's Jazz Book 

it into his own personal kind of interpretation. Listen to his solo 
in A String of Pearls (Bluebird 11382) by the Glenn Miller 
orchestra. Jimmy McPartland, who replaced Bix when the latter 
left The Wolverines, originated and developed a peculiarly per 
sonal style characterized by a harsh, almost vicious attack, but 
has proved on records that he also possesses a somewhat Bixian 
approach to certain melodies. Muggsy Spanier was deeply in 
fluenced by Armstrong; his 1940 recordings by his Ragtime Band 
on the Bluebird label conclusively prove this, A veteran of some 
20 years playing experience, he remained "buried" in the Ted 
Lewis orchestra too long to be counted as a contender for high 
honors among the greats. At the same time, his trumpeting is 
of a quality that catches the ear with an immediately recognizable 
something that is the jazz spirit. 

The work of men such as Billy Butterfield, Harry James, 
Gappy Lewis, Bernie Privin, Buck Clayton and Lips Page is 
suggestive of the really superior musicianship and ability of more 
than a score of others which a survey as limited in scope as is 
this one regrettably must pass by. Although to many it may seem 
that I have investigated hot trumpeters in some detail, the actual 
truth is that I have but given a hint of the richness that lies 
open to the jazz fan. But considerable detail has been sketched 
in with regard to some of the more important Negro hornmen, 
the intention being to probe at least one instrument with a 
breadth that will suggest the scope of the soloist in the other 
instruments of the jazz orchestra. With these I can only hope to 
very briefly discuss what in my opinion are the greatest. 

Even now I cannot leave the trumpeters until I have paid 
tribute to the greatest white trumpeter of the thirties Bunny 
Berigan whose solo work is found in recordings of his own band 
as well as those of Red Norvo, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, 
Gene GifFord and Mildred Bailey. Berigan played with a big, 
strong tone, always with an abundant quantity of that elusive 



Jazz Greats: Musicians and Bands 91 

thing which musicians call "feeling" or "soul." He attacked his 
notes and phrases with a pungency reminiscent of Bix, but 
Berigan created a sound which struck the ear with more telling 
and dramatic force than did Bix. Among the very finest Berigan 
solos: Davenport Blues/Flashes (Victor 26121), In the Dark/ 
Candlelight (Victor 26122) Jn a Mist (Victor 26123), Dixieland 
Shuffle (Brunswick 7858), Swanee River (Victor 25588), Cara 
van (Victor 25652), 1 Can't Get Started/The Prisoner's Song 
(Victor 36208 and 25728), Sobbin* Blues (Victor 26116), 
Blues /Tm Coming^ Virginia (Decca 18116) all with his own 
group; King Porter Stomp /Sometimes Tm Happy (Victor 
25090), Dear Old Southland/Blue- Skies (Victor 25136) with 
Benny Goodman; Marie/Song of India (Victor 25523) with 
Tommy Dorsey; Blues in E Flat /Bughouse (Columbia 3079 
reissued Columbia 36158), Honeysuckle Rose (Columbia 3059) 
with Red Norvo; Honeysuckle Rose (Decca 18108) and 
Squeeze Me (Decca 18109) with Mildred Bailey, 

It is not with the intention of precipitating a controversy, 
but simply and solely to offer some specific critical direction to 
the new listener to hot jazz, that I take the liberty of naming 
my choices for what I will call the All-Time Jazz Titans of the 
several instruments discussed in this chapter. With no order of 
preference meant to be indicated, here are the trumpeters: 

Louis Armstrong John Nesbit 

King Oliver Tommy Ladnier 

Bix Beiderbecke Bubber Miley 

Red Nichols Bunny Berigan 

Joe Smith Coolie Williams 

Considering that the trombone was one of the earliest featured 
instruments of hot jazz groups, it was not brought on par, tech 
nically, with the trumpet and clarinet until lateabout 1924, 
when Kid Ory (who solos on all the white label Vocalion 



92 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Olivers) and Charlie Lawson (She's Cryitf for Me/Capitol Blues, 
Vocation 1040, reissued Brunswick 80042 and 80039) led off in 
the right direction. My choices for the All-Time Trombone 
Titans: 

Jimmy Harrison Benny Morton 

Charlie Green Tommy Dorsey 

Jack Teagarden Jay C. Higginbotham 

Miff Mole Joe Nanton 

Claude Jones Lawrence Brown 

Harrison, Green, Morton and Jones stemmed from the 
Fletcher Henderson band. Green was a member of the band 
earlier than any of the other three. Musicians who worked with 
him claim that, like Harrison, he was a thorough, all-around 
musician, an expert reader, and possessed a powerful rhythmic 
drive coupled with a broad, open tone and pertinent attack. 
Only during the past several years have collectors become aware 
of Green, and even yet he does not receive the full measure of his 
recognition. Listen to these and judge for yourself: TNT /Caro 
lina Stomp (Columbia 509), Sugar Foot Stomp/What-Cha-Call~ 
Em Blues (Columbia 395, reissued Columbia 35668), Money 
Blues /P II Take Her Back (Columbia 383), and Stampede/ Jackass 
Blues (Columbia 654). Harrison brought this style to its fullest 
flower; as one musician who worked next to him in the Hender 
son band remarked: "When Jimmy played the whole joint 
rocked." The perfection which Harrison brought to his playing is 
adequately substantiated by St. Louis Shuffle /Variety Stomp 
(Victor 20944, reissued Bluebird 10246), Dee Blues/Bugle Call 
Rag (Columbia 2543, reissued UHCA 53-54), I'm Coming Vir 
ginia (Columbia 1059), and Sensation/Fidgety Feet (Vocation 
1029, reissued UHCA 21-22). Benny Morton and Claude Jones 
sat side by side on many Henderson recording dates, played 
alternate solos on the same platters. This happened on Sugar Foot 
Stomp (Melotone 12239 and Columbia 2513, recorded within a 



Jazz Greats: Musicians and Bands 93 

week on each other). The Jones style is characterized by staccato 
phrasing, usually rapid and broad and highly rhythmic; the 
Morton style by soft, extremely agitated, almost breathless, 
phrases, but like Jones, markedly staccato. In both these versions 
of Sugar Foot, Jones takes the first solo, Morton the second. 
It will be noted that it is difficult to distinguish between the 
two. With Henderson on Radio Rhythm (Brunswick 6176, re 
issued Brunswick 80037) Jones further portrays his manner of 
execution, as he does also in McKinney's Cotton Pickers diskings 
of Milenberg Joys (Victor 21611) and Peggy (Victor 38133). 
Morton is heard in his most typical style in the Don Redman 
/ Got Rhythm (Brunswick 6354). 

Miff Mole was at the front rank of the white trombonists for 
some years. The hundreds of waxings he made with Red Nichols 
divulge a refined but rhythmic singing style; his influence cannot 
be overestimated. Slippin* Around (Victor 21397) is a trombone 
solo all the way; he's at his peak, too, in Bugle Call Rag (Bruns 
wick 3490), After You've Gone/Someday Sweetheart (Columbia 
861), That's a Plenty (Okeh 41232), and Ain't Misbehavm* 
(Columbia 1891). Jack Teagarden made himself felt in the New 
York jazz circles of the late twenties. To this day he remains 
the greatest white exponent of the Blues. A sad vibrato and broad, 
lazy phrases characterize his recorded solos of The Blues (Varsity 
8218), Beale St. Bhies (Melotone 12277), Riverboat Shuffle 
(Decca 265), and Knockirf a Jug (Okeh 8703, reissued Columbia 
35664). 

Tommy Dorsey's playing derives from the Miff Mole style. 
Dorsey fully developed the straight legato singing possibEities 
of the instrument, became the master of an impeccable tone and 
smooth-flowing phrasing. Yet he is enough of an eclectic to 
"get off" on highly rhythmic choruses such as Beale St. Blues 
(Victor 36207), The Sheik (Victor 26023), Boogie Woogie 



94 Esquire's Jazz Book 

(Victor 26054), and Blues (Victor 25559). Lawrence Brown 
is his Negro counterpart. Like Dorsey, his versatility embraces 
velvet-toned singing choruses (Blue Light, Brunswick 8297) 
and easy-flowing rhythmic passages (Rose of the Rio Grande, 
Brunswick 8186 and The Sheik, Brunswick 6336). 

Joe Nanton and Jay C. Higginbotham both rest their ad 
mirable styles on highly individualistic methods. Nanton is the 
trombone counterpart of the Miley-Williams plunger-growl 
interpretations. Sad, frequently humorous, he expresses such 
dual moods in Saddest Tale (Brunswick 7310), Double Check 
Stomp (Brunswick 4783), and Mississippi Moan (Columbia 
1813). Higginbotham brought his own personal touch to a com 
bination of the Harrison-Morton-Jones styles. Smooth and 
relaxed, yet with a broad tone and pure phrasing, he's at his best 
in West End Blues (Victor 38034), Feeling Drowsy (Victor 
38080), Mugging Lightly (Okeh 8830), and Ease on Down 
(Vocalion 1579, reissued Brunswick 80038; the correct title is 
Ease on Down: misprinted originally, it was never corrected) . 

Always a favorite instrument with jazzmen, the clarinet never 
has claimed so many protagonists as today. The technical facility 
of the current clarinetists far surpasses most of the virtuosi of the 
twenties. Johnny Dodds, Jimmie Noone, Leon Rappolo, Larry 
Shields, Frank Teschemacher these men wrought great influence, 
and from a historical standpoint rank as important. But they 
cannot approach the flexibility, power, and technique even of 
contemporaries such as Edmond Hall, Clarence Hutchinrider, 
Albert Nicholas, Pee Wee Russell, Omer Simeon, Joe Marsala, 
Jimmy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Hank D'Amico, Bud Jacobson, 
Buster Bailey and Sidney Bechet. My selection of All-Time 
Clarinet Titans is few: 

Benny Goodman Barney Bigard 

Artie Shaw Irving Fazola 



Jazz Greats: Musicians and Bands 95 

With a crowded and highly competitive field, this choice is 
defended on the basis that these four men, having absorbed fully 
the tradition and spirit which preceded them, pushed the limits 
of their instrument farther than any predecessors. Within the 
confines of highly disciplined techniques, each interprets hot jazz 
with the firm hand of a master-virtuoso. The Bio-Discographies 
cite a multitude of recorded examples of the work of all save 
Fazola. He, unfortunately, is meagerly represented on wax, but 
when he played with Bob Crosby he demonstrated his ability in 
March of the Bob Cats, Milk Cow Blues, Palesteena, and Five 
Point Blues, all on 'the Decca label, and in / Know That You 
Know (Seger Ellis, Decca) and In a Sentimental Mood, Song 
of the Islands, and Deep Elm (Ben Pollack, Master). 

Another highly competitive field is that of the piano. Early 
jazz groups did not use the instrument at all, but finally it was 
granted a place in the percussion section. Not until the twenties 
when big hot bands began featuring it did it begin to assume the 
proportions (as a solo-orchestral piece) which it does today. 
Disregarding the ragtime pianists of the 1890'$ and the early 
bands which used no piano, it may be said that leaders such as 
Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Erskine Tate, Charlie Cook, 
Red Nichols were the first to bring the "88" keyboard into 
prominence. Erskine Tate, for example, between the years 1924 
and 1927 used four different pianists of ability: Teddy Weather- 
ford, Earl Hines, Jerome Carrington, and Cassino Simpson. Red 
Nichols allowed Arthur Schutt to take choruses; Cook called on 
Sterling Todd, and Henderson and Ellington carved out their 
own solo passages. Today the pianist in the average jazz band is 
looked upon with respect, and the pianist-leader has ceased to be 
an isolated phenomenon. About 100 hot pianists grace the con 
temporary scene; perhaps 20 possess talents which mark them oif 
as superior, but few are really great. The All-Time Piano Titans: 



96 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Teddy Wilson Earl Hines 

Johnny Guarnieri Bob Zurke 

Fats Waller Mary Lou Williams 

Jelly Roll Morton Art Tatum 

Of this group, Morton is the only one who did not perform 
in what might be labelled a "modern" style. To many listeners 
his recordings will sound dated, what the swing fans call "corny." 
Perhaps his playing does catch the flavor of ragtime; nevertheless, 
his was one of the most original talents in all jazz: both his piano 
execution and his melodic writing easily are distinguishable as 
wholly his own. Melodies flowed from his fingers, and in his long 
series of Victor recordings during the twenties these have been 
set down for all of us to hear. 

By most musicians Tatum is regarded as supreme but usually 
the qualification, "as a soloist" is made. Throughout most of his 
musical activities he has played alone, more recently with a trio 
of which he is the mainstay. His speed can be matched by none, 
although men like King Cole, Johnny Guarnieri and Bob Zurke 
come close. 

Earl Hines pioneered a style, carried great influence with 
other pianists, attracted attention to the instrument as a dynamic 
force in the jazz band. His Elite Drag (Brunswick 6345) exempli 
fies the latter characteristic. Bob Zurke to created an original 
style, but in addition is a fine all-around man, an excellent sight 
reader, a master-technician. Johnny Guarnieri is capable of yet 
greater electicism the greatest of all in that respect, which means 
that he can play in all the major piano styles as well, almost as 
well, or in some cases better than the man who originated them. 
His gigantic talents have yet to be "discovered." 

Mary Lou Williams, influenced by Hines, was playing with 
Andy Kirk as early as 1929. In that year she waxed Night Life/ 
Drag 'Em (Brunswick 7178, reissued Brunswick 80033) a solo 



Jazz Greats: Musicians and Bands 97 

coupling which through these 14 years has retained its vitality 
and freshness. Her playing today has the added grace of a mellow 
maturity coupled with thorough musicianship a quality which 
she has always retained. Affable, easy-going Fats Waller was an 
inherently natural artist. Like Morton, his playing-composing 
talents combined in many of his recorded worksmost of them 
for the Victor and Bluebird labels. With a full-bodied rhythmic 
technique that fairly crackled under his fingers, Waller invari 
ably played with forceful exuberance, 'giving off that illusion of 
inspiration and spontaneity which is the "secret" of every great 
performer. Teddy Wilson has it too so indeed do every one 
of the Titans I have named. The individual Wilson style, how 
ever, expresses itself differently: in sketchy lines with apparent 
simplicity, he has concentrated into his playing all the artistic 
good taste, finesse, and polish of which he is capable and yet has 
retained the elusive spirit of the jazz idiom. Those jazz purists 
who call him a "hybrid" are the kind of jazz fans who pray 
every night that no jazz instrumentalists ever will play a note 
differently than the "righteous" musicians of the twenties or early 
thirties the hard luck days played it. Wilson disked a long series 
of fine small combination studio pick-up bands, as well as some 
piano solos, for the Brunswick label; some of each have been 
reissued on Columbia. 

The saxophone first became widely used as a hot solo in 
strument about the same time as the piano. Altoman Jimmy 
Dorsey and tenormen Bud Freeman and Babe Russin were 
featured on The Five Pennies platters. But it was in great Negro 
bands of the late twenties that the much more musically mature 
reedmen were found. The Duke Ellington band claimed its 
Johnny Hodges, Otto Hardwick, and Harry Carney; the Chick 
Webb its Edgar Sampson and Hilton Jefferson, both of whom 
intermittently played with Henderson; the Luis Russell band its 
Charlie Holmes and Greeley Walton; the Fletcher Henderson 



98 Esquire's Jazz Book 

band its Russell Procope, Bennie Carter and Coleman Hawkins; 
the Jimmie Lunceford band its Willie Smith and Joe Thomas; 
the McKinney its Prince Robinson and Don Redman; the Erskine 
Tate its Omer Simeon and Cecil Irwin. During the thirties the 
white musician looked with a new interest on the saxophone; 
Charlie Barnet probably led off on both tenor and alto; close on 
his heels f oUowed Eddie Miller, George Add, Vido Musso, Herb 
Haymer, Dave Matthews. The Negroes of the thirties brought 
forth Herschal Evans, Lester Young, Buddy Tate, Tab Smith, 
Chu Berry, Dick Wilson, Ben Webster. From among these come 
most of the All-Time Saxophone Titans: 

Coleman Hawkins Ben Webster 

Sidney Bechet Bud Freeman 

Harry Carney Babe Russin 

Bennie Carter Joe Garland 

Don Redman Prince Robinson 

Jimmy Dorsey Chu Berry 

Johnny Hodges Willie Smith 

Charlie Holmes Eddie Miller 

For tenor saxophonists, Coleman Hawkins wielded the same 
broad influence as did Earl Hines for pianists and Louis Arm 
strong for trumpeters. Critical dispute is still rife about Hawkins: 
not about his stature as an instrumentalist, but concerning the 
relative merits of his various periods of development. Those who 
believe Hawkins is declining in stature can set forth a strong case 
to prove the point, citing in evidence the variance in performing 
quality of the records which he waxed over a period of some 
1 5 years. However, his phrasing maintains the sureness, flexibility 
and freedom of a mature artist who is completely confident of 
his ability . . . He grasps the melody and molds it to his own 
personal pattern. His phrasing is almost always strictly on the beat, 
invariably played in blocks of four measure phrases. This charac 
teristic is especially obvious on fast tunes; on slow ones, especially 



Jazz Greats: Musicians and Bands 99 

Blues numbers, his phrases are broader. Another Hawkins charac 
teristic is his tendency to play the notes of his four measure 
phrases in downward arpeggios. Almost always the notes go 
downward, the only exceptions being found in bridges, inter 
ludes or climaxes. 

Standout Hawkins choruses are: Ifs the Talk of the To r vm 
(Columbia 2825), Queer Notions /Can You Take It? (Vocalion 
2583, reissued Columbia 35671), Heartbreak Blues (Okeh 41566, 
reissued UHCA 55-56), One Hour /Hello Lola (Bluebird 
10037), Wherever There's a Will Baby (Victor 22736). 



Chapter VI 

Historical Chart of Jazz Influences 

In assembling a chart of influences such as appears on pages 
202 and 103, certain obvious difficulties md limitations at 
once are discernible. For purposes of clarification and simplicity, 
it was necessary to dispense with most of the direct lines of 
influence which one individual musicim may have brought to 
bear upon another, or upon an entire series of musicians. The 
chart traces the influences of organized bands only, and attempts 
no such herculean task as accounting for every change in per 
sonnel throughout the existence of such bands. It is doubtful 
if this could be accomplished in a mere graphic manner, md even 
if it could, the main-stem influences would be lost in a maze 
of historically unimportant bypaths. What is offered here is 
intended as a crystallization in perspective of a half century of 
jazz history and influences. That, if anything, is its value, par 
ticularly since the long-range view of jazz history seems to have 
been somewhat neglected even by genuine jazz enthusiasts. 

NEITHER ragtime nor jazz, nor yet swing, began abruptly or 
precisely at a given time. Although the divisions arbitrarily are 
fixed on the chart, they are in approximate conformity with the 
facts. Each major division, however, represents the gradual cul 
mination of all the influences preceding it. Wherever possible, 
intermingling of influences is indicated; hence, one line of influ 
ence readily may be traced back not only to its immediate 
predecessors but to many men and organizations. 

Evidence clearly justifies the statement that the spinal cord 
in the evolution of hot jazz and of swing, which resulted in a 
revaluation of hot jazz germinated and developed from Negroid 
roots. At least seven varieties of music left their mark on ragtime. 



100 



Historical Chart of Jazz Influences 101 

Spirituals, religious hymns and 'work songs long had been an 
integral part of the musical tradition of the Negro when Scott 
Joplin began to compose what was probably the first piano rag 
time of any real consequence. William Christopher Handy and 
Clarence Williams wrote down many of the traditional tunes now 
known as The Blues, while many others, some unknown, others 
now forgotten, memorized the melodies and passed them on to 
others in the same manner in which they were received. Coon 
songs in abundance were being written and performed just prior 
to the turn of the century by men such as Bert Williams, Chris 
Smith, Ernest Hogan, Cole and Johnson, and Irving Jones. But 
soon Under the Bamboo Tree and All Coons Look Alike to Me 
were succeeded by the ragtime numbers such as High Society 
Rag and / Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate, based on 
marches featured by the numerous brass bands prevalent in New 
Orleans. High Society, featured by every street band in the 
Southern city, remains to this day a widely known jazz tune; 
yet it originated from the piccolo part in a march selection. The 
quadrille, a popular dance of the time, afforded early ragtime 
musicians opportunity to insert into the "breaks" of the dance 
tune their own improvised cadenzas. It was in this way that Tiger 
Rag was conceived by whom no one seems to know. The 
quadrille, Get Out of Here, formed the basis for Tiger Rag, 
which at first was an unnamed melody referred to only by a 
number. Assiduous researchers have discovered other quadrilles 
which appropriated the same melody; here again the actual origin 
probably will remain forever a mystery. 

Paraphrased in today's language, Buddy Bolden's was the first 
name-band in the hot category to popularize jazz. Both as a 
trumpeter and as a leader he left a strong mark upon numerous 
New Orleans musicians. Sidney Bechet, who was growing into 
boyhood while the Bolden band still played in the Crescent City, 



HISTORICAL 
CHART OF 

JAZZ 
INFLUENCES 



Religious 
Hymns 

Spirituals 
The Blues 

Work Songs, 
Quadrilles 
Marches 

Coon Songs 




COMPOSERS 
ft PIANISTS: 


CALIFO^IA-1919: 
Kid Dry 
Spikes Brother 

Paul Howard 

<19J6-28) 

LesHiO 

(192343) 


>~ 






Scott Joplin 


M 


fc 


\ 

-4 

> 

* 


NEW YORK WHITE: 

091W4) 

Original Dixieland Band 
The Memphis Five 
The Cotton Pickers 
The Georgians 





I 


Louis Chauvin 
(SLloub-Oitims) 


I 






NEW YORK NEGRO: 
Jimmy Johnson 

(1915-30) 

Clarence Williams 

(1922-28) 

Johnny Dunn 

(1920-27) 

Fletcher Henderson 

(1923-43) 

Duke Ellington 

0923-43) 





I 


NEW ORLEANS-1920 
Mutt Carey 
Kid Ren> 


TomTurpin 

(SLUua-lh*lS(ri) 


I 


Tony Jackson 

(NewOihmto 
Chtaso-10) 


MEMBERS EAGLE & 
OLYMPIA 
TO CHICAGO-I917-I8: 

4- 


i 


I 


Jelly Ron Morton 

(New Otluiu-lSOS; 
SUtwijIl912; 
WiforeiiH-mJ) 


OHIO & DETROIT: 
McKinne/s Cotton Pickers 

(1920-34) 


King Oliver 
Sidney Bechet 

Johnny Dodds 

WSS3SS 




- 


CHICAGO WHITE: 
New Orleans Rhythm Kings 




1 OKEOBh 


W.C. Handy 

(Memphil ISOt 1 
Twri\Y.-19f 




W 





1 

NEW ORLEANS' BANDS: 


MEMBERS ORIG. CREOLES 
TO CHICAGO-1917: 


T 

CHICAGO NEGRO: 


The Tuxedo Orchestra 
PanaCdestm 

0915-35) 






Charlie Elgar 

(191S-28) 

ErskineTate 

(1918-3$) 

Charlie Cooko 

0918-30) 

John Wydiffe 
(1921-23) 

Bernie Young 

(1920-30) 

Bobby Williams 

(1921-23) 


T 


Jimmy Noone 

(1917-43) 
With Cooke-1322-25 
Own Bsnd-1927-43 
(IMtmltttntly) 

Freddie Keppard 

Own Binil-1926-30 


The Eagle Band 
The Olymoia Band 

(1911-18) 






t 


Original Creole Band 




* 


w 


WHITE BANDS 
TO CHICAGO-1914: 


Jack (Papa) Laide 

(1890-1900) 




T 

KANSAS CITY & ST. LOUIS: 


' 


k 


Buddy Bclden 
08SM905) 


Original Dixieland Band 

(1)14-24) 
IoNewYotk-1916 


Bennie Mcten- 

(1920-34) 

Charlie Oath 

(1919-30> 

FateMarabla 

0920-30) 

Oewey Jackson 

(1924-26) 










The Louisiana Five 


-Ill 


JtobechauifsBand 

(1805-17) 

The Imperial Band 


NEW YORK OFFSHOOTS 
SEMI-HOT BANDS: 


) 


Noble Sfssfe 

(192IM3) 

Will Marion Cook 

(1518-22) 

CeneDabney 

(1917-21) 

Sam Wooding 

(1920-2S) 

teroy Smith 

0915-30) 


1 
UBili^By 

JraSiRiln 


(1905.15) 

ArmindPiron 

(1915-22) 




i 






Original Creofe Band 

TO CAUFORHIA-mZ 






CALIFORNIA: 


I ArtHickman 

(19H-JO) I 





NEWYO 
09 

Red 


RK WHITE: 

24.30) 

Nichols 
Mole 
derbecke 
Frumbauer . 


, , 1 

1 

) 




Mrfl 
BIX Be 
Frankie 


NEW YORK NEGRO: 

emer|nowder, 

Luis Russell 

(1328-34) 

Chick Webb 

(1326-33) 

Charlie Johnson 
Cecil Scott 

0924-27) 








1 


DETROIT: 
JeanGoldkette 


\ 




CHICAGO WHITE: 
0924-28) 

The Blue Friars 
McKena'efi Condon 


CHICAGO WHITE; 
The Wolverines 

0323-24) 

Sig Meyers 
Charlie Pierce 




Ben Pollack 

(TO N. Y.-1328) 

Chicago Rhythm Kings 


T t 




- CHICAGO NEGRO: 
JimmleWade 

(1924-28) 
Richard M. Jones 
0922-28) 

Sammy Stewart 

(1924-30) 

Clarence Jones 

(1322-28) 

Carroll Dickerson 

0325-28) 

Marion Hardy 

0327-28) 

Dave Peyton 

0924-23) 


' f 


CHICAGO 
Louis A 

(132 
CabC; 
092 

Earl 

(192 

Ruben 
<m 


NEGRO: 
mstrcng 

M3) 

lloway 

9-43) 

Hines 

9-43) 

Reeves 
*-) 






I 


TTtimnr ) 


KANSAS CITY 

Floyd t 
George 

Harvey 
Sidney 
Terrene 
Jesse 
Count 
Harlan 


& ST. LOUIS: 

ampbell 
LLee 
e Trent 
.angford 
)esvigne 
>Ho1den 
Stone 
Basic 
Leonard 




KANSAS CITY 4 ST. LOUIS: 

George Morrison 

(1922-27) 

Walter Pags 

(192642) 

The Missourlans 

(1927-29) 

FrankieTrumbauer 

0925-27) 

Andy Kirk 

(1928-43) 







WHITE: 






Casa Loma Orcft. 


Bob Chest* 




(1929-42} 


<1933-43> 




Benny Goodman 


JackTeajante. 




0333-43) 


0939^3) 




Dorsey Bros. deb. 


Bobby Byrnt 




(1934-35} 


0933-43) 




Jimmy Dorsey 

0935-43) 


Bod Freeman 

(1S4CMZ) 




Tommy Dorsey 

{J93S-43) 


Ml! Bradley 






(1S40-43) 




RedNorvo 

0935-43) 


MugjsySpanler 






OS4H3) 




Bob Crosby 
0935.43) 


foyMcKInley 






OS4M3) 




Charlie EarneS 






os3W3) 


Teddy Powell 






(1541-43) 




Artie Shaw 






1936-42) 


CbatlieSpivak 




Woody Herman 


(1941-tt) 




(193W3) 


StanKentoa 




Lei Biown 


(1941-43) 




(1336-43) 


Freddy Slack 


fl^^^^^^H^ 


WH Hudson 


(1341-43) 


^^^^^H~*^ 


(1837.40) . 


Sonny Durham 


^^BBHBp 


Bunny Berigan 


(1341-43) 




(1337-42) 




^ m 


Raymond Scott 


Tony Pastor 

(1941-43) 


f 


Glenn Miller 


Jerry Wald 




(1938-43) 






Gene Kruoa 

093M3) 


Hal Mclntyre 

(1942-43) 




Harry James 


tabby Sberwooft 




0338-4,-) 


(1942-43) 




Joe Marsala 


Eddie Mdlef 




OJ3W3) 


aw 




NEGRO: 






Blue Rhythm Band 


BoyBdrldgft 




1923-35) 


(1M7-43) 




Claude HopWnj 


John Krty 




OS23.3*) 


(1937^3} 




Jimmie Luncefcri 


LttckyMiffiodei 




(1323-43) 


(1S3S-43) 




Don Redmaa 

(1931-40) 


nkir.HawklftS 
(193W3) 




Teddy HiH 


Teddy Wilson 




G333-3S) 


OWJ-43) 




Willie Bryant 


Ups Pap 




(1933-35) 


(1333-43) 




Benny Carter 


UondHamptoe 




(1934-43) 


<ISM3> 




Fats Walter 


CcoIieV/Iinama 




0335-43) 


(W4M3) 




Edgar Hayes 


JayMcShann 




0936-35) 


09414J> 




Joseph C. South BenBernie 


leoReisman 


JanGarber 


OzzieNehon 


PaulBeise OonBestor 


Johnny Greed 


Sammy Kaye- ' 


SktnnayEnnis 


RudyWeidoefl Paul Ash 


Guy Lombardo 


KayKyser 


Ray Noble 


AbeLyman ArtLandry 


Wayne King 


Horace Heidt 


TedWeem 


isham Jones Oriole Orch, 


Hal Kemp 


Freddie Martin 




Ralph Williams George Olseo 


Russ Morgan 










FerdieGrof 


FaulSpecht 


Eastwood Lane 


Andre Kostebnetz 


Paul WhReman } 


(131943) 


GtcrseGershwia 
UoSowerby 


Fred Waring 
WaJShilkret 


Meredith mm 
William Grant Still 


Richard Himber 
Norton GouM 













104 Esquire's Jazz Book 

reports that it was "a real low-down" group. New Orleans-born 
Charlie Elgar names Bolden as "the Louis Armstrong of early 
New Orleans days." Papa Laine set in motion the white man's 
bid for hot jazz, but the overwhelming proportion of Negro 
musicians who played what is now called hot erase any doubt: 
the movement was almost completely Negroid both in character 
and in actuality. 

Permit me to point out here that the dates given in the chart 
approximate the years during which the band sustained its peak 
period of productivity. Although the Original Creoles claim to 
have first organized in 1906, they did not attain historical sig 
nificance until they departed from New Orleans for points .West 
and North it was the first band of its kind to bring hot jazz direct 
from New Orleans to other parts of the country. It reached 
California early in 1913, penetrated to Chicago that same year, to 
Cincinnati in 1914, to New York in 1916. Since it played long 
"stands" in Chicago, it no doubt was instrumental in setting in 
motion the migration which was to come but several years later. 
Buddy Bolden's trombonist, Frank Dusen, organized the Eagle 
Band about 1911; Bunk Johnson and Sidney Bechet were some 
time-members of the group. The Olympia Band was fronted first 
by Freddie Keppard, then by King Oliver, who subsequently 
merged the Eagle and Olympia into what was probably an all-star 
aggregation. It must be remembered that all these bands changed 
personnel constantly; that their "organization" in terms of today's 
large business concepts was undoubtedly of a more or less tran 
sient nature. Yet the Olympians and Eagles were "names," and 
musicians sought to become associated with them, even though 
these same musicians might play "gig" dates with numerous 
pick-up groups, or small combinations at Storyville nightspots. 

The pianists and composers listed in the first boxed column 
of the chart instigated a movement set off somewhat from instru 
mental groups; but it was not long before the influences inter- 



Historical Chart of Jazz Influences 105 

twined and merged, to descend upon Chicago in full force at the 
end of World War I. 

Simultaneously with the hot tradition in New Orleans existed 
what today we would term a dance bands on the sweet side." 
The Imperial Band and John Robichaux's usually were found in 
the more respectable gathering spots for dancers and night club 
patrons. Since the Original Creoles toured extensively on vaude 
ville circuits, it is likely that they were not above box-office 
"commercialism." In their less serious moments they were not 
a great deal different in character from the "sweet" bands just 
mentioned. For this reason I trace the line of development to 
sweet and symphonic jazz through the Original Creoles to Cali 
fornia, where Art Hickman paved the way for Paul Whiteman, 
Ted Lewis and others. Will Marion Cook, Sam Wooding, et al 
followed the development of popular jazz in the footsteps of 
Robichaux: they were the Negro counterpart of the Whiteman 
school. 

The great stream of the best talent proceeded from South 
to Middle West to East, the main current moving from New 
Orleans to Chicago. With the march of the Creoles thus begin 
ning from New Orleans, one by one the outstanding musicians 
gathered up their instruments and made their way to Chicago. 

Beginning with small groups, the important hot orchrestras 
in Chicago from 1922 to 1930 were large, not small, bands. 
Oliver, Tate, Cook, Elgar, Dickerson, Armstrong, Black, Stewart, 
Wade those are names of tremendous importance: as leaders of 
big bands they wielded an influence that cannot be compared 
with what too many of us are now prone to look upon as the 
saviours of hot jazz small jam combinations. According to the 
evidence, (and it is overwhelming) musicians sought both the 
money and the prestige offered by these leaders in Chicago during 
the twenties. 



i o<5 Esquire's Jazz Book 

The prevalence of big bands in Chicago accounts for the fact 
that an individual instrumentalist of the stature and influence 
of Louis Armstrong does not appear on the chart until the 
column immediately preceding the swing movement. Up to then 
he had been playing with "name" bands all the way back to 
New Orleans days during the first world war (see his Bio-Dis- 
cography in Chapter VIII). His influence had already pene 
trated to New York in 1924, when he played with Fletcher 
Henderson for a year. But as leader of his own organized band, 
he did not come into prominence historically speaking until 

1929. True, he was given a recording contract with Okeh in 
1925, and from that time forward he waxed numerous discs under 
his own name. The personnel changed often, and was drawn from 
musicians who held regular jobs with the big bands in Chicago 
as did Armstrong himself. 

To overcome this self-imposed limitation of the chart's graphic 
analysis, it must be assumed that each time the name of a band 
appears it includes the entire composite personnel of that band 
during the years indicated. Thus, the Armstrong influence begins 
in full measure with Oliver, continues with Henderson, Tate, 
Dickerson, Jones, and finally reaches the chronological point at 
which he formed his own orchestra. The desirability of append 
ing to the chart the complete composite personnels of all the 
bands named readily suggests itself; but I am faced with a space 
limitation, in addition to the extreme difficulty of accurately 
ascertaining such information, particularly for the bands prior to 

1930. The task intrigues me, however, and I have noted it as a 
future possibility. 

Another self-imposed limitation which will explain the ap 
pearance of certain names at perhaps unexpected points in the 
chronology is that with few exceptions I do not list bands which 
gathered together only or mainly for recording purposes. My 
reasons for this are twofold: (i) to impress upon the reader, 



Historical Chart of Jazz Influences 107 

whether he be a jazz enthusiast of long or of recent standing, 
the long-range perspective historical view of all jazz history, 
thereby offsetting the distorted impression which much jazz 
literature has created; (2) to avoid the confusion of excessive 
criss-crossing of influences. The alternative here is a second chart 
tracing the influences of bands and individuals who have recorded, 
excluding all those who were unfortunate enough never to have 
impressed posterity in wax. This, too, I hold as a good future 
possibility. 

Exceptions to the no-recording-band-only rule were made so 
that I might include several white groups whose influence and 
personnel were of particular significance. Among these are the 
Chicago Rhythm Kings, McKenzie & Condon, The Cotton Pick 
ers, The Georgians, Bix Beiderbecke and Miff Mole. It will be 
observed that prior to the swing era, Negro bands out-numbered 
the white by about ten to one. Before the appearance of Benny 
Goodman, the only white accomplishments in the realm of hot 
(not including recording-only bands) were those of organizations 
led by Jean Goldkette, Ben Pollack, and the Casa Loma Orches 
traand returning to the early twenties, The New Orleans 
Rhythm Kings. By comparison, however, with the great Negro 
bands of the twenties McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Fletcher 
Henderson, Erskine Tate, Duke Ellington, Luis Russell, etc., etc. 
these white bands were of negligible significance. 

Those who search for the names of the Austin High gang 
are directed to the Chicago White (1924-28) box and to the 
name, The Blue Friars, under which banner the Teschemacher- 
Freeman group operated for a time. 

In no portion of the chart have I attempted completeness in 
the sense that every organized band of even moderate importance 
be listed. All my efforts, however, are calculated to present a 
broad, sweeping graph-analysis of the central stream of jazz, to 
gether with its many immediate tributaries. P. E. M. 



Ckapter VII 

Esquire's A.1L American Band 

Whether he be intensely curious or mildly interested, every 
reader here will find judgments passed 'which inevitably will lead 
to discussion and controversy. That is healthy: may such reac 
tion be strong and vigorous. On this and -following pages the 
complete vote-tabulation of each of the 16 gentlemen of 
Esquire's Board of Experts will be found, together with com 
ments on their choices by most members of the Board. Realizing 
that the reader will want to know not only how each expert 
voted, but also precisely how many point votes were cast for 
each musician and by whom, pages 125-130 are devoted to a 
concise summary of that information. By thus presenting every 
aspect of the voting, the reader will no doubt find those trends 
with which he agrees, and those which arouse the bent of his 
own judgment and make him wonder why this or that musician 
was entirely overlooked, or why this or that expert placed so 
high (or so low) an opinion &n his favorite likes and dislikes 



COMMENTS ON CHOICES 

by ESQUIRE'S BOARD OF EXPERTS 

ESQUIRE'S ALL-AMERICAN BAND 

Louis Armstrong, trumpet & vocal 
Jack Teagarden, trombone 
Benny Goodman, clarinet 
Colernan Hawkins, tenor saxophone 
Art Tatum, piano 
Al Casey, guitar 

108 



Esquire's All-American Band 109 

Oscar Pettiford, string bass 

Sidney Catlett, drums 

Red Norvo, xylophone \ . 

Lionel Hampton, vibraharpj 

Billie Holiday, vocal 

Artie Shaw, Armed Forces 



ESQUIRE'S SECOND 
ALL-AMERICAN BAND 

Cootie Williams, trumpet 
Lawrence Brown, trombone 
Barney Bigard, clarinet 
Johnny Hodges, alto saxophone 
Earl Hines, piano 
Oscar Moore, guitar 
Milton Hinton, string bass ~[ . 
Al Morgan, string bass j 
Cozy Cole, drums 
Leo Watson, vocal 
Mildred Bailey, vocal 
"Willie Smith, Armed Forces'] 
Dave Tough, Armed Forces) IQ 



GEORGE A VAKIAN contributor to jazz magazines, editor of Colum 
bia's Hot Jazz Albums of reissued jazz records. 

Trumpet: Muggsy Spanier, Louis Armstrong. Trombone: George 
Brunis, Floyd O'Brien. Clarinet: Pee Wee Russell, Bud Jacobson. 
Sax: Bud Hunter, Eugene Sedric. Piano: Art Hodes, Joe Sullivan. 
Guitar: Eddie Condon, Freddie Green. Bass: Al Morgan, Israel 
Crosby. Drums: Zutty Singleton, George Wetding. Odd Instr: 



no Esquire's Jazz Book 

Red Norvo, Lionel Hampton. Male vocal: Louis Armstrong, Jack 
Teagarden. Female vocal: Billie Holiday, Mildred Bailey. Armed 
Forces: Dave Tough. 



E. SIMMS CAMPBELLEsquire cartoonist and author of two articles 
on jazzreprinted in Chapter II. 

Trumpet: Louis Armstrong, Harry James. Trombone: J. C. Hig- 
ginbotham, Tommy Dorsey. Clarinet: Benny Goodman, Jimmie 
Noone. Sax: Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges. Piano: Art 
Tatum, Earl Hines. Guitar: Eddie Condon, Teddy Bunn. Bass: 
John Kirby, Al Morgan. Drums: Cozy Cole, Zutty Singleton. Odd 
Instr: Eddie South, Lionel Hampton. Male vocal: Louis Arm 
strong, James Rushing. Female vocal: Mildred Bailey, Billie 
Holiday. Armed Forces: Artie Shaw. 

ARMSTRONG: Originality tremendous power and drive. Blazed 
a path they all follow. Easily and away the greatest living jazz 
musician. A titan shouldn't be confined in walls a hall's too 
smalL Rugged energy. For over 20 years he's gone his own way 
and they all still follow him. Nobody's second, but James could 
give a band some of that impetus. 

Goodman: Tonal quality and vibrato lyric quality of New 
Orleans and those solid and magnificent crescendos of his. A 
supreme stylist and a perfectionist. Hawkins way out front. Su 
preme master of his instrument. Like Armstrong, his style is 
copied by every saxophonist in any band in the world who 
actually wishes to plumb the possibilities of that horn. Hodges: 
Infinite variety and excitement to his solos. This combination 
an answer to a bandleader's prayer. 

Cozy Cole first because his smoothness reminds me of Haitian 
and African drummers I've heard. Terrific change of pace but 
keeps the beat going with that bass plays over and around a 
piece but hugs the orchestra together. No gymnastics just solid 
dramming. 



Esquire's All-American Band in 

Higgy has more fire than Dorsey an explosive quality in his 
playing. He grabs a melody, slides it down the groove keeps 
it on ice and then shoots it out in his own way and that way is 
always completely original and fiery. I don't care for too much 
sweetness in a trombone. Tatum: Solid musicianship fantastically 
embroidered treble. Goes off into the nether world of music like 
Armstrong but never gets lost. Interdependence of his hands 
Paganini running wild. Man-o'War running backwards to win. 

E. SIMMS CAMPBELL 



ROBERT COFFIN author of Aux Frontier?* du Jazz and Jazz: From 
Congo to Metropolitan. 

Trumpet: Louis Armstrong, Charlie Shavers. Trombone: George 
Brunis, Jack Teagarden. Clarinet: Benny Goodman, Edmond Hall. 
Sax: Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges. Piano: Art Tatum, Teddy 
Wilson. Guitar: Teddy Bunn, Oscar Moore. Bass: Slam Stewart, 
Billy Taylor. Drums: Sidney Catlett, Cozy Cole. Odd Instr: Red 
Norvo, Sidney Bechet, Male vocal: Leo Watson, Willie Dukes. 
Female vocal: Mildred Bailey, Biilie Holiday. Armed Forces: 
Willie Smith. 



LEONARD FEATHER-jazz consultant and writer for Esquire, Look, 
and Metronome magazines. 

Trumpet: Cootie Williams, Louis Armstrong. Trombone: Jack 
Teagarden, J. C. Higginbotham. Clarinet: Benny Goodman, Ed 
mond Hall. Sax: Pete Brown, Benny Carter, Piano: Art Tatum, 
King Cole. Guitar: Al Casey, Oscar Moore. Bass: Oscar Petriford, 
Slam Stewart. Drums: Sidney Catlett, Cozy Cole. Odd Instr: 
Lionel Hampton, Eddie South. Male vocal: Eddie Vinson, Joe 
Turner. Female vocal: Biilie Holiday, Betty Roche. Armed Forces: 
Mel Powell. 

THESE selections are arbitrary. I hate to select two musicians 
as "best" or even as "favorites" on any instrument, because it is 
dangerous to use or imply comparatives and superlatives. 



ii2 Esquire's Jazz Book 

There are a dozen trombonists who have, on occasion, thrilled 
me as much as Teagarden or Higginbotham ever did. And there 
have been occasions when I listened to Teagarden and Higgin 
botham and found them boring and uninspired. I found it painful 
to have to omit dozens of superlative saxophonists and guitarists 
and girl singers whose work is just as brilliant as that of my 
selections; but I felt that at least I was doing some good in draw 
ing attention to less widely appreciated artists such as Pete Brown, 
Oscar Moore, and Betty Roche. 

I would have voted for James Crawford and Gene Krupa on 
drums, but at the time of voting neither of them met the require 
ment of being "currently active as a musician." In the trumpet 
division I was tempted to put Armstrong first out of sentiment, 
but finally stuck to my conviction that Cootie is peerless as $n 
all-around jazz trumpet man. 

Like all the other judges, I was probably influenced sub 
consciously by having happened to hear certain musicians more 
often than others, and having thus become familiar with the 
details of their style and subtle reasons for their greatness. There 
are certainly dozens of musicians whom I've only heard occa 
sionally, and hundreds whom Fve never heard at all, who might 
be equally deserving of a place in this list. 

However, I was not influenced by any personal friendship 
or association with any of the artists, nor by any sentimental 
attachment to my favorites of years ago who, I used to think, 
could never be surpassed. These are strictly 1944 selections. 

LEONARD FEATHER 

ABEL GREEN-editor of Variety. 

Trumpet: Harry James, Roy Eldridge. Trombone: Tommy Dor- 
sey, Jack Teagarden. Clarinet: Benny Goodman, Hank D'Amico. 
Sax: Johnny Hodges, Babe Russin. Piano: Jess Stacy, Art Tatum. 



Esquire's All-American "Band 113 

Guitar: Roc Hillman, Jack Purcell. Bass: Sid Weiss, Doc Gold 
berg. Drums: George Wettling, Sidney Catlett. Odd Instr: Joe 
Venuti, Lionel Hampton. Male vocal: Bob Eberly, Harry Babbitt. 
Female vocal: Helen Forrest, Peggy Mann. Armed Forces: Artie 
Shaw. 



ELLIOTT GRENNARD-music editor of Billboard. 

Trumpet: Cootie Williams, Charlie Shavers. Trombone: Lawrence 
Brown, Dickie Wells. Clarinet: Benny Goodman, Irving Fazola. 
Sax: Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster. Piano: Mary Lou Williams, 
Jess Stacy. Guitar: Oscar Moore, Carl Kress. Bass: Ed Safranski, 
Bob Haggart. Drums: Cozy Cole, Zutty Singleton. Odd Instr.: 
Lionel Hampton, Harry Carney. Male vocal: Bing Crosby, Walter 
Brown. Female vocal: Ethel Waters, Mildred Bailey. Armed 
Forces: Joe Bushkin. 



JOHN HAMMOND author of articles in jazz magazines and widely 
recognized talent discoverer. 

Trumpet: Buck Clayton, Bill Coleman. Trombone: J. C Higgin- 
botham, Jack Teagarden. Clarinet: Benny Goodman, Barney 
Bigard. Sax: Lester Young, Ben Webster. Piano: Teddy Wilson, 
Count Basie. Guitar: Freddie Green, Al Casey. Bass: Israel Crosby, 
Billy Taylor. Drums: Jo Jones, Sidney Catlett. Odd. Instr: Red 
Norvo, Peter Graham. Male vocal: Josh White, Joe Turner. 
Female vocal: Mildred Bailey, Billie Holiday. Armed Forces: 
Artie Bernstein. 



ROGER KAY, contributor to Orchestra World. 

Trumpet: Bill Coleman, Cootie Williams. Trombone: Jack Tea- 
garden, Dickie Wells. Clarinet: Benny Goodman, Barney Bigard. 
Sax: Benny Carter, Joe Phillips. Piano: Art Tatum, Earl Hines. 
Guitar: Oscar Moore, Mary Osborne. Bass: Red Callender, Milton 
Hinton. Drums: Jo Jones, J. C. Heard. Odd Instr: Lionel Hamp 
ton, Harry Carney. Male vocal: Louis Armstrong, Louis Jordan. 



ii4 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Female vocal: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald. Armed Forces: 
Artie Shaw. 

I AM violently allergic to those popular polls that must, in order 
to justify their name, use the votes of an "overwhelming ma 
jority." When jazz is concerned, results of such polls constitute 
nothing more than a tribute to the astuteness of the lucky win 
ners' press agents. Or maybe the chosen ones are unusually hand 
some, or unusually "clever." And that would immediately dis 
qualify about 80 percent of the Esquire poll winners. 

The three schools of thought represented by the judges are: 
the traditionalists, who claim that the only authentic, pure jazz 
was at its peak in the nineties, and that its best examples are on 
records made prior to 1925. Their idols are either dead or sound 
as if they might die any minute. The modernists. Justly disgusted 
by the attitude of the former group, they bend over backwards 
to oppose traditionalist views. To them, most musicians over 
thirty are venerable fossils, and a "mad riff" will "send" them, 
while a dramatically beautiful, exquisitely musical solo by, say, 
the great Reinhardt on guitar, will be discarded as being "no 
where." Finally, the perfectionists. Whenever a solo with real 
ideas pleases or moves them, it's good. Whoever plays it. What's 
more, they dare claim that jazz is not a curiosity, or a precious 
relic of another age, but very definitely a living Art, constantly 
growing and improving. 

The way Esky conducted this poll makes a sincere jazz lover 
admire the good taste displayed; just as much as any normal man 
will admire the trim lines of the Varga girl. 

I was generously asked to add whatever comment I might 
like to make in order to clarify the reasons behind my choices. 
Nevertheless, as my selection seems to me rather consistent, I will 
only say a few words about two of my second choices, both 
relatively unknown. 



Esquire's All- American Band 115 

About a year ago, when I first heard Joe Phillips on tenor 
sax, I was literally knocked out by his exciting wildness on 
rhythm tunes and breath-taking artistry on slow ones. I then 
thought he played as well as Coleman Hawkins, and with even 
more enthusiasm. Most musicians and many critics who are 
familiar with his work agree. 

Mary Osborne, indeed a lovely girl, plays a magnificent guitar. 
With Mary Lou Williams, she is maybe the only jazz-woman of 
whom you can say, "She's terrific," without having to add 
". . . f or a woman." With Miss Osborne, I don't know which 
I would enjoy most, to listen to her music or kiss her. 

Musically, that's a compliment. 

ROGER KAY 

HARRY LIM organizer of jam sessions in New York and Chicago 

Trumpet: Roy Eldridge, Cootie Williams. Trombone: Vic Dick- 
enson, J. C. Higginbotham. Clarinet: Benny Goodman, Barney 
Bigard. Sax: Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter. Piano: Earl Hines, 
Art Tatum. Guitar: Al Casey, Oscar Moore. Bass: Milton Hinton, 
Oscar Pettiford. Drums: Joe Jones, Sidney Catlett. Odd Instr: 
Lionel Hampton, Joe Venuti. Male vocal: Joe Turner, T-Bone 
Walker. Female vocal: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald. Armed 
Forces: Dave Tough. 

VOTING for an all-star band, such as Esquire wants to assemble, 
is an easier task when we know that such a band will just be a 
"paper" affair. But we're glad to hear that Esquire wants to 
select the best possible musicians for an actual session. Then the 
voters must be more careful. They must think about whether 
the chosen horns would feel happy playing with the chosen 
rhythm section, whether the horns themselves have a style that 
is at least based on the same musical viewpoint, whether the 
trumpet, being the lead instrument, has the necessary qualifica 
tions to carry an all-star unit like the one under discussion. 



n6 Esquire's Jazz Book 

My choice for the All-American Band are based on hearing 
and assembling these musicians for actual sessions and noticing the 
influences one has upon the other. A trumpet of a Roy Eldridge 
immediately takes over the reins at any jam session, inspires the 
others to greater heights. When, as another horn, a man like tenor 
saxophonist Coleman Hawkins is added, it stands to reason that 
Hawkins will inspire Eldridge to the best playing he is capable 
of, not only because of his superb musicianship, but because, also, 
he has been Eldridge's idol ever since the latter started to play. 

An inspiring rhythm section, a section which not only keeps 
perfect time, but one which swings in a relaxed way, a section 
which knows when and where to soften down, when and where 
to push with the rest of the horns, is an essential part, maybe 
the most important of any small jam band. And more important 
than anybody else in a rhythm section is the drummer. Sidney 
Catiett and Jo Jones are, to my way of thinking, the two most 
perfect drummers for a small band. These two men are adaptable 
and they can play in any size combination. Furthermore, they 
can play soft without losing their strong beat, and to top it all 
off , they have that certain thing which musicians call "good taste." 

HARRY LIM 



PAUL EDUARD MILLER-author of Miller's Yearbook of Popular 
Music*; Yearbook of Swing, and of numerous articles in jazz magazines. 

Trumpet: Louis Armstrong, Red Nichols. Trombone: Lou Mc- 
Garity, Benny Morton. Clarinet: Barney Bigard, Benny Goodman, 
Sax: Coleman Hawkins, Don Redman. Piano: Johnny Guarnieri, 
Teddy Wilson. Guitar: Les Paul, Lawrence Lucie. Bass: Milton 
Hinton, Oscar Pettiford. Drums: Cozy Cole, Sidney Catlett. Odd 
Instr: Red Norvo, Sidney Bechet. Male vocal: Cab Galloway, Leo 
Watson. Female vocal: Mildred Bailey, Billie Holiday. Armed 
Forces: Artie Shaw. 



Esquire's All-American Band 117 

THE mellow, matured trumpeting of Armstrong when he really 
wants to play remains unsurpassed. The veteran experience and 
undoubted originality of Red Nichols places him at the top of 
white jazz trumpeters. McGarity proved how well he can play on 
Cootie Williams' record of West End Blues; he shows both 
power and feeling. Veteran Morton, with an incredible degree 
of technical facility, plays easily, spiritedly. Bigard, too, is mellow 
and mature, a veteran with long experience and consistently- 
proven ability. Rather than a second choice, Goodman maintains 
par: his technical wizardry and facile expressiveness put him 
among the top performers on any jazz instrument. 

At least a half-dozen top-ranking alto and tenormen had to 
be discarded in order to arrive at the Hawkins-Redman choice, 
which reflects my personal preferences. Guarnieri's titanic vir 
tuoso qualities represent the distilled essence of all the jazz piano 
tradition which preceded him. He has absorbed it completely, 
re-introdtfced it in his own qualitative and original manner. 
Wilson reflects the simple lines and expressive precision of the 
best contemporary art. 

The odd instruments were difficult, since each man who 
specializes usually boasts a high degree of perfection. Lionel 
Hampton surely is the equal of Norvo, and then there is an 
obscure Chicago vibraharpist-marimbist-pianist named Max Miller 
(no relation of mine) who can match either of them. The bari 
tone sax of Harry Carney, the bass sax of Joe Garland, and the 
soprano sax of Charlie Barnet had to be disregarded because T 
chose Bechet, another veteran of tremendous experience whose 
powerful jazz feeling sets him off as unique. 

Of the musicians in service, I would rate Shaw the greatest, 
with Claude Thornhill or Dave Tough as second choice. 

PAUL EDUARD MILLER 



n8 Esquire's Jazz Book 

BUCKLIN MOON-author of The Darker Brother. 

Trumpet: Louis Armstrong, Charlie Shavers. Trombone: Jack 
Teagarden, Miff Mole. Clarinet: Edmond Hall, Buster Bailey. Sax: 
Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster. Piano: Art Tatum, Mary Lou 
Williams. Guitar: Teddy Bunn, Eddie Condon. Bass: John Kirby, 
Wellman Braud. Drums: Sidney Catlett, Zutty Singleton. Odd 
Instr: Sidney Bechet, Red Norvo. Male vocal: Leo Watson, James 
Rushing. Female vocal: Billie Holiday, Mildred Bailey. Armed 
Forces: Willie Smith. 

SOME of it was pretty easy. You did it the way you used to do 
on examinations in school, first write down the ones you knew 
the answers for without thinking. You remembered the first time 
you heard Louie and how you felt like the guy who accused 
him of using a trick horn because it just didn't seem possible. 
Hawk and Sidney Catlett were the same way and when you 
came to the piano that Tatum, there wasn't anyone else that be 
longed in the same hall. But then you got to thinking about the 
others. 

Next to Louie belonged Bix, because when someone said he 
made a horn sound like somebody hitting crisp notes off a bell 
with a hammer he said something. But Bix wasn't around any 
more. They don't play real old tail-gate trombone anymore so 
that meant Teagarden; but you remember Miff Mole, too, be 
cause he is the guy they all forgot about, even though anyone 
who is any good now learned most of what they know from him. 
Ed Hall was your first choice on clarinet but you remembered 
Louie, Charlie Green and Buster Bailey on some of those old 
Bessie records; so Buster had to be in there, too. And Zutty had 
to be there so you put him down. And you wanted Mary Lou 
because she was the only woman who was good enough to be in 
the same hall with a man and there was something about her that 
was really down to earth. 

Then you came to the vocalists and you hoped that meant 



Esquire's All- American Band 119 

Blues, only you knew it probably wouldn't be enough Blues 
because there couldn't be enough Blues. You got to thinking about 
all the fine ones you wanted to include. 

Well, you put down the others but you didn't feel so good 
about it because of those you had to leave out. But if you put 
down everyone you wanted to be there they'd have to put the 
audience on the stage and the boys out in front. And then how 
was Esquire going to pay for the hall! 

BUCKLIN MOON 



TIMME ROSENKRANTZ once publisher of swing magazine in Copen 
hagen; currently associated with WNEW. 

Trumpet: Bill Coleman, Louis Armstrong. Trombone: Lawrence 
Brown, Tyree Glenn. Clarinet: Benny Goodman, Barney Bigard. 
Sax: Johnny Hodges, Coleman Hawkins. Piano: Art Tatum, 
Teddy Wilson. Guitar: Oscar Moore, Teddy Bunn. Bass: Serious 
Meyers, Walter Page. Drums: Arthur Herbert, Cozy Cole. Odd 
Instr: Red Norvo, Ray Nance. Male vocal: Leo Watson, Joe 
Turner. Female vocal: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald. Armed 
Forces: Stanley Adkins. 

BILL COLEMAN, whom I first heard with Benny Carter in 1934, 
cutting out a Symphony in Riffs in his easy-flowing, relaxed 
trumpet style, entranced me and till today has lost none of his 
original drive. Roy Eldridge, to me one of the most exciting, 
knocked-out, "perpetual motion" trumpeters of 'em all, with 
the same fluidity of style as Coleman, should be a perfect foil 
on a trumpet team with Bill. Lawrence Brown who else can 
match him for tone, style, balance, and ideas? Tyree Glenn . . . 
well, Higginbotham and Jack Jenney are great, too, but here's 
a man chock-full of new ideas and who plays a style all his own. 
Benny Goodman's clarinet is my first choice for the simple 
reason that Benny is at his peak with a group of this kind and 
at his peak, he is the greatest swing clarinetist and swing musician 



izo Esquires Jazz Book 

of them all! Barney Bigard has got to get in here somewhere. 
His tone in the lower register, technique and Blues feeling make 
him tops on anyone's list. Johnny Hodges ... to attempt to 
justify this choice is superfluous. Pd rather tackle the job of 
describing "violet" to a guy who is color-blind. Benny Carter, 
iny favorite all-around musician, will have to step aside this time 
and let the "Rabbit" jump! 

Coleman Hawkins . . . who else? Art Tatum . . . ditto. Teddy 
Wilson, who has proven himself to be the finest pianist for a small 
combination; his own and Goodman's is the only possible second 
choice and the most trying "split ticket" of them all. Wilson 
Myers ... a mad showman, his big warm tone, his exquisite 
bowing, make him a stand-out bass player for a small combo. 

TlMME ROSENKRANTZ 



CHARLES EDWARD SMITH-co-author of Jazzmen, The Jazz Record 
Book; contributor to jazz magazines; author of Collecting Hot, re 
printed in Chapter IL 

Trumpet: Louis Armstrong, Bobby Hackett. Trombone: George 
Brunis, Jack Teagarden. Clarinet: Irving Fazola, Sidney Bechet. 
Sax: Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges. Piano: Joe Sullivan, Earl 
Hines. Guitar: Lonnie Johnson, Eddie Condon. Bass: Wellman 
Braud, Bob Haggart. Drums: Sidney Catlett, Zutty Singleton. Odd 
Instr: Sidney Bechet, Lionel Hampton. Male vocal: Louis Arm 
strong, Jack Teagarden. Female vocal: Mildred Bailey, Billie 
Holiday. Armed Forces: Max Kaminsky. 

THE musicians I have chosen for Esquire's All- American Band 
have divergent styles but have in common an ability to improvise 
creatively and collectively, and that feeling for jazz rhythm usu 
ally defined as swing. Each of those I have selected for this All- 
American band not only knows his instrument well but has un 
erring taste in exploiting its timbre. 

I thought of instruments in terms of primary functions: the 



Esquire's All-American Band 121 

lead work of trumpet and cornet (Louis Armstrong and Bobby 
Hackett); on clarinet, attack and fluidity of style, along with 
distinctive ensemble ability; on saxophone, reed style for specific 
instruments and tempi I mean this to include taste in phrasing, 
etc. -and a special gift for what seems to elude many musicians: a 
melodic line; on trombone, its ensemble function and its informed 
use of timbre and glissando. Much of this applies equally to the 
rhythm instruments which must also give the band its foundation; 
I prefer a dynamic rhythm section and any combination of four 
of the men I have chosen would afford it. For clarinet I meant 
to substitute Russell for Bechet since the latter now plays soprano 
sax almost exclusively. 

I chose vocalists more or less on the basis I chose instruments 
for the voice in jazz is similarly capable of a creative function. 
Sidney Bechet (soprano sax) and Lionel Hampton (vibraharp) 
were my choices for out-of-the-way instruments, though I'd 
have been delighted to have found a place in the band for Meade 
Lux Lewis and his well-tempered harpsichord. 

With hundreds of musicians in the Armed Forces, and many 
of them top men, it was not easy to make a choice. After a great 
deal of consideration, I finally cast my vote in this grouping for 
Max Kaminsky and the beautiful bite of his pre-Pearl Harbor 

-CHARLES EDWARD SMITH 



FRANK STACY, New York editor of Down Beat. 

Trumpet: Louis Armstrong, Bobby Hackett. Trombone: Law 
rence Brown, George Brunis. Clarinet: Benny Goodman, Irving 
Fazola. Sax: Coleman Hawkins, .Benny Carter. Piano: Fats Waller, 
Art Tatum. Guitar: Al Casey, Teddy Bunn. Bass: Walter Page, 
Al Morgan. Drums: Sidney Catlett, Jo Jones. Odd Instr.: Red 
Norvo, Lionel Hampton. Male vocal: Leo Watson, Louis Arm* 
strong. Female vocal: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald. Armed 
Forces: Artie Shaw. 



122 Esquire's J&zz Book 

CONTEMPORARY -recognition of a contemporary jazz artist is a 
fine thing. When it takes the form of a material and unexpected 
award, as is the case here, it's even better. There should be 
more of it. 

The only trouble, however, with selecting the best in any 
given field (especially in one founded so much on pure personal 
taste as hot music) is that it usually finds the critics tearing their 
already thinning hair in an effort to include all of their favorites. 
It would seem that there never are just two "best" men; inevi 
tably at least four or five and sometimes a dozen other names 
suggest themselves immediately to your mind all of them good. 

For example, instead of picking Coleman Hawkins and Bennie 
Carter as my two choices on sax as I did, I might possibly have 
decided on Ben Webster or Harry Carney or Joe Phillips. Bill 
Coleman, the trumpet player, or trombonist Jack Teagarden or 
singer Mildred Bailey could easily have been alternates to others 
that I selected. 

For this reason I hope that no admirer of hot will read my 
selections for this Esquire poll and say to himself: "Is he kidding? 
Why, so and so can play rings around those guys." 

Briefly then, it should be borne in mind that the selections 
of this writer do not pretend to be the only possible ones nor 
even the most logical ones. They are merely the conscientious 
preferences of one lover of jazz music. 

FRANK STACY 

BOB TTTIELE editor of Jazz, producer of Signature records. 

Trumpet: Louis Armstrong, Bobby Hackett. Trombone: Jack 
Teagarden, Floyd O'Brien. Clarinet: Barney Bigard, Benny Good 
man. Sax: Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, Piano: Earl Hines, Jess 
Stacy, Guitar: Al Casey, Freddie Green. Bass: Oscar Pettiford, Al 
Morgan. Drums: Sidney Catlett, George Wettling. Odd Instr.: 
Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo. Male vocal: Louis Armstrong, Jack 



Esquire'' s All-American Band 123 

Teagarden. Female vocal: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald. Armed 
Forces: Dave Tough, 

MY CHOICES for Esquire's All- American Jazz Band were made 
with one thought in mind: to list the greatest exponents of jazz 
music on their respective instruments. This I have done; however, 
I feel that there are many musicians who will probably not 
"place" in the poll that should be mentioned. I am listing a few 
of these. 

In the authentic Dixieland style there are two white trumpet 
players who should not be overlooked. First, Yank Lawson, 
whose remarkable cechnique does not hinder his playing but leads 
him to great musical heights. He plays with plenty of guts and 
drive. He is extremely spontaneous at all times and is breath- 
takingly exciting with his biting tone and clipped phrases. An 
other man who has an amazing talent for this style is Marty 

Marsala. 

Other musicians who must be included in the long list of 
forgotten jazzmen are Bud Jacobson, a superb Chicago clarinetist; 
Tut Soper, a Chicago pianist; Jack Goss, a wonderful rhythmic 
guitarist, and Earl Wiley, the ex-riverboat drummer. 

There are many others, such as Bill Davison, Sterling Bose, 
Rod Cless, and George Lewis, who are giving up so much to play 
the real jazz. 

I sincerely hope that, unlike other art forms where many 
artists have been relegated to unknown or forgotten positions, 
these musicians receive the recognition they deserve. 

BOB THIELE 

BARRY ULANOV editor of Metronome. 

Trumpet: Cootie Williams, Roy Eldridge. Trombone: Lawrence 
Brown, Jack Teagarden. Clarinet; Benny Goodman, Edmond Hall. 
Sax: Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter. Pkno: Art Tatum, King 



124 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Cole. Guitar: Al Casey, Oscar Moore. Bass: Red Callender, Serious 
Meyers. Drums: Specs Powell, Sidney Catlett. Odd Instr: Ray 
Nance, Red Norvo. Male vocal: Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker. 
Female vocal: MUdred Bailey, Billie Holiday. Armed Forces: 
Willie Smith. 

MY FIRST choices were almost automatic; they are the men I think 
without peer on their instruments, with one or two exceptions. 
The exceptions are drummer Specs Powell and bassist Callender 
and guitarist Casey. Though my favorites, I am willing to con 
cede that Sidney Catlett and Oscar Pettiford and Oscar Moore 
are similarly steady, solid, driving rhythm-men. That's why I 
made Sidney and Oscar Moore second choices for their positions, 
an arbitrary coin-toss deciding the issue. Pettiford I've only 
gotten to know very recently; today I should choose him above 
Red Callender and Serious Meyers, brilliant as they are; I think 
he's a better soloist than either Red or Serious, and just as remark 
able a musician and rhythm-man. 

Some of the other choices are just this side of arbitrary, the 
first man, I think, a more outstanding musician, a finer technician, 
more compatible, perhaps, in style and taste with the other mem 
bers of my number one outfit. One second, Red Norvo, just 
doesn't play as interesting an instrument, for me, as the first man 
in his division, fiddler Ray Nance. Benny Carter I shunted into 
the second panel because I happen to prefer Hawk's tenor to all 
other saxists, baritone, alto, soprano or C melody; Benny, none 
theless, remains my favorite alto man. 

All of us in this balloting, I think, were aware of the great 
limitations thereof. I should not like to miss the piano, for 
example, of Teddy Wilson; Teddy is, however, most satisfying 
to me as a solo pianist, with the faintest of backing, a rhythm 
section; so I chose Tatum and Cole ahead of him. There were 
other men whom I should have liked to mention, somehow. 
Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, Harry Carney, Earl Hines, 



Esquires All-American Band 125 

Johnny Hodges, J. C. Higginbotham, Joe Turner, etc., etc. But 
the restrictions were clear and confounding. And thus, my 



bands. 



-BARRY ULANOV 



MUSICIANS' POINT TABULATION 



TRUMPET 

Total 
Points 

Louis ARMSTRONG 16 

Avakian i, Campbell 2, 

Feather i, Goffin 2, 

Miller 2, Moon 2, Smith 2, 

Stacy 2, Thiele 2. 
COOTIE WILLIAMS 8 

Feather 2, Grennard 2, 

Kay i, Lin} i, Ulanov 2. 
ROY ELDRIDGE 5 

Green i, Lim 2, 

Rosenkrantz i, Ulanov i. 
BILL COLEMAN 5 

Hammond i, Kay 2, 

Rosenkrantz 2 . 
BOBBY HACKETT 3 

Smith i, Stacy i, Thiele i. 
HARRY JAMES 3 

Campbell i, Green 2. 
CHARLIE SHAVERS 3 

Goffin i, Grennard i, 

Moon i. 
MUGGSY SPANIER 2 

Avakian 2. 
BUCK CLAYTON 2 

Hammond 2. 
RED NICHOLS i 

Miller-i. 



TROMBONE 

Total 
Points 

JACK TEAGARDEN 13 

Feather 2, Goffin i, 

Green i, Hammond i, 

Kay 2, Moon 2, Smith i, 

Thiele 2, Ulanov i. 
LAWRENCE BROWN 8 

Grennard 2, Rosenkrantz 2, 

Stacy 2, Ulanov 2. 
GEORGE BRUNIS 7 

Avakian 2, Goffin 2, 

Smith 2, Stacy i. 
J. C. HIGGINBOTHAM 6 

Campbell 2, Feather i, 

Hammond 2, Lim i. 
TOMMY DORSEY 3 

Campbell i, Green 2. 
Lou MCGARITY 2 

Miller-2. 

VlC DlCKENSON 2 

Lim 2. 
DICKIE WELLS 2 

Grennard i, Kay i. 
FLOYD O'BRIEN ^ 

Avakian i, Thiele i. 
MIFF MOLE i 

Moon i. 
BENNY MORTON i 

Miller-i. 



Esquire's Jazz Book 
TROMBONE (continued) 

Total 
Points 

TYREE GLENN i 

Rosenkrantz i. 

CLARINET 

BENNY GOODMAN 24 

Campbell 2, Feather 2, 

Goffin 2, Green 2, 

Grennard 2, Hammond 2, 

Kay 2, Lim 2, Miller i, 

Rosenkrantz 2, Stacy 2, 

Thiele i, Ulanov 2. 
BARNEY BIGARD 8 

Hammond i, Kay i, 

Lim i, Miller 2, 

Rosenkrantz i, Thiele 2. 
EDMOND HALL 5 

Feather i, Goffin i, 

Moon 2, Ulanov i. 
IRVING FAZOLA 4 

Grennard i, Smith 2, 

Stacy i. 
PEE WEE RUSSELL 2 

Avakian 2. 
BUSTER BAILEY i 

Moon i. 
HANK D'AMico i 

Green i. 
SIDNEY BECHET i 

Smith i. 

JlMMIE NOONE I 

Campbell i. 
BUD JACOBSON i 

Avakian i. 

SAXOPHONE 

COLEMAN HAWKINS 17 

Campbell 2, Goffin 2, 



SAXOPHONE (continued} 

Total 
Points 

COLEMAN HAWKINS (continued} 

Lim 2, Miller 2, Moon 2, 

Rosenkrantz i, Smith 2, 

Stacy 2, Ulanov 2. 
JOHNNY HODGES 10 

Campbell i, Goffin i, 

Green 2, Grennard 2, 

Rosenkrantz 2, Smith i, 

Thiele i. 
BENNY CARTER 8 

Feather i, Kay 2, Lim i, 

Stacy i, Thiele 2, 

Ulanov i. 
BEN WEBSTER 3 

Grennard i, Hammond i, 

Moon i. 
PETE BROWN 2 

Feather 2. 
LESTER YOUNG 2 

Hammond 2. 
BUD HUNTER 2 

Avakian 2. 
DON REDMAN i 

Miller-i. 
BABE RUSSIN i 

Green i. 
JOE PHILLIPS i 

Kay-i. 
EUGENE SEDRIC i 

Avakian i. 

ODD INSTRUMENT 

RED NORVO ? xylophone .,...." 15 
Avakian 2, Goffin 2, 
Hammond 2, Miller 2, 
Moon i, Rosenkrantz 2, 
Stacy 2, Thiele i, 
Ulanov i, 



ODD INSTRUMENT (continued) 

Total 
Points 

LIONEL HAMPTON, vibraharp . . iy 
Avakian i, Campbell i, 
Feather 2, Green i, 
Grennard 2, Kay 2, Lirn 2, 
Smith i, Stacy i, Thiele 2. 

SIDNEY BECHET, soprano saxo 
phone , 6 

Goffin i, Miller i, Moon 2, 
Smith 2. 

EDDIE SOUTH, violin 3 

Campbell 2, Feather i. 

RAY NANCE, violin 3 

Rosenkrantz i, Ulanov 2. 

JOE VENUTI, violin 3 

Green 2, Lim i. 

HARRY CARNEY, baritone saxo 
phone 2 

Grennard i, Kay i. 

PETER GRAHAM, vibraharp .... i 
Hammond i. 

GUITAR 

AL CASEY .- 1 1 

Feather 2, Hammond i, 
Lim 2, Stacy 2, Thiele 2, 
Ulanov 2. 

OSCAR MOORE 10 

Feather i, Goffin i, 
Grennard 2, Kay 2, Lirn i, 
Rosenkrantz 2, Ulanov i. 

TEDDY BUNN 7 

Campbell i, Goffin 2, 
Moon 2 y Rosenkrantz i, 
Stacy i. 

EDDIE CONDON 6 

Avakian 2, Campbell 2, 
Moon i, Smith i. 



Esquire's All-American Band 127 
GUITAR (continued) 



Total 
Points 

FREDDIE GREENE 4 

Avakian i, Hammond 2, 

Thiele-i. 
LES PAUL 2 

Miller-2. 
LONNIE JOHNSON 2 

Smith 2. 
Roc HILLMAN 2 

Green 2. 
LAWRENCE LUCIE i 

Miller-i. 
MARY OSBORNE i 

Kay i. 
JACK PURCELL i 

Green i. 
CARL KRESS i 

Hammond i. 

U.S. FORCES FAVORITE 

ARTIE SHAW, clarinet 10 

Campbell 2, Green 2, 

Kay 2, Miller 2, Stacy 2. 
WILLIE SMITH, alto saxaphone. 6 

Goffin 2, Moon 2, 

Ulanov 2. 
DAVE TOUGH, drums 6 

Avakian 2, Lim 2, Thiele 2, 
MAX KAMINSKY, trumpet 2 

Smith 2. 
ARTHUR BERNSTEIN, bass 2 

Hammond 2. 
MEL POWELL, piano 2 

Feather 2. 
JOE BUSHKIN, piano 2 

Grennard 2. 
STANLEY ATKINS, piano 2 

Rosenkrantz 2, 



128 Esquiris Jazz Book 

STRING BASS 

Total 
Points 

OSCAR PETTIFORD 6 

Feather-2, Lim-i 5 Miller- 1, 

Thiele-2. 
MILTON HINTON 5 

Kay-i, Lim-2, Miller 2. 
AL MORGAN 5 

Avakian 2, Campbell i, 

Stacy i, Thiele i. 
JOHN KIRBY 4 

Campbell 2, Moon 2. 
RED CALLENDER 4 

Kay 2, Ulanov 2. 
SLAM STEWART 3 

Feather i, Goffin 2. 
WALTER PAGE 3 

Rosenkrantz i, Stacy 2. 
WELLMAN BRAXJD 3 

Moon i, Smith 2. 
SERIOUS MEYERS 3 

Rosenkrantz 2, Ulanov i. 
ISRAEL CROSBY 3 

Avakian i, Hammond 2. 
E0 SAFRANSKI 2 

Grennard 2. 
Sro WEISS 2 

Green 2. 
BOB HAGGART 2 

Grennard i , Smith i. 
BILLY TAYLOR 2 

Goffin i, Hammond i, 
Doc GOLDBERG i 

Green i. 



DRUMS 



SIDNEY CATLETT 

Feather 2, Goffin 2, 
Green i, Hammond i, 



DRUMS (continued) 

Total 
Points 

Lim i, Miller i, Moon 2, 

Smith-2, Stacy-2, Thiele-2, 

Ulanov i. 
COZY COLE 9 

Campbell 2, Feather i, 

GofUn i, Grennard 2, 

Miller 2, Rosenkrantz i. 
Jo JONES 7 

Hammond 2, Kay 2, 

Lim 2, Stacy i. 
ZUTTY SINGLETON 6 

Avakian 2, Campbell i, 

Grennard i, Moon i, 

Smith i. 
GEORGE WETTLING 4 

Avakian i, Green 2, 

Thiele-i. 
SPECS POWELL 2 

Ulanov 2. 
ARTHUR HERBERT 2 

Rosenkrantz 2 . 
J, C. HEARD i 

Kay i. 

PIANO 

ART TATUM 17 

Campbell 2, Feather 2, 
Goffin 2, Green i, Kay 2, 
Lim i, Moon 2, 
Rosenkrantz 2, Stacy i, 
Ulanov 2. 

EARL HINES 7 

Campbell i, Kay i, Lim 2, 
Smith i, Thiele 2. 

TEDDY WILSON 5 

Goffin i, Hammond 2, 
Miller i, Rosenkrantz i. 



Esquire's All- American Band 129 



PIANO (continued) 

Total 
Points 

JESS STACY 4 

Green 2, Grennard i, 

Thiele i. 
JOE SULLIVAN 3 

Avakian i, Smith 2. 
MARY Lou WILLIAMS 3 

Grennard 2, Moon i. 
KING COLE 2 

Feather i, Ulanov i. 
ART HODES 2 

Avakian 2. 
JOHNNY GUARNIERI 2 

Miller-2. 
FATS WALLER 2 

Stacy 2. 
COUNT BASIE i 

Hammond i. 



FEMALE VOCAL 

BILLIE HOLIDAY 23 

Avakian 2, Campbell i, 

Feather 2, Goffin 2, 

Hammond i, Kay 2, 

Lim 2, Miller i, Moon 2, 

Rosenkrantz 2, Smith i, 

Stacy 2, Thiele 2, 

Ulanov i. 
MILDRED BAILEY 15 

Avakian i, Campbell 2, 

Goffin i, Grennard i, 

Hammond 2, Miller 2, 

Moon i, Smith 2, Thiele i, 

Ulanov 2. 
ELLA FITZGERALD 4 

Kay i, Lim i, 

Rosenkrantz i, Stacy i. 



FEMALE VOCAL (continued) 

Total 
Points 

HELEN FORREST 2 

Green 2. 
ETHEL WATERS 2 

Grennard 2. 
BETTY ROCHE i 

Feather i. 
PEGGY MANN i 

Green- 1. 



MALE VOCAL 

Louis ARMSTRONG 1 1 

Avakian 2, Campbell 2, 

Kay 2, Smith 2, Stacy i, 

Thiele 2. 
LEO WATSON 9 

Goffin 2, Miller i, 

Moon 2, Rosenkrantz 2, 

Stacy 2. 
JOE TURNER 7 

Feather i, Hammond i, 

Lim 2, Rosenkrantz i, 

Ulanov 2. 
JACK TEAGARDEN 3 

Avakian i, Smith i, 

Thiele i. 
CAB GALLOWAY 2 

Miller 2. 
JOSH WHITE . . 2 

Hammond 2. 
T-BoNE WALKER 2 

Lim i, Ulanov i. 
EDDIE VINSON * 

Feather 2. 
JAMES RUSHING 2 

Campbell i, Moon i. 



130 Esquire's Jazz Book 

MALE VOCAL (continued) 

Total 
Points 

BOB EBERLY 2 

Green 2. 
BING CROSBY 2 

Grennard 2. 
Louis JORDAN i 

Kay-i. 



MALE VOCAL (continued) 

Total 
Points 

WILLIE DUKES i 

Coffin- 1. 

WALTER BROWN i 

Grennard i. 

HARRY BABBITT r 

Green i. 



Ctapter VTII 

Musicians 9 Bio-Discographies 

Behind the facts enumerated in this chapter a half century of 
jazz potentially lies revealed. The lives of the jazzmen here dis 
cussed cross and re-cross, not only touching upon those who 
received point votes -from Esquire's Board of Experts, but like 
wise upon hundreds of other musicians. A total of 124 individual 
musicians were named by the 16 experts. The following pages 
include a brief biography of these men and women. In cases 
where a discography immediately follows a biography, this is 
because the jnusician is a winner in the Esquire All- American 
Band. It seems fitting that the winners should be awarded this 
additional attention. It turns out that in setting forth the discog- 
raphiessome of which are several columns in length a great 
portion of the recorded history of jazz is touched upon, thus 
giving the reader a cross section which he can pursue further 
if it interests him. Where there has been an omission of fact it 
has not been intentional. Listing of the biographies is in alpha 
betical order. 

PUT simply, a discography is a list of the records on which 
some specific instrumentalist has played, whether it be as a soloist 
or as a member of the ensemble. All the discographies listed in this 
chapter include the following information: (i) the name of the 
band with whom the instrumentalist made the records; (2) the 
approximate collectors' market value of the records; (3) the 
name of the record label; (4) the number of the record on its 
original issuance; (5) titles of the tunes recorded; and (6) the 
label and number of the same recording which, as in some cases 
only, has been reissued at a date subsequent to its original issue 
what might be called the second edition if one were to draw an 
analogy between book collecting and record collecting. 



132 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Winners of Ail-American Band positions have been honored 
with a complete discography of all the records on which they 
appeared: the single exception is Coleman Hawkins, who waxed 
some 50 sides with Fletcher Henderson on the old white label 
Vocalions, and a few on miscellaneous labels, but which are not 
listed in this discography, due- to the fact that his appearance on 
them is relatively unimportant to the collector. Winners of the 
Second All-American Band receive a partial, selected discography 
listing, in which every attempt has been made to acquaint the 
reader with some of the best platters on which these musicians 
played. Since Oscar Pettiford, up to press time, had done no 
commercial recording, he naturally could not be included among 
the discography listings. 

The collectors' market value of records is listed immediately 
after the name of the band, thus: 

With Louis Armstrong (15-30): 

It is this information, perhaps, which will create the widest 
interest and discussion, not only among seasoned collectors but 
also among those who have but recently joined the swelling 
ranks of jazz collectors. In Chapter IV George Hoefer dis 
cusses the more general aspects of collecting; his analysis of types 
of collectors, his anecdotes about collectors, and his well informed 
advice to the neophyte should prove of great value to all hot 
jazz fans, but particularly to the newcomer. 

In estimating the approximate collectors' market value, I have 
drawn heavily on my Yearbook of Popular Musio^ in which 
more than 3,000 collectors' records are evaluated on a scale from 
50 downwards. In assessing records for the present volume, I 
have made every attempt to set the values at figures at which 
these records actually are being traded and sold. 

In most cases, therefore, I have named a figure lower than 



Musicians* Bio-Disco graphics 133 

that in my Yearbook, since I wanted to avoid the confusion which 
might result if it were not clearly understood that the values 
were but a scale of values by which it could be determined what 
one particular record was worth in relation to another. Hence, 
the values set in the ensuing pages, while they also may be re 
garded as a scale of values, actually are what I believe to be -fair 
evaluations of the present market. 

As Arnold Gingrich already has explained in the introduction, 
there is much justification for what at first glance might be con 
sidered excessive estimating. Not only has the number of col 
lectors increased during the past several years thus creating a 
wider market but the exigencies of wartime restrictions have 
forced the record companies to concentrate on what they believe 
to be the biggest money makers. On the whole this has meant 
concentration on popular tunes of the day, principally for the 
juke box trade. 

Also as Mr. Gingrich explained, the dollar sign may be placed 
in front of the figures if that is conducive to the most practical 
method of dealing with collectors' items; but the figures, as he 
says, are meant "to indicate relative scarcity and desirability." 
For the biographies, my Yearbook again was my principal source 
of information P.E.M. 

ARMSTRONG, Daniel Louis (Satchmo') . Trumpet, vocal Received 
1 6 points for trumpet: Avakian, Campbell, Feather, Goffin, Miller, 
Moon, Smith, Stacy, Thiele; n points for male vocal: Avakian, 
Campbell Kay, Smith, Stacy, Thiele. Born July 4, 1900, New Or 
leans, La. Picked up knowledge of his instrument principally at the 
Waifs Home for Boys in New Orleans, where he was placed at age 
1 3 for firing a gun during a New Year's Eve celebration. He began 
playing in bands just a few years later, and was soon accepted as a 
desirable sideman by King Oliver, Kid Ory, Fate Marable, and othei 
miscellaneous New Orleans bands. After several years on the river- 
boats with Marable, he was called to Chicago in July, 1922, by King 



i34 Esquire's J&zz Book 

Oliver, with whose band he remained for two years. In 1924 New 
York made a bid for him in the person of Fletcher Henderson; he 
stayed a year, returned to Chicago to play with Ollie Powers and 
Erskine Tate's Vendome Theatre Orchestra (he doubled the two 
jobs for almost a year) ; with Carroll Dickerson at the Sunset Cafe 
and Savoy Ballroom; with Clarence Jones at the Metropolitan The 
atre. In the fall of 1927 he headed his own band for a few months, 
but not until the spring of 1929 when he was featured in the Hot 
Chocolates revue in New York did he finally organize and head his 
own group. It subsequently played New York's Coconut Grove, 
Chicago's Show Boat Cafe, and Culver City's Cotton Club. Twice he 
made trips to London and the Continent; once for the last six months 
of 1932, and the second time from July, 1933, to January, 1935. 
While there he appeared as soloist in reviews, in addition to fronting 
bands. Upon his return to U. S., he took over Luis Russell's already 
organized band, and has fronted it ever since. Has made numerous 
appearances in movies, several in Broadway revues. 



DISCOGRAPHY 



With King Oliver (15-50): With King Oliver 

^ tinned 
Paramount 

izoSS Southern Stomps 5'*4 S <f e 



20292 Riverside Blues/Mabel's Afcg" Hop/Krooked 
Dream Blues 

Columbia 

XT rM ~ /r > u <_ 4006 Bobbin' Blues/Sweet Lovin' 

13003 New Orleans Stomp/Chat- ^ y 7 

I4 oo 3 S^AfcSbg Blues/Lon- * JJppo: Mouth Blues/Where 
don Cafe Blue! D>d You Stay Last Mght 

4933 Snake Rag/High Society 
Gennett R ag (HRS 12) 

5132 Dipper Mouth Blues (HRS 4975 Jazzin' Babies Blues 

4) /Weather Bird Rag 8148 Room Rent Blues/ Ain't 
(UHCA 75-76) Gonna Tell Nobody 

5133 Canal St. Blues/Just Gone 8235 Mabel's Dream/Sweet Baby 

5134 Mandy Lee/I'm Goin' Away Doll 

5135 Chimes Blues/Froggie 40000 Tears (HRS i2)/Buddy's 
Moore Habits 



With King Oliver 

tinued 
40034 Riverside Blues/Working 

Man Blues 

With Clarence Williams (15-30): 
Okeh 



Musicians* Bio-Discographies 135 

With Own Band (8-20) continued 
8318 Come Back Sweet Papa/ 

Georgia Grind 
8320 Cornet Chop Suey (HRS 2; 

Co 36i54)/My Heart (Co 



8171 
8181 

8215 
8245 

8254 
40260 
40321 



Texas Moaner Blues 
Of All the Wrongs/Every 
body Loves My Baby 
Papa De Da 

Coal Cart Blues (HRS 6)/ 
Santa Glaus Blues 
Squeeze Me/Santa Claus 
Blues 

Mandy/Fm a Little Black 
bird 
Cake Walkin' Babies 



With Red Onion Jazz Babies 



Gennett 
5594 Texas Moaner Blues/Every 

body Loves My Baby 
5607 Santa Claus Blues/Terrible 

Blues (HRS 31) 

5626 Nobody Knows/Early 
Every Morn 

5627 Cake Walkin' Babies/Of All 
the Wrongs You Done 

With Own Band (8-20): 
Okeh 

8261 Gut Bucket Blues/Yes I'm 
in Barrel (Co 36152) 

8299 Oriental Strut/You're Next 
(HRS 10; Co 36155) 

8300 Heebie Jeebies (Co 36155)7 
Muskrat Ramble (Co 36153) 



8343 Fin Gonna Gitcha/Don't 

Forget to Mess Around 
8357 Droppin' Shucks/Whosit 
8379 Big Fat Ma & Skinny Pa/ 

Sweet Little Papa 
8396 King of Zulus/Lonesome 

Blues 
8423 Sunset Cafe Stomp/Big 

Butter & Egg Man 
8436 Jazz Lips/Skid Da De Da 

(Co 36153) 
8447 Irish Black Bottom/You 

Made Me Love You 
8474 Gully Low Blues/Wild Man 

Blues 
8482 Willie the Weeper/Alligator 

Crawl 
8496 Melancholy Blues/Keyhole 

Blues 
8503 Potato Head Blues (Co 

3566o)/Put 'Em Down 

Blues 

8519 Weary Blues/Til Come Back 
8535 Hotter Than That/Savoy 

Blues 
8551 Got No Blues/I'm Not 

Rough 

8566 Struttin' with Some Barbe 
cue/Once in a While 
8597 West End Blues (Co 36377) 

/Fireworks 
8609 Sugar Foot Strut/Monday 

Date (Co 36375) 
863 1 Skip the Gutter/Knee Drops 



136 Esquires Jazz Book 

With Own 'Band (8-20) continued 
8641 Two Deuces/Squeeze Me 

(Co 35661) 
8649 Tight Like This/Heah Me 

Talkin' to Ya (Co 36378) 
8657 Save It Pretty Mama (Co 

35662) /St. James Infirmary 
8690 Basin St, Blues/No 
8703 Muggles (Co 36377) / 

Knockin' a Jug (UHCA 

35-36; Co 35663) 



With Own Band (3-5): 

Okeh 

8669 I Can't Give You Anything 

But Love, Baby (UHCA 

3 5-3 6) /No One Else But 

You (Co 35662) 
8680 Beau Koo Jack/Mahogany 

Hall Stomp 
8714 Ain't Misbehavin'/Black & 

Blue 
8717 Sweet Savannah Sue/That 

Rhythm Man 
8729 When You're Smiling/Some 

of These Days 
8756 Rockin 5 Chair/I Ain't Got 

Nobody 
8774 Dallas Blues/Bessie Couldn't 

Help It 

8800 Tiger Rag/Dinah 
41298 When You're Smiling/Some 

of These Days 
41350 After You've Gone/St. 

Louis Blues 
41375 Blue Turning Grey/Song of 

the Islands 
41415 My Sweet/I Can't Believe 

That You're in Love 



With Own "Band (3-5) continued 

41422 Ding Dong Daddy/I'm in 
the Market 

41423 Exactly Like You/Indian 
Cradle Song 

41448 If I Could Be with You/ 

Confessin' 
41463 Memories of You/Lucky to 

Me 

41468 Body and Soul 
41478 Peanut Vendor/You're 

Drivin' Me Crazy 
41486 Just a Gigolo/Shine 



With Own Band (2-4): 

Okeh 

41497 I Surrender Dear/Walkin' 
Baby Back Home 

41498 Blue Again/When Your 
Lover Has Gone 

41501 Them There Eyes/Little 

Joe 
41504 Sleepy Time Down South/ 

You Rascal You 
41530 Star Dust/Wrap Your 

Troubles in Dreams 
41534 Chinatown/I Got Rhythm 
41538 Lonesome Road/You Can 

Depend on Me 
41541 Lazy River/Georgia on My 

Mind 
41550 Between the Devil and the 

Deep Blue Sea/Kickin' 

Gong Around 
41552 All of Me/Home 
41557 New Tiger Rag/You Funny 

Thing 



Musicians 9 Bio-Discographies 137 



With Own Band (2-4) continued 
41560 Keepin' out of Mischief/ 

Lord You Made Night Too 

Long 

Columbia (Last 3 records current 
retail price only) 
2228 Sweethearts on Parade 
36376 Don't Jive Me/Chicago 

Breakdown 
35661 S.O.L. Blues 
35663 Twelfth St. Rag 



With Fletcher Henderson ($-15) 

continued 
Ajaz 

17109 Everybody Loves My Baby 
17123 Why Couldn't It Be 

Banner 
1445 How Come You Do 

1470 See You in My Dreams 

1471 Everybody Loves My Baby 

Cameo 
3491 Old Black Joe Blues 



With Fletcher Henderson ( j-z jj: 

Columbia 

228 Go Long Mule/Manda 
249 Meanest Kind o' Blues/ 

Naughty Man 
292 Play Slow/Bye & Bye 
383 Money Blues/I'll Take Her 

Back 
395 Sugar Foot/What-Call-'Em 

Blues 
509 TNT/Carolina Stomp 

Vocation 

14926 Copenhagen/Words 

14935 Shanghai Shuffle/Naughty 

Man 
15030 Memphis Bound/When You 

Do What You Do 

Paramount 

20367 Prince of Wails/Mandy 

Regal 

9753 Some of These Days 
9770 Why Couldn't It Be 

Apex 
8039 Alabamy Bound 



With Erskine Tate (25): 
Vocation 

1027 Stomp Off Let's Go/Static 
Strut 

With LiPs Hot Shopts (25): 
Vocation 

1037 Drop that Sack/Georgia Bo 
Bo 

With Johnny Dodds 

Vocation (50) 

15632 New Orleans Stomp/ Weary 
Blues 

Brunswick (15) 
3567 Wild Man Blues/Melan 
choly 

Trumpet Solo (zo): 

Okeh 

41454 Weather Bird (HRS 18; Co 
3 6375) /Dear Old Southland 
(HRS 18; Co 36282) 



138 Esquire's Jazz Book 
Ace. for Baby Mack (25): 
Okeh 

8313 What Kind Man Is that/ 
You've Got to Get a Home 

Ace. for Butterbeans & Susie (8): 

Okeh 
8355 He Likes It Slow 

Ace. for Lillie Delk Christian 

(*-3): 
Okeh 

8596 Too Busy/Was It Dream 
8607 You're a Real Sweetheart/ 

Last Night I Dreamed 
8650 Sweethearts on Parade/I 
Can't Give You Anything 
But Love, Baby 
8660 Must Have That Man/Baby 

Ace. for Blanche Galloway (15): 
Okeh 

8279 Lonesome Lovesick Blues/ 
Lazy Woman's Blues 

Ace. for Ida Cox (7): 

Paramount 

12298 Mistreatin' Daddy Blues/ 
Southern Woman's Blues 

12307 Long Distance Blues/Lone 
some Blues 

Ace. for Seger Ellis (2-4): 

Okeh 

41255 S'posin'/To Be In Love 

41291 Ain't Misbehavin' 



Ace. for Bertha Hill (2-5): 

Okeh 

8273 Low Land Blues/Kid Man 
Blues 

8312 Trouble in Mind/Georgia 
Man 

8339 Lonesome All Alone 

8420 Pratt City Blues (HRS Divi 
dend) /Pleadin' for the 
Blues 

8437 Mess Katie Mess 

8453 Lovesick Blues/Lonesome 
Weary Blues 

Ace. for Margaret Johnson (5): 
Okeh 

8185 Changeable Daddy/Mama's 
All Alone Blues 

Ace. for Maggie Jones ($-8): 

Columbia 

14050 Thunderstorm Blues/Poor 

House Blues 
14055 Good Time Flat Blues 

(HRS Dividend)/ Screamin' 

the Blues 

14059 If I Lose Let Me Lose 
14063 Anybody Here Want to 

Try My Cabbage 

Ace. for Virginia Listen (20): 

Okeh 

8173 You've Got the Right Key 
8187 Early in the Morning 

With Ma Rainey (20-15): 
Paramount 

12238 Jelly Bean Blues/Countin' 
the Blues (UHCA 83-84) 



Musicians' Bio-Disco graphics 139 
With Ma Rainey (w 15) con- Ace. for Hociel Thomas (3-8) 



tinued 

12252 See See Rider Blues/Jealous 
Hatred Blues 

Ace. for Bessie Smith (2-5): 

Columbia 

14056 Reckless Blues/Sobbin' 

Hearted Blues 
14064 Cold in Hand Blues/St. 

Louis Blues 
14079 You've Been a Good Old 

Wagon 

14083 Careless Love Blues 
14090 Nashville Woman's Blues/ 

Ain't Gonna Play Second 

Fiddle 
14095 J. G Holmes Blues 

Ace. for Clara Smth (8-10): 

Columbia 

14058 Nobody Knows Way I Feel 
14062 Broken Busted Blues 
14073 Court House Blues 
14077 Shipwreck Blues/My John 
Blues 

Ace. for Victoria Spivey (2): 

Okeh 

8713 Funny Feather's Blues/How 
Do They Do It 

Ace. for Hociel Thomas (3-8): 
Okeh 



continued 

8297 Lonesome Hours/Deep 
Water Blues 

8326 I've Stopped My Man/Sun 
shine Baby 

8346 I Told You/Listen to Ma 

Ace. -for Sippie Wallace (3-6): 
Okeh 
8328 Jack of Diamonds Blues/ 

Special Delivery Blues 
8301 Jealous Woman/A Man for 

Every Day 
8449 Dead Drunk Blues/Have 

You Ever Been Down 
8470 Flood Blues/Lazy Man Blues 

Ace. for Nolan Welsh (j): 
Okeh 

8372 St. Peter Blues/Bridewell 
Blues 

Ace. for Coot Grant (7): 

Paramount 

12317 Have Your Chill/Come On 

Coot 
12324 Speak Now/You Dirty Mis- 

treater 
12337 Put Down/Find Me at the 

Greasy Spoon 

Ace. for Trixie Smith (5): 



8258 Adam & Eve Had the Blues 12256 You've Got to Beat Me/ 



/Put It Where I Can Get It 
8289 Gambler's Dream/ Wash 
woman Blues 



Mining Camp Blues 
12262 The World's Jazz Crazy/ 
Railroad Blues 



140 Esquire's Jazz Book 
With His Own Band (2): 

Victor 

24200 That's My Home (Blu 
io2 3 6)/Hobo You Can't 
Ride This Train (Blu 6501) 

24204 I Hate to Leave You (Blu 
io2 3 6)/You'll Wish You'd 
Never Been Born 

24233 I Gotta Right to Sing the 
Blues (Blu 5 i 7 3)/Hustlin' & 
Bustlin' for Baby (Blu 

5*73) 
24232 High Society (Blu 677 1)/ 

Mahogany Hall Stomp (Blu 

5086) 
24245 I've Got the World on a 

String (Blu 69io)/Sittin' in 

Dark (Blu 7506) 
24257 He's a Son of the South 

(Blu 5086) /Some Sweet Day 

(Blu 10237) 

24320 St. Louis Blues (Blu 5280)7 
Dusky Stevedore (Blu 
10237) 

24321 Sweet Sue (Blu 5280)7 
Mississippi Basin (Blu 6501) 

24335 Honey Don't You Love Me 
(Blu 787) /There's a Cabin 
in the Pines (Blu 6910) 

24351 Mighty River (Blu 10703)7 
Basin St. Blues (Blu 5408) 

24363 Laughin' Louie (Blu 5363)7 
Tomorrow Night (Blu 

5363) 

24369 Snowball (Blu 10225)7 
Honey Do (Blu 7787) 

24425 Don't Play Me Cheap (Blu 
10237)7! Wonder Who 

36084 Medley of Armstrong Hits 



With His Oim Band (^-con 
tinued 

Bluebird 

10225 Swing You Cats 
10703 When It's Sleepy Time 
Down South 

French Brunswick 

500490 St. Louis Blues/Super 
Tiger Rag 

500491 On the Sunny Side of the 
Street 

500492 Song of the Vipers/ Will 
You, Won't You 

With Own Band (retail- 1:) 

Decca 

579 I'm in the Mood for Love/ 
Got a Brand New Suit 

580 La Cucaracha/You Are My 
Lucky Star 

622 Old Man Mose/Falling in 
Love 

623 I'm Shooting High/Got My 
Fingers Crossed 

648 On Treasure Island/Red 
* Sails in the Sunset 

666 Solitude/Thanks a Million 

672 Shoe Shine Boy/Hope Ga 
briel Likes My Music 

685 Rhythm Saved the World/ 
The Music Goes Round 

698 I'm Putting All My Eggs in 
One Basket/Yes, Yes 

797 Somebody Stole My Break/ 
Come from Musical Family 

824 Mahogany Hall Stomp 

835 Eventide/Lyin' to Myself 

866 Thankful 

906 If We Never Meet Again 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 141 



With Ovm Band (retail- i) con 
tinued 

1049 Red Nose 

1347 Red Cap/Public Melody 
No. i 

1353 Cuban Pete/She's the 
Daughter of a Planter 

1369 Sun ShowersA ours & Mine 

1408 Alexander's Ragtime Band/ 
I've Got Heartful 

1635 Jubilee/True Confession 

1636 Satchel Mouth Swing/I 
Double Dare You 

1653 Trumpet Player's Lament/ 
Sweet as Song 

1660 On the Sunny Side of the 
Street/Once in a While 

1 66 1 Struttin' with Some Barbe 
cue/Let That Be a Lesson 

1822 So Little Time/Mexican 
Swing 

1841 It's Wonderful/On the Sen 
timental Side 

1842 Something Tells Me/Love 
Walked In 

1937 I've Got a Pocketful of 

Dreams/Naturally 
2042 Ain't Misbehavin'/I Can't 

Give You Anything But 

Love 
2230 When Saints Go Marching/ 

You'll Be Dead If You Die 
2267 Jeepers Creepers/ What Is 

This Thing Called Love 
2405 Save It Pretty Mama/Heah 

Me Talkin' to Ya 
2480 West End Blues/If It's Good 
2538 Savoy Blues/Me & Brother 

Bill 
2615 Our Monday Date/Con- 

fessin' 



With Own Band (retail-i)-con- 

timed 
2729 Baby Won't You Please 

Come Home/Shanty Boat 
2934 You're Just No Account/ 

You're a Lucky Guy 
3011 Poor Old Joe/Bye & Bye 
3092 Harlem Stomp/You've Got 

Me Voodooed 
3105 Wolverine Blues 
3204 Cain & Abel/You Run Your 

Mouth 
3235 Sweethearts on Parade/Cut 

Off My Legs & Call Me 

Shorty 

3283 Lazy 'Sippi Steamer 
3700 I Cover the Waterfront/ 

Long Long Ago 
3756 Hey Lawdy Mama/Do You 

Call That a Buddy 
3825 In the Gloaming/Every 
thing's Been Done 
3900 Yes Suh/I'U Get Mine By & 

By 

3946 Bye & Bye 
4106 Leap Frog/I Used to Love 

You 
4140 You Rascal You/Sleepy time 

Down South 
4229 I Never Knew/Cash for 

Your Trash 
4327 Coquette/ Among My 

Souvenirs 

18090 Peridido St. Blues/2 10 Blues 

18091 Coal Cart Blues/Down in 
Honky Tonk Town 

With Jimmy Dorsey (retail): 
Decca 

866 Swing That Music 

906 Dipper Mouth 



142 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Jimmy Dorsey (retail): con 
tinued 
949 Skeleton in Closet/Hurdy 

Gurdy Man 
1049 When Ruben Swings the 

Cuban 

15027 Pennies from Heaven (two 
parts) 



With the Mills Brothers (retail): 

1245 Carry Me Back to Old Vir- 
giny/Darling Nelly Gray 

1360 Old Folks at Home 

1495 In the Shade of the Old 
Apple Tree 

1876 Flat Floot Floogie 

1892 The Song Is Ended/My 
Walking Stick 

3180 Cherry/Boog-It 

3291 Marie 



With Andy lona (retail): 
Decca 

1216 Hawaiian Hospitality/On a 
Little Bamboo Bridge 

With the Polynesians (retail): 
Decca 
941 Aloha/On a Cocoanut Island 

With Mixed Chorus (retail): 
Decca 
1913 Shadrack/ Jonah & the 

Whale 

2085 Nobody Knows de Trouble 
I've Seen/Going to Shout 
All over God's Heaven 

Monologue (retail): 
Decca 

15043 Elder Eatmore on Gener 
osity/On Throwing Stones 



ATKINS, Stanley. Piano. Received 2 points: Rosenkrantz. Now a 
staff sergeant in the Army, Atkins, according to the expert who voted 
for him, is "unknown, but doubtless the swingingest, chording-est cat 
in the Armed Forces/' 

BABBITT, Harry. Vocalist. Born Nov. 2, 1913, St. Louis, Mo. Re 
ceived i point: Green. Began study of music at the age of 12, on 
drums and saxophone. Gave up these instruments for singing, study 
ing privately in St. Louis and Chicago. For a short time he led his 
own band; then turned to radio work in St. Louis (1931-36), joined 
KayKyser (1937-43). 

BASIE, William (Count). Piano. Received i point: Hammond. 

Born August 21, 1906, Red Bank, N. J., where he attended high 
school and began study of piano under his mother's tutelage. For 
about seven years after being graduated from high school he jobbed 
with numerous local outfits in the New York area. About 1930 he 



Musicians' Bio-Disco graphics 143 

joined a traveling show which went broke in Kansas City, Mo., and 
he was stranded there, so decided to "look around." He found work 
quickly with Walter Page and Bennie Moten. In 1935 Basic or 
ganized his own band, and through broadcasts over W^XBY came 
to the attention of John Henry Hammond, who took a personal 
interest in the band, arranged to have it booked by MCA. After 
an engagement at Chicago's Grand Terrace in the fall of 1936, Basie 
became increasingly successful and soon reached big-name status. 
Recorded with Moten, Page, own band. Solos: an album by Decca; 
Topsy, Swinging at the Daisy Chain, and many others by his own 
band. 

BAILEY, Mildred. Vocalist. Received 15 points: Avakian, Camp 
bell, Goffin, Grennard, Hammond, Miller, Moon, Smith, Thiele, 
Ulanov. Born about 1907, Tekoa, Wash,, but attended school in 
Spokane. When her brother, Al Rinker, teamed up with Bing Crosby 
(The Rhythm Boys) , she became definitely interested in music, and 
since she could play no instrument, took to singing. She worked as 
a song plugger in a Seattle music shop, and this gave her an oppor 
tunity to "practice" her vocalisms. Paul Whiteman heard her in 1929, 
and she became his vocalist, one of the first to sing regularly with a 
band. Remained with Whiteman till about 1934, when she became 
a solo act. Sang with Red Norvo's band (1936-39), and then went 
back to solo work. Recorded with Norvo, Dorsey Brothers, and 
numerous studio combinations under her own name. Solos: Smoke 
Dreams (Norvo); Is That Religion (Dorseys); Washboard Blues, 
Someday Sweetheart (own band). 

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 

With Benny Goodman (}): With Dorsey Brothers (2-$)con- 

Columbia tinued 

2892 Junk Man/Ol Pappy *5*7 Lazy Bones/Cabin in the 

2907 Georgia Jubilee/Emaline Pines 

6655 Shourin' in That Amen Cor- 
Witb Dorsey Brothers (2-5): ner/SnowbaU 

Brunswick <568o Doin' Uptown Lowdown/ 

6558 Is That Religion/Harlem Liberty or Love 

Lullaby 



144 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Own Band (2-2): 
Vocalion 

3056 I'd Rather Listen to Your 
Eyes/I'd Love to Take 
Orders from You 

3057 When. Day Is Done/Some 
day Sweetheart 

3367 For Sentimental Reasons/It's 

Love Fm After 
3378 Long About Midnight/ 
More Than You Know 
3449 My Last Affair/Trust in Me 
3456 Where Are You/You're 

Laughing at Me 
3508 There's a Lull in My Life/ 

Never in a Million Years 
3553 Little Joe/Rockin' Chair 
3615 Heaven Help This Heart of 
Mine/If You Ever Should 
Leave 

3626 The Natural Thing to Do/ 
The Moon Got in My Eyes 
3712 Bob White/ Just Stone's 

Throw from Heaven 
3758 Loving You/Right or - 

Wrong 
393 1 I See Your Face Before Me/ 

Thanks for the Memory 
3982 From Land of Sky Blue 
Water/Lover Come Back 
to Me 
4016 Don't Be That Way/I Can't 

Face the Music 
4036 At Your Beck & Call/ 

Bewildered 
4083 I Let a Song Go out of My 

Heart/Rock It for Me 
4109 If You Were in My Place/ 

Moonshine Over Kentucky 
4139 Washboard Blues/Round 
the Old Deserted Farm 



With O r vm Band (1-2) continued 

4224 Born to Swing/Small Fry 

4253 As Long as You Live/So 
Help Me 

4282 Now It Can Be Told/I 
Haven't Changed a Thing 

4345 Love Is Where You Find It/ 
I Used to Be Color Blind 

4406 My Reverie/What Have 
You Got That Gets Me 

4432 Old Folks/Have You For 
gotten So Soon 

4474 Lonesome Road/My Melan 
choly Baby 

4548 I Go for That/They Say 

4619 I Cried for You/Begin the 
Beguine 

4632 What Shall I Say/Blame It 
on My Last Affair 

With RedNorvo (i -2 J. 
Brunswick 
7732 Picture Me Without You/ 

Begins & Ends with You 
7744 I Know that You Know/ 

Porter's Love Song 
7761 Can Happen to You/When 

Is a Kiss Not a Kiss 
7767 Now that Summer Is Gone/ 

Peter Piper 
7813 Slummin' on Park Avenue/ 

I've Got My Love 
7815 Smoke Dreams/A Thousand 

Dreams of You 
7868 Liza/Anything for You 
7896 Jivin' the Jeep/Remember 
7928 Everyone's Wrong But Me/ 

Posin' 
7932 The Morning After/Do You 

Ever Think of Me 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 145 



With Red Norvo (1-2) continued 

7970 Tears in My Heart/Worried 

Over You 
7975 Russian Lullaby/Clap Hands 

Here Comes Charlie 

8068 Love Is Here to Stay/Doing 
AIL Right 

8069 It's Wonderful/Always & 
Always 

8085 Serenade to Stars/More 
Than Ever 

8088 Please Be Kind/Week End 
of Private Secretary 

8089 There's Boy in Harlem/ 
How Can You Forget 

8103 Tea Time/Jeannine 

8135 Says My Heart/You Leave 

Me Breathless 
8145 Savin'- Myself for You 



With Red Norvo (1-2) continued 

8175 After Dinner Speech/ 

Cigaret & Silhouette 
8182 Sunny Side of Things/Put 

Your Heart in Song 
8194 WigwamminVHow Can I 

Thank You 
8202 Jump Jump Here/Garden of 

the Moon 

With Casa Loma Orchestra. (2): 
Brunswick 
6184 You Call It Madness/Wrap 

Your Troubles in Dreams 
6190 Blues in My Heart/When 
It's Sleepy Time Down 
South 



BAILEY, William C. (Buster). Clarinet. Received i point: Moon. 
Born July 19, 1902, Memphis, Tenn., where he attended high school. 
Began his musical studies in school at age 12, and continued dili 
gently privately, and under special teachers, among whom was 
Francis Schoepp of the Chicago Symphony. At the age of 15 he 
played with W. C. Handy 's orchestra, and in 1919 he migrated to 
Chicago to play with Erskine Tate's Vendome Theatre Orchestra, 
with which he remained until 1922. For the next 12 years he spent 
most of his time with Fletcher Henderson, although he did short 
stands with Carroll Dickerson, King Oliver and Noble Sissle (he 
made a European tour with Sissle) . In the main, however, Buster is 
identified with Henderson from the period 1923-1934. Several years 
with the Blue Rhythm Band (1934-36) brought him, in 1937, to 
his present position of clarinetist with John Kirby's small band. 
Recorded with Henderson, Kirby, and numerous studio combina 
tions, including several under his own name, in addition to those 
headed by Choo Berry, Teddy Wilson, Billie Holiday, Wingy Man- 
none, Lionel Hampton. Also featured on recordings of the New 
Friends of Rhythm, and as accompanist for Blues singers. Solos: 



146 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Mood in Question (Friends Rhythm); Limehouse Blues (Berry); 
/ Know That You Know (Hampton); Blues in C Sharp Minor 
(Wilson) ; and of course all records by his own groups and Kirby's. 

BECHET, Sidney. Soprano saxophone, clarinet. Received 6 points 
as saxophonist: Goffin, Miller, Moon, Smith; i point as clarinetist: 
Smth. Bora May 14, 1897, New Orleans, La. Took a teen-age in 
terest in music; when six began his self-taught lessons on clarinet, 
which he continued throughout his boyhood days. At age eight he 
"sat in" with Freddie Keppard's New Orleans band, and at nine 
gained the admiration and friendship of clarinetist George Baquet, 
who took great pains to teach the lad, but even then Bechet de 
pended almost entirely on his memory rather than on written notes. 
He played in his brother's band at 13; professionally joined the 
famous Eagle Band of New Orleans in 1914. The following year he 
toured Texas with Clarence Williams, and upon his return to New 
Orleans played with the Olympia band under King Oliver (1917). 
In the summer of that year he migrated to Chicago with the Bruce 
& Bruce stock company, playing through the South on its way to 
the northern metropolis. Upon arrival there, he immediately grabbed 
a job at the De Luxe Cabaret with Freddie Keppard; he alternated 
between that spot and the Pekin Cabaret (with pianist Tony Jack 
son) until late 1919, when he joined Will Marion Cook's concert 
orchestra and went to Europe with it, not returning to the U. S. 
until 1922. He then jobbed around New York, making the famous 
Clarence Williams Blue Five dates with trumpeter Louis Armstrong. 
In 1925 Bechet returned to Europe with The Black Revue; left the 
show after a year and joined a band which toured Russia (where 
he met trumpeter Tommy Ladnier for the first time). Back in Paris 
in 1927, The Black Revue was reorganized, and Bechet led the 
show's i4-piece orchestra; it toured all over Europe. In mid-1928 
he joined Noble Sissle in Paris, but the following year he was again 
heading his own group at the Haus Vaterland in Berlin. Early in 
1930 Sissle wired him to come back to America to rejoin, which he 
did, only to return to Europe again with Sissle for another tour. 
The Black Revue was revived for the third time and Bechet left 
Sissle (1930) to assume leadership of its orchestra. Again Sissle wired 
for him, and late in 1930 he returned to the U. S., where he has 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 147 

remained ever since. He played with Sissle for eight months in 1931 
and again from 1934 to the end of 1938. In the interim he led his own 
groups, jobbed around New York, and since leaving Sissle has re 
corded with and led his own small combinations in the Eastern 
metropolis. During the season of 1932-33 his New Orleans Feet- 
warmers played New York's Savoy Ballroom, and cut the now 
famous six sides for the Victor label. Compositions: Voice of the 
Slaves, Polka Dot Rag, Chant in the Night. Soprano solos: Dear Old 
Southland, Summertime, Chant in the Night (own band) ; Charac 
teristic Blues, Tm Just Wild About Harry (Sissle) ; Maple Leaf Rag 
(Feetwarmers) . Clarinet solos: Polka Dot Rag issued as Siveetie Dear 
(Feetwarmers) ; Lonesome Blues (own band). 

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 



With Clarence Williams (15-30): 
Okeh 
4925 



Wild Cat Blues/Kansas City 

Man Blues 

Tain't Nobody's Business If 

I Do/Achin' Hearted Blues 

New Orleans Hop Scop 

Blues 

Old Fashioned Love/Oh 

Daddy Blues 

Texas Moaner Blues/House 

Rent Blues 

Papa De Dada 

Coal Cart Blues/Santa Glaus 

Blues 

Shreveport 

Mandy Make Up Your 

Mind/I'm a Little Blackbird 

Cake Walkin 7 Babies From 

Home 



4966 

4975 
4993 

8171 

8215 
8245 

40000 
40260 

40321 



With Red Onion Jazz 'Babies 

Gennett 

5627 Cake Walkin' Babies From 
Home 



With New Orleans Feetwarmers 

(10-25): 
Victor 
23358 Lay Your Racket/I Want 

You Tonight (Blu 10472) 
23360 Maple Leaf Rag/Sweetie 

Dear (Blu 7614) 
24150 I've Found New Baby/Shag 

(Blu 10022) 

With Noble Sissle (1-5): 
Brunswick 

6073 Loveless Love/Got the 
Bench Got the Park 

6129 Basement Blues 
Decca 

153 Polka Dot Rag/Under the 
Creole Moon 

154 Loveless Love/Old Ark Is 
Moverin 

766 I Wonder Who Made 

Rhythm 
2129 Blackstick/When the Sun 

Sets Down South 
7429 Viper Mad/Sweet Patootie 



148 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Noble Sissle (1-5) con 
tinued 

Variety 

552 I'm Just Wild about Harry/ 

Bandanna Days 
648 Characteristic Blues/Okey 

Doke 

Unissued: St. Louis Blues/ 

Dear Old Southland 

With Tommy Ladnier (retctil-i): 
Bluebird 

10086 Weary Blues/ JaDa 
10089 Really the Blues/When You 
& I Were Young Maggie 

With Jelly Roll Morton (retail-i): 

Bluebird 

10429 Winin Boy Blues/Oh He 

Didn't Ramble 
10434 High Society /I Thought I 

Heard Buddy Bolden Say 

With The Port of Harlem Seven 
(retail): 

Blue Note 

6 Pounding Heart Blues 

7 Blues for Tommy 

With Louis Armstrong (retail): 
Decca 

18090 Perdido St. BIues/2:i9 Blues 

18091 Down in Honky Tonk 
Town/Coal Cart Blues 

With Bechet-Sptmier Big Four 
(retail): 

Hot Record Society 

2000 Lazy River/Sweet Lorraine 

2001 China Boy/4 or 5 Times 



With Bechet-Spanier Big Four 
(retail) continued 

2002 That's a Plenty/If I Could 
Be with You 

2003 Squeeze Me/Sweet Sue 

With His Oim Trio (2-2): 

Victor 

27204 Blues in Thirds 

With His Own Quartet (retail): 

Blue Note 

13 Lonesome Blues/Dear Old 

Southland 

502 Bechet's Steady Rider/ Sat 
urday Night Blues 

With His Own Quintet (retail): 
Blue Note 

6 Summertime 

With His Own Band (retail-*): 
Vocalion 

4537 J un gl e Drums/Hold Tight 
4575 Chant in the Night/What a 
Dream 

Bluebird 

8509 Sidney's Blues/Make Me a 

Pallet on the Floor 
10623 Preachin' Blues/Indian Sum 
mer 

Victor 

26640 Wild Man Blues/Shake It & 

Break It 

26663 old Man Blues/Nobody 
Knows Way I Feel 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 149 

With His Own Band (retail-2) With His Oivn Band (retail-2) 

continued continued 

26746 Blues for You Johnny /Ain't 27904 I'm Coming Virginia/ 

Misbehavin' Georgia Cabin 

27204 One o'Clock Jump 20-1510 The Mooche/Blues in the 

Air 

BERNSTEIN, Arthur. String Bass. Received 2 points: Ham 
mond. A one-time lawyer, now in the service, he has concentrated 
most of his activities with free-lance work in the New York area. 
In addition to studio work, he has played with Benny Goodman, 
Teddy Wilson. Recorded with Red Norvo, Chauncey Morehouse, 
Bert Shefter, Teddy Wilson, Eddie Condon, Red Nichols, Dorsey 
Brothers, Benny Goodman, Sharkey Bonano, Mildred Bailey, Putney 
Dandridge, Billie Holiday, Frankie Trumbauer. Solos: Blues in B Flat 
(Morehouse); Blues in E Flat (Norvo). 

BIGARD, Barney. Clarinet. Received 8 points: Hammond, Kay, 
Lim, Miller, Rosewkrantz, Thiele. Born 1906, New Orleans, La. 
Began study of clarinet early in life with Lorenzo and Louis Tio. 
Launched big-time career with Octave Gaspard in New Orleans 
(1923), then played with King Oliver (1925-26), Charlie Elgar 
(1926-27), Luis Russell (1927-28), Duke Ellington (1928-41). After 
12 years as Ellington's featured clarinetist, he left the band in the 
summer of 1942, staying in California, where he heads his own small 
combination (1942); joined Freddie Slack (1943). Recorded with 
Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Ellington and his own studio combination. 
Solos: The Mooche, Clarinet Lament, Across the Track Blues, Blue 
Light, Old Man Blues, Subtle Lament, Saratoga Swing (all Elling 
ton) ; Finesse (Improvisations in Ellingtonia with Rex Stewart and 
Django Reinhardt) ; Lament -for Javanette (own band) . 

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 

With Ovm Band (retail-z): With O f wn Band (retail-2 ) con- 

Variety tinned 

515 Caravan/Stompy Jones 564 Lament for Lost Love/Four 

525 Frolic Sam/Clouds in My & One-Half St. 

' Heart . 655 Jazz a la Carte/Demi-Tasse 



150 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Own Band (retail-2) con 
tinued 

596 If You're Ever in My Arms 
Again/Get It Southern Style 

626 Sponge Cake & Spinach/ 
Moonlight Fiesta 

Vocalion 
3985 Drummer's Delight/If I 

Thought You Cared 
5378 Minuet in Blues/Barney's 

Coin' Easy 
5422 Lost in Two Flats/Early 

Mornin' 
5595 Mardi Gras Madness/Watch 

the Birdie 

Okch 

5663 Honey Hush/Just Another 
Dream 

Bluebird 

10981 A Lull at Dawn/Charlie the 

Chulo 
11098 Lament for Javanette/Ready 

Eddy 
11581 C Blues/Brown Suede 

With the Gotham Stampers (2-3): 

Variety 

541 Did Anyone Ever Tell You/ 

Where Are You 
629 Alabamy Home/My 

Honey's Lovin' Arms 

With Duke Ellington (1-8): 
Master 

1 01 East St. Louis Toodle/Fve 

Got to Be Rug Cutter 
117 There's a Lull in My Life/ 
It's Swell of You 



With Duke Ellington (1-8) con 
tinued 

123 Birmingham Breakdown/ 
Scattin' at Kit Kat 

131 Caravan/ Azure 

137 Alabamy Home/All God's 
Chillum Got Rhythm 

Victor 

16006 Mood Indigo/Hot & Both 
ered/Creole Love Call 

16007 East St - Louis Toodle/Lot 
of Fingers/Black & Tan 
Fantasy 

21580 Black Beauty/ Jubilee Stomp 
21703 East St. Louis Toodle/Got 

Everything But You 
22528 Ring Dem Bells/Three 

Little Words 

22791 It's Glory/Brown Berries 
22800 Mystery song 

23016 Hittin' the Bottle/Lindy 
Hop 

23017 You're Lucky to Me/Mem 
ories of You 

23022 Old Man Blues/Jungle 

Nights in Harlem 
23036 Sam & Delilah 
23041 Shout 'Em Aunt Tillie/I'm 

So in Love 
24431 Rude Interlude/Dallas 

Doings 

38007 I Must Have That Man 

38008 Diga Diga Do/I Can't Give 
You Anything But Love 

38034 The Mooche 

38035 Doin' the Voom Voom 

38036 High Life/Saturday Night 
Function 

38045 Japanese Dream 



Musicians' Bio-Disco graphics 151 



With Duke Ellington (i -8) con 
tinued 
38053 Stevedore Stomp/The Dicty 

Glide 
38058 Saratoga Swing/Misty 

Mornin' 

38065 Hot Feet/Sloppy Joe 
38079 Cotton Club Stomp/ Arabian 

Lover 
38089 Mississippi Dry/Swanee 

Shuffles 
38092 The Duke Steps Out/ 

Haunted Nights 
38115 Breakfast Dance/March of 

the Hoodlums 

38129 Jazz Lips/Double Check 
Stomp 

38130 I Was Made to Love You/ 
My Gal Is Good for Nothin' 
But Love 

38143 Sweet Dreams of Love/ 
Sweet Jazz o' Mine 

Brunswick 
6265 Rose Room/It Don't Mean 

a Thing If It Ain't Got That 

Swing 

6288 Lazy Rhapsody/Blue Tune 
6317 Baby When You Ain't 

There/Moon Over Dixie 
6336 Blue Ramble/The Shiek 
6374 Harlem Speaks/Best Wishes 
6404 Jazz Cocktail/Lightnin' 
6432 Ducky Wucky/Swing Low 
6467 Eerie Moan/Anytime Any- 

- day Anywhere 
6516 Blackbirds Medley 

6518 I Must Have That Man/ 
Baby 

6519 Diga Diga Do 



With Duke Ellington (2-8) con 
tinued 

6527 Slippery Horn/Drop Me 
Off at Harlem 

6571 Raisin' the Rent/Happy As 
Day Is Long 

6600 Sophisticated Lady/Stormy 
Weather 

6607 Bundle of Blues/Get Your 
self New Broom 

6638 Jive Stomp/I'm Satisfied 

6646 Harlem Speaks/In Shade of 
old Apple Tree 

6758 Porgy/I Can't Give You 
Anything But Love 

6987 Moonglow/Solitude 

7310 Saddest Tale/Sumpin' About 
Rhythm 

7440 Merry-Go-Round/ 
Admiration 

7461 Showboat Shuffle/In a Sen 
timental Mood 

7514 Accent on Youth/Truckin' 

7526 Cotton/Margie 

7546 Reminiscing in Tempo 

7547 Reminiscing in Tempo 
7627 Kissin' Baby Goodnight/ 

Love Is Like Cigaret 
7656 Echoes of Harlem/Clarinet 

Lament 

7667 Oh Babe Maybe Some Day 
7710 Shoe Shine Boy/Sad Night 

in Harlem 

7734 In a Jam/Uptown Down 
beat 
7752 Trumpet in Spades/ 

Yearning for Love 
8004 Crescendo & Diminuendo in 

Blue 
8029 Chatter Box/Dusk in the 

Desert 



152 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Duke Ellington (2-8) con 
tinued 
8044 Black Butterfly /Harmony in 

Harlem 
8063 New Black & Tan Fantasy/ 

Steppin' into Swing Society 
8083 Lost in Meditation/Ridin' on 

a Blue Note 
8093 Skrontch/If You Were in 

My Place 
8099 Braggin' in Brass/Carnival in 

Caroline 
8108 The Gal from Joe's/I Let 

Song Go Out of My Heart 
8131 Slappin' Seventh Av./ 

Honolulu 

8168 Pyramid/When My Sugar 
Walks Down Street 

8169 Dinah's in a Jam/You Gave 
Me the Gate 

8186 Rose of Rio Grande/Gypsy 

without a Song 
8174 Stevedore's Serenade/La De 

Doody Doo 
8200 Love in Swingtime/Water- 

melon Man 
8204 Prelude to a Kiss/Lambeth 

Walk 

8213 I Haven't Changed a Thing 
8221 Blues Serenade/Hie Chic 
8231 Buffet Flat/Mighty Like the 

Blues 
8256 Prologue to Black & Tan 

Fantasy /Please Forgive Me 
8293 Battle of Swing/ Jazz 

Potpourri 

8297 Blue Light/Slap Happy 
8306 Boy Meets Horn/Old King 

Dooji 
8344 Subtle Lament/Pussy 

Willow 



With Duke Ellington (1-8) con 
tinued 

8365 Portrait of the Lion/Some 
thing to Live For 

8380 Smorgasbord & Schnapps/ 
Solid Old Man 

8405 In a Mizz/Cotton Club 
Stomp 

8411 Way Low/ You Can Count 
on Me 

With The Jungle 'Band (3-8): 
Brunswick 
3987 Yellow Dog Blues/ 

Tishimingo Blues 
4044 Jubilee Stomp 
41110 Louisiana/ Awful Sad 
4122 The Mooche 
4238 Tiger Rag (2 parts) 
4309 Harlem Flat Blues/Paducah 
4345 Rent Party Blues/Doin' the 

Voom Voom 
4492 Jungle Jamboree/Black & 

Blue 

4705 Jolly Wog/Jazz Convul 
sions 
4760 Sweet Mama/When You're 

Smiling 

4776 Admiration/Maori 
4783 Double Check Stomp/ 

Accordion Joe 
4887 Wall St. Wail/Cotton Club 

Stomp 
4952 Dreamy BIues/Runnin' 

Wild 
6003 Wang Wang Blues/Home 

Again Blues 
6038 Rockin' in Rhythm/i2th St. 

Rag 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 153 

With The Harlem Footwarmers With The Harlem Footivarmers 

(3-l) : (3-7) continued 

Okeh 8746 Syncopated Shuffle/Blues of 

8602 Diga Diga Do/Doin' the the Vagabond 

New Lowdown 88 3<$ Rocky Mountain Blues/Big 

8623 Hot & Bothered/The House Blues 

Mooche 886 9 Rockin' in Rhythm/Old 

8638 Harlem Twist/Move Over Man Blues 

8662 Misty Mornin'/Blues with a * 

Feelin' Columbia 

8675 Chicago Stomp Down 14670 Big House Blues/Sweet 

8720 Snake Hip Dance/ Jungle Chariot 

Jamboree 

BRAUD, Wellman. String Bass. Received 3 points: Moon, Smth. 
For many years was the bassist of the Duke Ellington band (1927- 
35). Since then, has been free-lancing. 

BROWN, James Ostend (Pete). Saxophone. Received 2 points: 
Feather. Born in 1906, Baltimore, Md. Musically self-taught, he was 
first attracted to the piano, then the violin which he played in the 
high school orchestra, and later in the pit band of a local theatre. 
At the age of 1 8 he studied the saxophone, and after appearing with 
local groups, went on tour with Banjo Bernie, reaching New York 
in 1927. Working first in Harlem and then downtown, he eventually 
joined Charlie Skeet's Orchestra (1928-34). After subsequent appear 
ances with small New York groups, he joined John Kirby (1937). 
A year later he formed his own combination, taking it into Kelly's 
Stables in 1939, and again in 1942. Under the direction of local jazz 
enthusiasts, this band recorded for small record companies; in 1943 
with a new band, he recorded for Decca. 

BROWN, Lawrence. Trombone. Received 8 points: Grennard, 
Rosenkrantz, Stacy, Ulanov. Born Aug. 3, 1905, Lawrence, Kans. 
Studied instrument in school, began career with Curtis Mosby, played 
with Paul Howard (1927-30), Les Hite and Louis Armstrong (1931), 
Duke Ellington (1932-43). Solos: The Sheik, Rose of the Rio Grande 
(Ellington) ; Lazy Man's Shuffle (Rex Stewart). 



154 Esquire's Jazz Book 

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 

With Louis Armstrong (1-3): With Lionel Hampton (retail-*): 

L Victor 

Okeh _ . , . , i_ T> / 

25575 Buzzm Around with Bee/ 
41422 Ding Dong Daddy/I'm in who Babe 

Market for You 256ol Stompology 

41448 Confessin'/If I Could Be 

^ ^ . , v JPtfi P^Z Howard 

with You 

41462 Memories of You/You're See Lionel Hampton Discography 

Lucky to Me With Duke Ellington: 

41468 Body & Soul See Barney Bigard Discography. 

41478 Peanut Vendor/You're All the Brunswicks include Law- 

Drivin' Me Crazy rence Brown as one of the featured 

41486 Just a Gigolo/Shine instrumentalists. 

BROWN, Walter. Vocal. Received i point: Grennard. Featured 
as vocalist with the Jay McShann orchestra, a Negro group from 
Kansas City which has come into some prominence during the past 
year. 

BRUNIS, George Clarence (right name, Brunies). Trombone. 
Received 7 points: Avakian, Goffin, Smith, Stacy. Born Feb. 6, 1900, 
New Orleans, La., of musical parents, his father having been a 
violinist, and his mother a guitarist. In 1919 he played his first pro 
fessional engagement with the New Orleans Rhythm Bangs. From 
1923 to 1935 he was a member of Ted Lewis' band. Subsequently 
played with Bobby Hackett, Sharkey Bonano, and Muggsy Spanier. 
Composer of Tin Roof Blues. Recorded with Ted Lewis, Chauncey 
Morehouse, Wingy Mannone, Louis Prima, Sharkey Bonano. 

BUNN, Teddy. Guitar. Received 7 points: Campbell., Goffin, 
Moon, Rosenkrantz, Stacy. Best known in the East, since he has spent 
most of his time playing with small combinations in New York City. 
Has recorded with numerous studio groups, among others the Sidney 
Bechet Blue Note waxings of Summertime and Lonesome Blues; 
also for Blue Note, he cut four solo sides: Guitar in High is the best. 

BUSHKIN, JOE (Butch). Piano. Received 2 points: Grennard. 
Born Nov. 6, 1916, California. Studied piano at an early age; later, 



Musicians 3 Bio-Disco graphics 155 

trumpet and harmony all under private teachers. First important 
job with Bunny Berigan (1935-37, and again 1939-40), has also 
played with Eddie Condon, Freddy Rich, B. A. Rolfe, Roseland 
Stampers, Pee Wee Russell, Joe Marsala (1941-42). Recorded with 
Russell, Billie Holiday, Sharkey Bonano, Berigan, Marsala, Willie 
(The Lion) Smith. 

CALLENDER, Red. String Bass. Received 4 points: Kay, 
Ulanov. Best known for his work with several small combinations, 
principally in New York and on the West Coast. 

GALLOWAY, Cabell (Cab). Vocalist. Received 2 points: Miller. 
Born Dec. 25, 1908, Rochester, N. Y. Attended high school in Balti 
more, Crane College in Chicago. While attending Crane he began to 
appear as a singer and dancer at several theaters in Chicago's Black 
Belt. By 1927 he was vocalist with the Alabamians, with which group 
he arrived in New York about 1929 for an appearance at the Savoy 
Ballroom. The band failed to make a hit, but the Savoy's manager 
called Galloway back to front an outfit called The Missourians. With 
this group, after changing the name of the orchestra to his own, he 
quickly rose to big-name status and has been there ever since. His 
band has recorded for Melotone, Perfect, Brunswick, Okeh, and 
Vocalion, on all of which he may be heard as vocalist. 

CARNEY, Harry. Baritone saxophone. Received 2 points: 
Grennard, Kay. Born April i, 1910, Boston, Mass., where he at 
tended high school. Studied at school and under private teachers. 
Professionally launched his career in 1925, with Bobby Sawyer; after 
a short engagement with Henry Sapro, he joined Duke Ellington in 
1927 and has been with that band ever since. Baritone solos: Harlem 
Speaks, Stompy Jones, Jive Sto?np, Cocktails for Two, Caravan, Ex 
position Swing, Buffet Flat (all Ellington). 

CARTER, Bennett Lester (Benny). Alto saxophone. Received 
8 points: Feather, Kay, Lim, Stacy, Thiele, Ulanov. Born Aug. 8, 
1907, New York City, where he attended high school; later went to 
Wilberforce. Took a few piano lessons from his mother in 1924 and 
studied briefly under private teachers, but is mostly self-taught. 



156 Esquires Jazz Book 

Started playing professionally in 1924 with June Clark, after which, 
in succession, he played with Billy Page, Horace Henderson (at 
college), Duke Ellington, Billy Fowler, Fletcher Henderson, Charles 
Johnson, Chick Webb, McKinney's Cotton Pickers (i93 r -3 2 )> own 
band (1933), Willie Bryant (1934)- In J 935 he went to Europe and 
spent three years as a staff arranger at the British Broadcasting Corp., 
in addition to leading his own band. When he returned to the U. S. 
in May, 1938, he again organized his own band and has since alter 
nated in that capacity between large and small combinations. 
Recorded with F. Henderson, McKinney, own band, Chocolate 
Dandies, Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton, Spike Hughes, Mezz 
Mesirow. Alto solos: Fm in the Mood -for Swing (Hampton) , Pas- 
toral (Hughes), Fd Love It (McKinney), Shuffle Bug Shuffle (own 
band). Clarinet solos: Miss Hannah (McKinney), Dee Blues 
(Dandies). 

CASEY, Albert (Al). Guitar. Received n points: Feather, Ham 
mond, Lim, Stacy, Thiele, Ulanov. Born Sept 15, 1915, Louisville, 
Ky. First musical interest evinced on the violin at age 8. Finished 
his schooling in New York, where he met Fats Waller, whom he 
joined in the mid-i93o's. He remained with the Waller band until 
its demise in 1943, except for a period (1939-40) when he played 
with Teddy Wilson. Recorded with Teddy Wilson, Mezz Mesirow, 
Choo Berry, Frankie Newton, Pete Brown, and extensively with 
Waller. Solos: Buck Jzfmpin', Honeysuckle Rose (Waller) . 



DISCOGRAPHY 



With Mezz Mesirow ( i ): With Fats Waller (i) continued 

Bluebird 24648 Do Me a Favor/Porter's 

6319 Mutiny in the Parlor/Panic Love Son g 

Is On 24708 Have a Little Dream/I'll Be 

6320 Melody from the Sky/Lost Tired of You 

6321 I'se a Muggin' (two parts) *47*4 Don't Let It Bother You/ 

Georgia May 

With Fats Waller (2): 24?37 Sweetie Pie/How Can You 
Victor Face Me 

24641 Wish I Were Twins/ 24738 Mandy/You're Not the 
Armful of Sweetness Only Oyster in the Stew 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 157 



With Fats Waller (i) continued With 
24742 Serenade for a Wealthy 25342 

Widow/Let's Pretend 
24801 Dream Man/I'm Getting 25345 

Fonder of You 
24808 If It Isn't Love/Believe It 25359 

Beloved 
24826 Honeysuckle Rose/Breakin' 25363 

the Ice 
24846 Baby Brown/Once Upon a 25374 

Time 
24853 Night Wind/I Believe in 

Miracles 25388 

24863 You Fit into the Picture/ioo 

Per Cent for You 2 5 3 94 

24867 Baby Brown/ 100 Per Cent 

for You (without vocal) 25398 

24888 I Ain't Got Nobody/Oh 
Suzanna 25409 

24889 What's the Reason/Pardon 

My Love 25415 

24892 Rosetta/Whose Honey Are 

You 25478 

24898 Louisiana Fairy Tale/ 

Cinders 25483 

25026 Rosetta/I Ain't Got 

Nobody 25488 

25027 Whose Honey Are You/ 
What's the Reason 25490 

25039 You're Cutest One/Hate to 

Talk About Myself 25491 

25044 Taking Lessons in Love/I'm 

Gonna Sit Right Down 25499 

25063 Sweet & Slow/Lulu's Back 

in Town 25505 

25295 Christopher Columbus/Us 

on a Bus 25514 

25296 All My Life/It's No Fun 

25315 Cabin in the Sky/Cross 25530 

Patch 



Fats Waller (i) continued 

Big Chief DeSota/It's a Sin 

to Tell a Lie 

Let's Sing Again/The More 

I Know You 

Paswonky/Black Raspberry 

Jam 

You're Not the Kind/Why 

Do I Lie to Myself 

Crazy 'Bout My Baby/Until 

the Real Thing Comes 

Along 

By By Baby/There Goes 

My Attraction 

Curse of Aching Heart/I 

Just Made Up 

Nero/Please Keep Me in 

Your Dreams 

At Mercy of Love/Copper 

Colored Gal 

Posin'/Floatin' Down to 

Cotton Town 

'Tain't Good/Things Are 

Rosy Now 

Thousand Dreams of You/ 

Swingin' Them Jingle Bells 

'Tain't Good/Things Are 

Rosy Now 

Thousand Dreams of You/ 

Swingin' Them Jingle Bells 

Rhyme for Love/I Adore 

You 

One in a Million/Who's 

Afraid of Love 

Havin' a Ball/Sorry I Made 

You Cry 

Spring Cleaning/You've 

Been Reading My Mail 

You're Laughing at Me/I 

Can't Break the Habit 



158 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Fats Waller (2) continued 

25536 Meanest Thing You Ever 
Did 

25537 Did Anyone Ever Tell You/ 
When Love Is Young 

25550 Old Plantation/Where Is the 
Sun 

25551 Cryin' Mood/To a Sweet & 
Pretty Thing 

25563 Love Bug Will Bite You/ 

Boo Hoo 
25565 San Anton/You Showed Me 

the Way (without vocal) 
25571 Sweet Heartache/New 

Lease on Love (without 

vocal) 

25579 San Anton/You Showed Me 
the Way 

25580 Sweet Heartache/New 
Lease on Love 

25656 Fractious Fingering 

25672 Beat It Out/Got Me under 

Your Thumb 
25679 More Power to You/You're 

My Dish 
25681 Rather Call You Baby/Our 

Love Was Meant to Be 
25689 Joint Is Jumpin'/Hopeless 

Love Affair 
25712 How Ya Baby/That Will 

Do in the Morning 
25749 Every Day's a Holiday/ 

Neglected 
25753 My First Impression/I'm in 

Another World 
25762 My Window Faces South/ 

Why Do Hawaiians Sing 
25779 Honeysuckle Rose/Blue 

Turning Grey 



With Fats Waller (?) continued 
25806 Florida Flo/I Love to 

Whistle 
25812 Lost & Found/ You Went to 

My Head 

25817 Don't Try to Cry/Some 
thing Tells Me 

25847 The Shiek/In the Gloaming 
25891 Honey on the Moon/Fair & 

Square 

26045 Hold My Hand/Inside 
36206 Honeysuckle Rose/Blue 
Turning Gray (12") 

Bluebird 

1 10 10 Liver Lip Jones/Come 

Down to Earth 

11078 Shortnin' Bread/Mamacita 
1 1 102 All That Meat & No 

Potatoes/Buckin' the Dice 
11115 Wanna Hear Swing Songs/ 

Let's Get Away 
11175 Pantin' in Panther Room/I 

Understand 
11188 Headlines in the News/I 

Repent 
1 1 22 2 Twenty-Four Robbers/Do 

You Have to Go 
11262 Chant of the Groove/Come 

& Get It 
11296 Sad Sap Sucker/Rump Steak 

Serenade 
1 1324 Bells of San Raquel 

Solo with Fats Waller (retail): 

Bluebird 

11324 Buck Jumpin' 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 159 

CATLETT, Sidney (Big Sid). Drums. Received 17 points: 
Feather, Goffin, Green, Hammond, Lim, Miller, Moon, Stacy > Smith, 
Thiele, Ulanov. Born Jan. 17, 1910, Evans ville, Ind. Attended high 
school in Chicago. Began musical activities in school and studied 
under private teachers. He played in local bands in Chicago for four 
years and then hit his stride playing engagements with Sammy 
Stewart, Chicago's Michigan Theatre (1930-33), McKinney's Cotton 
Pickers (1933-34), Jeter-Pilar (1934-35), Don Redman (1934-38), 
Louis Armstrong (1938-42), except for short stands with Roy EI- 
dridge and Benny Goodman (1941) free-lance (1942), Teddy Wil 
son (1943). Recorded with Redman, Armstrong, Goodman, Eddie 
Condon, F. Henderson, Benny Carter, Spike Hughes. 



DISCOGRAPHY 



With Fletcher Henderson (2): 
Vocalion 
3211 Blue Lou/Christopher 

Columbus 

3213 Stealin' Apples/Grand Ter 
race Rhythm 

Victor 

25297 Moonrise on Lowlands/Fm 

a Fool for Lovin' You 
25371 Jangled Nerves/Til Always 

Be in Love with You 
25334 Where There's You/Do 

You or Don't You Love Me 
25339 Grand Terrace Rhythm/ 

Riffin' 

With Teddy Wilson (1-2): 
Brunswick 
7663 Too Good to Be True/Mary 

Had a Little Lamb 
7684 Warmin' Up/Blues in C 
Sharp Minor 



With Don Redman (1-2): 
Variety 

580 Exactly Like You/On the 
Sunny Side of the Street 

605 Sweet Sue/Stormy Weather 

635 That Naughty Waltz/The 
Man on the Flying Trapeze 

Melotone 

61218 Bugle CaU Rag/Too Bad 

With the Chocolate Dandies (2-4): 

Okeh 

41568 Once Upon a Time/Krazy 
Kapers (HRS 16) 

Columbia 
2875 I Never Knew 

With Berime Carter (-foreign): 
English Columbia 

628 Six Bells Stampede/Swing It 

636 Synthetic Love/Love 
You're Not the One 



i do Esquire's Jazz Book 
With Spike Hughes (foreign): 

English Decca 

3639 Arabesque/Fanfare 

3717 Donegal Cradle Song/Fire 
bird 

3836 Music at Midnight/Music at 
Sunrise 

3972 Sweet Sue/How Come You 
Do Me 

5101 Sweet Sorrow Blues/Air in 
DFlat 

With Eddie Condon (3): 
Brunswick 
6743 The Eel/Home Cooking 

With Eddie Condon (retail): 
United Hot Clubs of America 
63-64 Tennessee Twilight (Co 
36009) 

With Louis Armstrong (retail): 
See Armstrong Deccas 



With Sidney Bechet Quartet 
(retail): 

Blue Note 

13 Lonesome Blues/Dear Old 
Southland 

With Sidney Bechet Quintet 
(retail): 

Blue Note 

6 Summertime 

With Port of Harlem Seven 
(retail): 

Blue Note 

6 Pounding Heart Blues 

14 Port of Harlem Blues 

With Frank Newton Quintet 

(retail): 
Blue Note 

14 After Hour Blues 



CLAYTON, Buck. Trumpet. Received 2 points: Hammond. 
Born 1911, Parsons, Kans., where he attended high school Studied 
some music in school, but mostly self-taught. Migrated to California 
in 1930 where he jobbed with local bands. Joined Earl Dancer in 
1932, and when the band broke up, Buck organized his own band 
which he maintained until 1936, at which time he joined Count Basic 
where he is today. He spent a year and a half in China with his own 
band. Solo: Countless 'Blues (Kansas City Six) . 

COLE, Cozy. Drums. Received 9 points: Campbell, Feather, 
Goffin, Grennard, Miller, Rosenkrantz. Born Oct. 17, 1909, East 
Orange, N. J., where he attended high school. Did not begin study 
of drums until age 18, and then under private teachers who, later in 
his life, included tympanist Saul Goodman, of the New York Phil 
harmonic. Began professional career with Wilbur Sweatman (1928). 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 161 

Formed own band (1929-30), followed by engagements with Blanche 
Galloway (1930-32), Benny Carter (1933-34), Willie Bryant (1935), 
Stuff Smith (1935-37), Cab Galloway (1939-42), Raymond Scott, 
free-lance, and radio work (1942-43). Recorded with all bands. 
Solos: Paradiddle, Crescendo in Drums (C. Galloway). 



SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 



With Henry Allen (i): 
Vocalion 

3215 Every Minute on Hour/ 
Touch of Your Lips 

3302 Algiers Stomp/When Did 
You Leave Heaven 

With Mildred Bailey (1-2): 

Vocalion 

3367 For Sentimental Reasons/It's 

Love I'm After 
3378 Long About Midnight/More 

Than You Know 

With Chu Berry (1-2): 
Variety 

532 Too Marvelous for Words/ 
You're Talking My Lan 
guage 

587 Limehoue Blues/Indiana 

With Bunny Berigan (1-2): 
Vocalion 
3253 When I'm with You/But 



With Willie "Bryant (1-2): 

Victor 

24847 Chimes at Meetin'/Throwin' 
Stones at Sun 

24858 Viper's Moan/It's Over Be 
cause We're Through 

25038 Rigamarole/The Shiek 

25045 Long About Midnight/ Jerry 
the Junker 

25129 Long Gone/Voice of Old 
Man River 

25160 Liza/Steak & Potatoes 

With Lionel Hampton (retail-z): 

Victor 

25575 Buzzin' Around with Bee/ 

Whoa Babe 
25586 China Stomp/Rhythm 

Rhythm 
25592 Sunny Side of St./I Know 

You Know 
25601 Stompology 
25658 Drum Stomp/Confessin 
25666 I Surrender Dear/Piano 

Stomp 
25674 After YouVe Gone/Baby 

Please Come Home 



_ r . , With Frankie Newton (1-2): 
Definitely 

3254 I Nearly Let Love Go Slip- Variety 

ping Through My Fingers/ 518 You Showed Me the Way/ 



If I Had My Way 



Please Don't Talk 



1 62 Esquires Jazz Book 

With Frankie Newton (1-2) con 
tinued 

550 Cause My Baby Says It's So/ 
No Two Ways 

571 Brittwood Stomp/I've 
Found a New Baby 

647 Who's Sorry Now/You're 
the One 



With Teddy Wilson (1-2): 
Brunswick 
7498 Sunbonnet Blue/What Little 

Moonlight Can Do (Co 

36206) 
7501 Wished on the Moon/Miss 

Brown to You (Co 36205) 
7514 Sweet Lorraine/Painting the 

Town Red 
7520 Too Hot for Words/What 

a Night What a Moon 
7550 Yankee Doodle Never Went 

to Town/24 Hours a Day 
7554 If You Were Mine/Eeney 

Meeney Miney Mo 
7577 There 'n That 'n Those/ 

Sugar Plum 
7581 Spreadin' Rhythm Around/ 

You Let Me Down 
7612 Life Begins When You're in 

Love 
7640 Christopher Columbus/All 

My Life 
7699 These Foolish Things/Why 

Do I Lie About You 
7702 Guess Who/Like Reaching 

for the Moon 

7729 I Cried for You (Co 35862) 
7789 Pennies from Heaven/That's 

Life I Guess 



With Teddy Wilson (1-2) con 
tinued 

7781 Sailin'/I Can't Give You 
Anything But Love 

7797 Where Lazy River Goes/ 
Right or Wrong 

7816 Tea for Two/See You in 
My Dreams 

7824 This Year's Kisses/He Ain't 
Got Rhythm 

7840 My Last Affair/You 
Showed Me the Way 

7844 Mood I'm In/Sentimental & 
Melancholy 

7867 Carelessly/How Could You 

7877 Moanin' Low/Fine & Dandy 

7884 There's Lull in My Life/ 
It's Sweet of You 

7893 I'm Coming Virginia/How 
Am I to Know 

7917 Yours & Mine/Sun Show 
ers 

7903 Mean to Me/I'll Get By 
(Co 35926) 

With Billie Holiday (i): 
Vocalion 

3276 No Regrets/Did I Re 
member 

3288 Billie's Blues/Summertime 

3333 A Fine Romance/I Can't 
Pretend 

3334 Let's Call Heart a Heart/ 
Button Your Shoe 

343 1 One Never Knows/Got My 
Love to Keep Me Warm 

3440 Keep Me in Your Dreams/ 
If My Heart Could Talk 



Musicians' Bio-Disco graphics 163 

COLE, Nathaniel ("King" Nat). Piano. Received 2 points: 
Feather, Ulanov. Born March 17, 1917, Montgomery, Ala. Attended 
high school in Chicago. Began his study of piano under the encour 
agement of his family and with private teachers. Organized his own 
band which played local dates in Chicago; and during his post-high 
school days, the band toured vaudeville with the Shuffle Along revue, 
which broke up in Los Angeles. Cole stayed, became a solo pianist 
at night spots there, finally organizing a trio (guitar, bass, piano). 
This trio migrated to New York and has been playing in night spots 
ever since. Solo: Early Morning Blues (Cole Trio). 

COLEMAN, William (Bill). Trumpet. Received 5 points: Ham 
mond, Kay, Rosenkrantz. Born Aug. 4, 1904, Paris, Ky. Attended 
high school in Cincinnati, O. Played in a youngsters' band during 
high school days, mostly self-taught. Beginning in 1925 jobbed 
around New York with trombonist J. C. Higginbotham and other 
local groups. Then played with Lloyd and Cecil Scott (1926-29 and 
again 1930), Luis Russell (1929 and again 1932-33), Charlie Johnson 
(1931), Ralph Cooper (1931-32), Lucky Millinder (1933), Benny 
Carter (1933-34), Teddy Hill (1934-35). In the fall of 1935 he went 
to Europe, touring the entire Continent, as well as India and Egypt. 
Upon his return to the United States late in 1939, he played with 
Benny Carter and Teddy Wilson (1940-41). Solo: Bill ColeTnan 
Blues (own recording combination). 

CONDON, Eddie. Guitar. Received 6 points: Avakian, Camp 
bell, Moon, Smith. Born about 1905, Goodland, Ind. At the age of 
ten he came with his family to Chicago, settling in Chicago Heights, 
where he attended school. Became interested in the banjo while still 
in grammar school and during his first year at high school was already 
playing for local social engagements. When he was 15 he went on 
the road, playing one-night stands in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa 
with Peavey's Jazz Bandits. Late in the same year he was signed up to 
go to Syracuse, N. Y., where a new band was in formation. This 
band included Bix Biederbecke and Pee Wee Russell. In Syracuse 
they played regularly at the Alhambra, and on week ends at Oswego 
on Lake Ontario. After scarcely two years the band was diffused, 
many of the musicians going to New York, but Condon, only 17, 



164 Esquire's Jazz Book 

returned to Chicago and played with various college groups, then 
rejoined Peavey. After another northern tour he played with numer 
ous local Chicago groups. Returned to New York with Bud Freeman, 
Joe Sullivan, Teschmaker, McPartland, and Jim Lannigan, and after 
an unsuccessful club audition, played a one-week theatre engage 
ment. After a short term with Red Nichols, he joined the Mound 
City Blue Blowers, playing private social affairs. More club dates 
followed, with an intervening South American trip. Returned to 
Chicago with Bud Freeman (1940-41). Recorded with Condon's 
Foot Warmers, Eddie's Hot Shots, Condon's Orchestra, Billy Banks, 
Chicago Rhythm Kings, McKenzie Condon Chicagoans, Fats Waller, 
Mound City Blue Blowers. Solos: Madame Dynamite (own band). 

CROSBY, Harry Lillis (Bing). Vocalist. Received 2 points: 
Grennard. Born May 2, 1904, Tacoma, Wash., where he attended 
school, after which he went to Gonzaga College to study law. 
Teamed up with Al Rinker and organized a college band. After 
college, Crosby and Rinker sang as a duo and toured vaudeville on 
the Pacific Coast. Joined Paul Whiteman (1927-30), when their 
duoby the addition of Harry Barris became a trio known as The 
Rhythm Boys. Back in California, The Rhythm Boys sang in night 
spots, which resulted in Crosby's eventual association with NBC and 
the Kraft Music Hall program. Records for Decca. 

CROSBY, Israel. String bass. Received 3 points: Avakian, Ham 
mond. Born Jan. 19, 1919, Chicago, 111. Began musical studies on 
trumpet, changing to string bass in 1934. First professional engage 
ment was with Johnny Long (Chicago); also worked with Anthony 
Fambro and Albert Ammons in Chicago (1935), Fletcher Henderson 
(1936-38), Three Sharps and a Flat (1939), Horace Henderson 
(1940-42), Teddy Wilson (1941-42). Recorded with Jimmy Noone, 
Benny Goodman, Roy Eldridge, Albert Ammons, Teddy Wilson, 
Gene Krupa, Dane Paton, Bumble Bee Slim (Blues singer), Art 
Tatum, Fletcher Henderson. 

D'AMICO, Henry (Hank). Clarinet. Received i point: Green. 
Born 1915, Buffalo, N. Y. Was associated with Red Norvo, both 
as arranger and instrumentalist (1936-40). Headed his own small 



Musicians' Bio-Disco graphics 165 

group (1940-41), since then has been free-lancing, working in the 
studios; this included a short period with the Cozy Cole Trio (1943). 
Solos: Tea Time, Russian Lullaby (Norvo) ; From the Land of the 
Sky Blue Water (Bailey). 

DICKENSON, Victor (Vic). Trombone. Received 2 points: 
Lim. Born Aug. 6, 1906, Xenia, O. Played with Zack Whyte, Speed 
Webb, Blanche Galloway, Claude Hopkins. Now playing with 
Benny Carter. Has recorded with Blanche Galloway, Claude Hop 
kins, Hot Lips Page, Benny Carter. 

DORSEY, Thomas (Tommy). Trombone. Received 3 points: 
Campbell, Green. Born Nov., 1906, Shenandoah, Pa., where he at 
tended school. Under his father's guidance, he studied and played 
first the trumpet, then the trombone. His activities follow closely the 
pattern of his brother Jimmy's. He played with the Dorsey Wild 
Canaries, Scranton Sirens, California Ramblers, Jean Goldkette 
(1924), Paul Whiteman. He freelanced in New York, playing with 
Roger Wolfe Kahn, Vincent Lopez, Paul Whiteman, Ted Lewis, 
Rubinoff, Andre Kostelanetz, Nat Shilkret, Victor Young, Rudy 
Vallee in fact, he played with 22 major orchestras in a twelve-month 
period. Was co-organizer, with his brother, Jimmy, of the Dorsey 
Brothers Orchestra (1934-35), a ^ ter which he formed his own or 
chestra (1936-43) and soon gained national success. Solos: Lonesome 
Road, Weary Blues, Boogie Woogie, Beale Street Blues, Maple Leaf 
Rag, Song of India, The Sheik (all by his own band). 

DUKES, Willie. Vocal. Received i point: Goffin. Known mainly 
for his work with small groups in the New York area. 

EBERLY, Bob. Vocal. Received 2 points: Green. Born July 24, 
1916, Mechanicsville, N. Y. Attended high school in Hoosick Falls, 
N. Y. During summer vacations he traveled with a local minstrel 
show, playing banjo. A year after being graduated from high school, 
he appeared with Fred Allen on the radio. Joined Dorsey Brothers 
Orchestra (1935), Jimmy Dorsey (1936-43), entered the armed 
services late in 1943. 



1 66 Esquire's Jazz Book 

ELDRIDGE, Roy ("Little Jazz"). Trumpet. Received 5 points: 
Green y Lim, Rosenkrantz, Ulanov. Born 1911, Pittsburgh, Pa., where 
he attended school. Joining a carnival show, he took to the road for 
two years, playing both trumpet and drums in the brass band. In 
1928 he joined Horace Henderson's band, remaining for eight 
months. There followed engagements with the Chocolate Dandies 
(six months), Speed Webb (one year), Cecil Scott, Elmer Snowden, 
Charlie Johnson, Teddy Hill, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Fletcher 
Henderson. From 1936 to 1940 he fronted his own band, which he 
disbanded to become featured soloist with Gene Krupa, 1941-43, 
again heading own outfit (1943). Recorded with Henderson, own 
band, Teddy Wilson, Benny Carter, Krupa, Mildred Bailey, Choo 
Berry. Solos: Body and Soul, Stardust, 46 West 52, Sittin' in (Berry) ; 
Rockin* Chair (Krupa) ; Blues in C Sharp Minor (Wilson) ; Jangled 
Nerves (Henderson); That Thing (own band). 

FAZOLA, Irving (real name, Prestopnick) . Clarinet. Received 4 
points: Grennard, Smith, Stacy. Born 1910, New Orleans, La. Started 
professional career with Ben Pollack (1935), joined Bob Crosby 
(1938-40), Muggsy Spanier (1940), Teddy Powell (1941-42). Has 
also played with Seger Ellis, Gus Arnheim. Solos: Deep Elm, In a 
Sentimental Mood (Pollack); Milk Cow Blues (Crosby). 

FITZGERALD, Ella. Vocalist. Received 4 points: Kay, Urn, 
Rosenkrantz, Stacy. Born about 1918, in Virginia. With little formal 
musical education, she was "discovered" by Chick Webb one night 
in 1936 when she was singing at an amateur show at New York's 
Apollo Theatre. She joined Webb's band (1936-39), carried on with 
the band under her name when Webb died (1939-42), struck out 
as a single act (1942-43). Recorded with Webb, numerous vocalisms 
on Decca label. 

FORREST, HELEN. Vocalist. Received 2 points: Green. Born 
1917, Atlantic City, N. J., attended high school in Brooklyn where 
she sang in school plays. Self-taught. Moved to New York in 1935, 
appearing as Bonnie Blue on CBS network for one year. The next 
year she spent at Washington's Madrillon Restaurant, singing with 
Johnny Shaw's group. Next featured by Artie Shaw (10 months) 



Musicians* Bio-Discographies 167 

and Benny Goodman (20 months). Now with Harry James (1941- 
43), solo work (1943). Recorded with Shaw, Goodman, and James, 
and her solos may be heard on many of their records. 

GLENN, Evans Tyree (Fats). Trombone. Received i point: 
Rosenkrantz. Born Nov. 23, 1912, Corsicana, Tex., where he attended 
high school and studied music, in addition to study on his own. First 
began playing in 1929, locally, then with Tommy Mills in Washing 
ton, D. C. (1934-36), Eddie Barefield (1936-37), Eddie Mallory 
(1937-39), Benny Carter (1939-40), Cab Galloway (1940-43). Solos: 
Melancholy Lullaby (Carter) ; You're a Sweetheart (Mallory) ; Night 
Mail, CowM on with the Come-on (Galloway). 

GOLDBERG, Edward (Doc.). String bass. Received i point: 
Green. Born Brooklyn, N. Y., June 24, 1913. Attended high school 
and university in New York City. Studied music during school years, 
at school, and under private teachers. First important job with Hud 
son De Lange (1933-36), followed by engagements with Charlie 
Barnet (1936-37), George Hall (1937-39), Will Bradley (1939-41), 
Glenn Miller (1941-42). Recorded with Bradley, Miller. Solos: 
Down the Road a Piece (Bradley trio); Tea for Two (Bradley 
quartet) . 

GOODMAN, Benjamin (Benny) . Clarinet. Received 24 points: 
Campbell, Feather, Goffin, Green, Grennard, Harrmond, Kay, Lim, 
Miller, Rosenkrantz, Stacy, Thiele, Ulanov. Born May 30, 1909, 
Chicago, 111., where he attended school. Studied at Chicago's Hull 
House. Encouraged by his parents, he began learning his instrument 
at the age of 10. While still in short pants (1923) he played with 
local bands, which activity led to his getting a job with Ben Pollack 
(1927-29). He subsequently played with Arnold Johnson, Red 
Nichols, and numerous big bands in the New York area. Free-lanced 
in New York radio stations. Organized his own band in 1934, which 
gained its initial success on the Lefs Dance radio show (1934-35). 
By 1936 the band had attained sensational big-time status. Recorded 
with the Five Pennies, Charleston Chasers, Joe Venuti, Red Norvo, 
Rube Bloom, Reginald Foresythe, Gene Krupa, own band, trio, 
quartet, and sextet. Solos: Blues in My Flat, Caprice Paganini XXIV, 



1 68 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Clarinet a la King, Sing, Sing, Sing (own band) ; The Sheik (Five 
Pennies) ; Tiger Rag (own trio) ; The Man I Love (own quartet) . 
His band has made appearances in Carnegie Hall, New York City; 
Symphony Hall, Boston; and Ravinia Park, near Chicago. Has ap 
peared as clarinet soloist with Budapest String Quartet, NBC Sym 
phony, Lewisohn Stadium Orchestra, New York. In the symphonic 
field has recorded with the Budapest String Quartet and with Joseph 
Szigeti and Bela Bartok in a trio; and has become an instructor at 
the Juilliard School. 



With Ben Pollack (1-2): 

Victor 

20408 Deed I Do 

20425 He's the Last Word 

21184 Wairin' for Katie/Memphis 

Blues 
21437 Singapore Sorrows/Sweet 

Sue 
21743 Buy Buy for Baby/She's 

One Sweet Showgirl 
21827 Sentimental Baby 
21858 Futuristic Rhythm 
21941 Louise/Ma Cherie 
21944 My Kinda Love/On with 

the Dance 
22074 Bashful Baby 
22267 Keep Your Undershirt On 

Oriole 

2193 Sing Song Girl 
22 14 I'm a Ding Dong Daddy 

With Louisville Rhythm Kings 

(i): 
Okeh 

41 189 In a Great Big Way/Let's 
Sit Down & Talk 



DISCOGRAPHY 

With Ben's Bad Boys (2): 
Victor 

21971 Wang Wang Blues/Yellow 
Dog Blues 



With Slim & Hot Shots (i): 

Victor 

38044 That's a Plenty/Mississippi 
Stomp 

With the Kentucky Grasshoppers 
(1-2): 

Banner 
6295 Tight Like That/Four or 

Five Times 

6355 Shirt Tail Stomp/Tiger Rag 
6358 Sweet Liza 
6360 Makin' Friends (Co 36010) 

With Lou Conner's Collegians 

(1-2)1 

Oriole 
1483 Tight Like That/Four or 

Five Times 
1537 Makin' Friends 



Musicians' Bio-Disco graphies 169 



With Jimmy Bracken & Toe 
Ticklers (1-2): 

Domino 
4274 Shirt Tail Stomp/Tight Like 

That 
4322 Tiger Rag/Makin' Friends 

Regal 
8723 Tight Like That/Four or 

Five Times 

8768 Makin' Friends/Tiger Rag 
8813 Twelfth St. Rag 

With the Ten Freshmen (i): 

Pathe 

37054 Bag o' Blues/Freshman Hop 



With Jack Pettis 
Okeh 

41410 Bag o' Blues 

41411 Freshman Hop/Sweetest 
Melody 

With Goody & Good Timers (2): 

Perfect 

15083 Diga Diga Do 

15105 Now I'm in Love 

With Ted White's Collegians (2): 

Oriole 

r 

1544 Shirt Tail Stomp 

With the University Boys (i): 
Oriole 
1668 Twelfth St. Rag 

With Gil Rodin's Boys (i): 

Regal 

8813 It's So Good/Twelfth St. 
Rag 



With New Orleans Ramblers (2): 

Melotone 

12130 That's the Kind of Man for 

Me 
12133 I >m One of God's Children 

With the Ten Blackberries (1-4): 
Romeo 

976 Dirty Dog/Sorority Stomp 
1453 Tiger Rag/Twelfth St. Rag 

With ]iwwny McHugWs Boston- 
ians (i); 

Harmony 

763 I Don't Care 
795 Baby 

823 In a Great Big Way 
836 Whoopee Stomp/Futuristic 
Rhythm 

Velvetone 
1795 Baby 

With the Varsity Eight (i): 
Cameo 
9098 Sorority Stomp 

With the Caroliners (i): 
Cameo 
9042 Hungry for Love 

With Mills Merry Makers (2): 

Harmony 

1099 When You're Smiling 
1104 St. James Infirmary 



170 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Mills Musical Clowns (2): 

Pathe 

36944 Futuristic Rhythm/Where 

Blue Begins 
36955 Sweetest Melody 

With the Dixie Jazz Band (2): 
Oriole 

1515 St. Louis Blues/Icky Blues 

1537 Makin' Friends 

1624 Twelfth St. Rag 

1663 Moanin' Low 

1668 It's So Good 

With the Dixie Daisies (2): 
Romeo 

839 Bugle CaU Rag 

Cameo 
9035 St. Louis Blues/Bugle Call 

Rag 
9004 Diga Diga Do/Cause I'm in 

Love 

With the Lumberjacks (2): 
Cameo 
9030 Whoopee Stomp 

With the Broadway Broadcasters 

(i): 
Cameo 

955 Deep Henderson 
1149 St, Louis Blues 
9023 She's Funny That Way 
9057 If I Had You 

With the Cotton Pickers (2-2): 
Cameo 

9048 Railroad Man 

9207 Hot Heels/Some of These 
Days 



With the Whoopee Makers (2-8): 
Oriole 

2528 I'm So in Love 
Perfect 
15126 St. Louis Blues/Bugle Call 

Rag 
15194 Tiger Rag/Some of These 

Days 

15217 It's So Good 
15223 Sorority Stomp/Dirty Dog 

With the Hotsy Totsy Gang (i): 
Brunswick 

4122 Since You Went Away 

4112 I Couldn't If I Wanted To 

4200 Futuristic Rhythm/Out 
Where Blue Begins 

4559 March of Hoodlums/Harvey 

4587 Star Dust 

4838 Crazy 'Bout My Gal/Rail 
road Man 

4983 Deep Harlem/Strut Miss 
Lizzie 

4998 What a Night/Wonder 
What My Gal Is Doin' 

With the Charleston Chasers (5): 
Columbia 
1989 Turn on Heat/What 

Would't I Do 
2219 Here Comes Emily Brown/ 

Wasn't It Nice 

2415 Beale St. Blues/Basin St. 
Blues 

With Jack Wirm & Dallas Dandies 
(8): 

Vocalion 

15860 St. Louis Blues/Loved One 



With Red Nichols (1-8): 
Brunswick 



4363 Chinatown/On the Alamo 
4373 Dinah/Indiana (Br 80006) 
4790 Nobody Knows/Smiles 
4885 The Sheiky/Shimme-Sha- 

Wabble (Br 80005) 
4877 China Boy/Peg o' My Heart 

(Br 80004) 
4925 Who/Carolina in the 

Morning 
4944 By the Shalimar/Sweet 

Georgia Brown 
4957 I Got Rhythm/Embraceable 

You 
4982 Linda/Yours & Mine 

6013 Rockin' Chair/My Honey's 
Lovin' Arms 

6014 Blue Again/When Kentucky 
Bids Good Night 

6026 On Revival Day (two parts) 
6029 Sweet & Hot/You Said It 
6035 The Peanut Vendor/Sweet 

Rosita 

6058 Conine Corrina/Bug-a-Boo 
6068 Keep Song in Your Soul/ 

Things I never Knew 
6070 Teardrops & Kisses/Were 

You Sincere 
6118 Love Is Like That/Don't 

Know What You're Doin' 
6138 Slow But Sure/Little Girl 
6149 Moan You Moaners/How 

Come You Do Me 

Victor 

23026 I'm Tickled Pink/That's 

Where the South Begins 
23033 If You Haven't Got a Girl/ 

At Last I'm Happy 



Musicians' Bio-Disc ographies 171 

With the Louisiana RIoythm Kings 
(8): 

Vocalion 

15828 Ballin' the Jack (HRS 15) 



With Rube Bloom (1-2): 
Columbia 
2103 St. James Infirmary/Man 

from the South 
2186 Mysterious Mose/Bessie 

Couldn't Help It 

2218 On Revival Day/There's a 
Wah Wah Girl 

With the Seven Hot Aire Men (i): 
Columbia 

1850 Lowdown Rhythm/Gotta 
Feelin' for You 

With Bix Beiderbecke (3): 

Victor 

23008 Don't Mind Walkin' in 

Rain/I'll Be Friend 
23018 Deep Down South (Vi 

2 537) 

38139 Rockin' Chair (Vi 2 5494) / 
Barnacle Bill (^25371) 

With Adrian Rollini (i); 

Melotone 

12815 YouVe Got Everything/ 

And So Goodbye 
12829 Savage Serenade/Sweet 

Madness 
12855 I Raised My Hat/Sittin' on a 

Log 



1 72 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Adrian Rollim (^con 
tinued 

Decca 

265 Riverboat Shuffle/Sugar 
359 Davenport Blues/Somebody 
Loves Me 



With Teddy Wilson (1-2): 
Brunswick 
7498 Stmbonnet Blue/What a 

Little Moonlight Can Do 
7501 I Wished on the Moon/Miss 

Brown to You 
7736 Turned Tables on Me/Sing 

Baby Sing 
7739 Here's Love in Your Eye/ 

You Came to My Rescue 
7781 I Can't Give You Anything 

But Love/Sailin' 
7789 Pennies from Heaven/That's 

Life I Guess 
7824 This Year's Kisses/He Ain't 

Got Rhythm 
7859 Why Was I Born/I Must 

Have That Man 
7940 Remember Me/You're My 

Desire 
7943 Coquette/The Hour of 

Parting 



With Reginald Foresythe (2): 
Columbia 

3012 Dodging a Divorcee/ 

Lullaby 
3060 Melancholy Clown/Greener 

the Grass 



With Venuti Blue Six (retail): 

Decca 

18167 Sweet Lorraine/Doin* 
Uptown Lowdown 

18168 Jazz Me Blues/In De Ruff 

With Gene Krupa (2): 

Victor 

25263 Mutiny in Parlor/Gonna 

Clap My Hands 
25276 Swing Is Here/Hope 

Gabriel Likes My Music 

With RedNorvo (10): 
Brunswick 

6906 In a Mist/Dance of the 
Octopus 

With Ted Lewis (1-4): 
Columbia 

2378 Headin' for Better Times 
2408 Truly 
2428 Crazy 'Bout My Baby/ 

Egyptian Ella 

2452 One More Time/Ho Hum 
2467 Dip Your Brush in Sunshine 
2527 Dallas Blues/Royal Garden 

Blues 

With New Orlems Footwarmers 

J l): 
Melotone 

12133 No Wonder I'm Blue/One 

of God's Chillun 
12230 That's the Kind of a Man 

for Me 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 173 



Ace. for Bessie Smith (4-;): 
Okeh 

8946 Do Your Duty/I'm Down in 
the Dumps (UHCA 48-49) 
8949 Gimme a Pigfoot/Take Me 
for a Buggy Ride (UHCA 
50-51) 

With Own Bmd (2-3): 
Melotone 

12023 He's Not Worth Your 
Tears/Your Lips Met Mine 

12024 Overnight/Linda 

12073 Clarinetitis/That's a Plenty 
12079 Falling in Love Again/If 

Haven't Got Girl 
1 2 100 Mine Yesterday/99 out f 

100 
12 1 20 Can We Live on Love/ 

When Your Lover Has 

Gone 
12138 I Wanna Be Around My 

Baby/What Have You Got 

to Do 
12149 Little Joe/It Looks Like 

Love 
12205 Slow But Sure/Can't Stop 

Me from Lovin' You 
12208 Pardon Me Pretty Baby/ 

What Am I Gonna Do 

Columbia 

2542 Not That I Care/Help 
Yourself to Happiness 

With Own Band (20): 
Vocation 

15656 Wolverine Blues (HRS 7)7 
Jazz Holiday (Br 80027) 



With Own Band (1-5): 
Columbia 
2542 Help Yourself to Happiness 

/Not That I Care 
2835 Aintcha Glad/Gotta Right 

to Sing Blues 
2845 Texas Tea Party/Dr. Heckle 

Mr. Jibe 
2856 Tappin' the Barrel/Mother's 

Son-in-Law 
2867 Riffin' the Scotch/Keep on 

Doin' What Your Doin' 
2871 Love Me or Leave Me/Why 

Couldn't It Be 
2892 Junk Man/Ol' Pappy 
2907 Georgia Jubilee/Emaline 
2923 As Long as I Live/I Ain't 

Lazy Just Dreamin' 
2927 Moonglow/Breakfast Ball 
2947 It Happens to Best/Take 

My Word 
2958 Bugle Call Rag/Nitwit 

Serenade 
2988 Like a Bolt from the Blue/ 

Hundred Percent for You 
3003 Blue Moon/Throwin' 

Stones at the Sun 
3011 Music Hall Rag/Cokey 
3015 Night Wind/Clouds 
3018 Singin' Happy Song/I Was 

Lucky 
3033 Down Home Rag/Dixieland 

Band 

With Own Band (2-3): 
Brunswick 
3975 Shirt Tail Stomp/Blue (Br 

80030) 

4013 Room 141 1 /Jungle Blues 
(Br 80029) 



174 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Oiun Band (2-3) continued 
4968 Muskrat Ramble/ After 
Awhile (Br 80028) 

With Own Band (retail): 

Victor 

25009 Dixieland Band/Hunkadola 

25011 Livin' in a Great Big Way/ 

Hoorah for Love 
25021 You're Heavenly/Restless 
25024 Japanese Sandman/Always 
25081 Ballad in Blue/Get Rhythm 

in Feet 

25090 King Porter Stomp/Some 
times I'm Happy 
25136 Dear Old Southland/Blue 

Skies 

25145 Jingle Bells 
25193 No Other One/Yankee 

Doodle Never Went to 

Town 
25195 Eeney Meeny Miney Mo/ 

Santa Glaus Came in Spring 
25215 Sandman/Goodbye 
25245 It's Been So Long/Goody 

Goody 
25247 Stompin' at the Savoy/ 

Breakin' in Pair of Shoes 
25258 Basin St. Blues/When 

Buddha Smiles 
25268 Madhouse/Between the 

Devil & the Deep Blue Sea 
25279 Christopher Columbus/Get 

Happy 
25290 I Know That You Know/If 

I Could Be with You 
25316 Glory of Love/You Can't 

Pull the Wool over My 

Eyes 
25320 Star Dust 



With Oim Band (retail)-cort~ 

tinned 
25329 Walk Jenny Walk/ 

Remember 
25340 Sing Me a Swing Song 

25350 House Hop/ Anything for 
You 

25351 In a Sentimental Mood/ 
These Foolish Things 

25355 Swingtime in the Rockies/ 

I've Found a New Baby 
25363 There's a Small Hotel 
25387 Down South Camp Meeting 

/Pick Yourself Up 
25391 You Turned Tables/Here's 

Love in Your Eyes 
25406 Love Me or Leave Me 
2541 1 St. Louis Blues 
25434 You're Driving Me Crazy/ 

When Lady Meets Gentle 
man 
25442 Organ Grinder's Swing/ 

Peter Piper 
25445 Riffift* at Ritz/ Alexander's 

Ragtime Band 
25461 Goodnight My Love/Take 

Another Guess 
25467 Bugle Call Rag 
25469 Taint No Use/Did You 

Mean It 
25486 Smoke Dreams/Gee But 

You're Swell 
25492 Swing Low Sweet Chariot/ 

When You & I Were Young 
25497 Jam Session/Somebody 

Loves Me 
25500 Never Should Have Told/ 

You Can Tell 
25505 He Ain't Got Rhythm/This 

Year's Kisses 



Musicians* Bio-Discographies 175 



With Own Band (retail) continued 
25510 I Want to Be Happy/ 

Rosetta 
25531 Chloe 
25621 Can't We Be Friends/ 

Peckin' 

25627 Roll 'Em/ Afraid to Dream 
25634 Changes/When It's Sleepy 

Time Down South 
25676 Sugar Foot Stomp/I Can't 

Give You Anything But 

Love 

25683 Minnie the Moocher's Wed 
ding Day/Bob White 
25708 Let That Be a Lesson/ 

Hitched My Wagon to a 

Star 

257 u Silhouetted in the Moonlight 
25717 Camel Hop/Loch Lomond 
25720 That Moon Is Here Again/ 

You Took Words 

25726 Life Comes to a Party/If 
Dreams Come True 

25727 It's Wonderful/Thanks for 
the Memory 

25792 One o'Clock Jump/Don't 

Be That Way 

25796 Sing, Sing, Sing (two parts) 
25808 Always & Always/Oooo- 

Oh-Boom 

25814 Please Be Kind/Ti-Pi-Tin 
25840 I Let a Song Go Out of My 

Heart/Feelin' High 
25871 Big John Special/Flat Foot 

Floogie 
25880 Wrappin' It Up/Melancholy 

Baby 

26087 Bumble Bee Stomp/Ciribiri- 
bin 

26088 Blue Room/Make Believe 



With Oiun Band (retail) continued 
26089 Sweet Sue/I Never Knew 
26107 Smoke House/Topsy 
26130 Bach Goes to Town/ 

Whispering 
26134 Undecided/We'll Never 

Know 
26170 Sent for You Yesterday/And 

the Angels Sing 
26187 Estrellita/I'll Always Be In 

Love 
36205 Sing, Sing, Sing (two parts) 

Columbia 

35210 Jumpin' at Woodside/ 
There'll Be Some Changes 
Made 

35211 Blue Orchids/What's New 
35241 One Sweet Letter from You 

/Scatter Brain 
35289 Bluebirds in the Moonlight/ 

Faithful Forever 
35301 Boy Meets Horn/Let's 

Dance 
35313 Make with the Kisses/I 

Thought about You 
35319 Honeysuckle Rose/Spring 

Song 
35331 Peace Brother/Darn That 

Dream 
35356 Zaggin' with Zig/Busy as a 

Bee 
35362 Opus Local 8o2/Stealin' 

Apples 
35374 What'll They Think of 

Next/What's the Matter 
35389 All Star Strut/King Porter 

Stomp 
35391 Fable of the Rose/How 

High the Moon 



ij6 Esquire's Jazz IBook 

With Own Band (retail) continued 
35396 Board Meeting/Let's All 

Sing Together 
35410 Night Day/Beyond the 

Moon 
35426 Shake Down the Stars/Be 

Sure 
35445 Old Mill Stream/Yours Is 

My Heart Alone 
35472 I'm Nobody's Baby/Buds 

Won't Bud 
35487 Moon Won't Talk/I Can't 

Love You Anymore 
35497 Crazy Rhythm/Mister 

Meadowlark 
35527 Cocoanut Grove/Hour of 

Parting 

35543 Can't You Tell/Once More 
35574 Dreaming Out Loud/I Can't 

Resist You 

35594 Nostalgia/L'il Boy Love 
35820 Henderson Stomp/Nobody 
35839 Moonglow/Why Couldn't 

It Be Poor Me 
35863 Frenesi/Hard to Get 
35869 Cabin in the Sky/Taking a 

Chance on Love 
35910 Yes, My Darling Daughter/ 

These Things You Left 
35916 I'm Always Chasing Rain 
bows 
35937 I Hear a Rhapsody /Left My 

Heart in Your Hand 
35944 Bewitched/This Is New 
35962 Perfidia/Let Doorknob 

Hitcha 
35977 You're Dangerous/Birds of a 

Feather 
35992 Corn Silk/Memory of a Rose 



With Own Band (retail) continued 
36002 You Lucky People/It's Al 
ways You 
36012 Lazy River/O, Look at Me 

Now 
36022 My Sister & I/I'm Not 

Complainin' 

36050 Amapola/Intermezzo 
36067 Take It/Yours 
36109 Bugle Call Rag/Dixieland 

Band 
36136 I Found a Million Dollar 

Baby/Good Evenin' 
36180 Time on My Hands/Scare 
crow 
36209 When Sun Comes Out/ 

Something New 
36219 Soft as Spring/Down Down 

Down 

36224 Let's Dance 
36254 Air Mail Special/Tuesday at 

Ten 
36284 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes/ 

La Rosita 
36305 From One Love to Another 

/Anything 
36359 Birth of the Blues/Elmer's 

Tune 
36379 The Count/I See a Million 

People 
3641 1 Caprice XXIV Paganini/Fm 

Here 

36421 Pound Ridge/I Got It Bad 
36429 Shady Lady Bud/Buckle 

Down Winsocki 
36580 Not Mine/If You Build a 

Better Mousetrap 
36590 I Threw a Kiss in the Ocean 

/Full Moon 
36613 Idaho/Take Me 



With Own 'Band (retail} continued 
36617 All I Need Is You 
36622 Serenade in Blue/Kalamazoo 
36641 Dearly Beloved/I'm Old 

Fashioned 
36652 Six Flats Unfurnished/Why 

Don't You Do Right 

55001 Benny Rides Again/The 
Man I Love 

55002 Superman/More Than You 
Know 

Okeh 

6497 That Did It/Somebody Else 
Is Taking My Place 

6516 Winter Weather/Every 
thing I Love 

6534 Don't Know What Love Is/ 
Someone's Rocking My 
Dream Boat 

6544 Clarinet a la King/How 
Long Has This Been Going 
On 

6644 We'll Meet Again/Before 

With His Own Trio (1-3): 

Victor 

25115 Body & Soul/After You've 
Gone 

25181 Someday Sweetheart/Who 

25324 All My Life/Too Good to 

Be True 
"25333 China Boy/Lady Be Good 

25345 Nobody's Sweetheart/More 
Than You Know 

25406 Exactly Like You 

25481 Tiger Rag 

25711 Silhouetted in the Moon 
light 

25725 Where or When 



Musicians' Bio-Disco graphies 177 

With His Own Trio (1-3) con 
tinued 

25822 Sweet Lorraine 
26090 I Must Have That Man 

With His Own Quartet (1-3): 
Victor 



25398 Moonglow/Dinah 

25473 Melancholy Baby/Sweet Sue 

25481 Whispering 

25521 Vibraphone Blues/Stompin' 

at the Savoy 

25529 Runnin' Wild/Tea for Two 
25531 Ida 

25644 Avalon/The Man I Love 
25660 Liza/Smiles 
25705 Handful of Keys/Vieni 

Vieni 

25725 I'm a Ding Dong Daddy 
25751 Bei Mir Bist du Schoen 
25822 Dizzy Spells 
26044 Blues in Your Flat/Blues in 

My Flat 

26090 S' Wonderful 

26091 Opus Vz /Sweet Georgia 
Brown 

26240 Opus % /Sugar 

With His Ovm Quintet (1-3): 

Victor 

26139 I Cried for You 

2<5i66 Pick-a-Rib 

With His Own Sextet (1-3): 

Columbia 

35254 Flying Home/Rose Room 

35320 Soft Winds/Memories of 

You 
35349 Seven Come Eleven/Shivers 



178 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With His Own Sextet (i-jj-con- 

tmued 
35404 Till Tom Special/Gone with 

What Wind 

35466 The Shiek/Poor Butterfly 
35482 I Surrender Dear/Boy Meets 

Goy 
35553 Six Appeal/These Foolish 

Things 
35810 Royal Garden Blues/ 

Wholly Cats 
35901 Benny's Bugle/As Long as I 

Live 
35938 On the Alamo/Gone with 

What Draft 
36039 Breakfast Fued/Fve Found a 

New Baby 
36099 A Smo-o-oth One/Good 

Enough to Keep 
36594 Wang Wang Blues/ Just the 

Way you Look Tonight 



With His Own Sextet (1-3) con 
tinued 
Okeh 
6486 Limehouse Blues/If I Had 

You 

6553 Blues in the Night/Where 
or When 

With Bartok & Szigeti, as Trio 
(retail): 

Columbia 

Alb. X-iy8 Contrasts for Violin, 
Clarinet & Piano 

With Budapest String Quartet 

(retail): 

Victor 

Alb. 452 Quintet for Clarinet & 
Strings 



GRAHAM, Peter. Vibraharp. Received i point: Hammond. 
Leader of his own small combination in Washington, D. C., where 
he was discovered by John Hammond. 

GREENE, Freddie. Guitar. Received 4 points: Avakian, Ham- 
wiond) Thiele. As the guitarist of the Count Basic band for the past 
several years, Greene has waxed many recordings with that group, 
in addition to performing on a few platters by Teddy Wilson, Billie 
Holiday and Benny Goodman. 

GUARNIERI, John (Johnnie) . Piano. Received 2 points: Miller. 
Born March 23, 1917, New York City, where he attended high 
school, going on, for one year only, to the City College of New 
York. He began studying and playing the piano at age 10, under his 
father's tutelage, continued during high school days. Although this 
training was mainly classical, he became interested in jazz during 
his latter high school days, and after graduation started playing with 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 179 

local bands (1935-36). First important job with George Hall (1937- 
38), a period interspersed with two engagements with Mike Riley; 
subsequently played with Benny Goodman (1939-40, and again in 
1941 for five months), Artie Shaw (late 1940-41, and again Aug., 
1 94 1 -early 1942), Jimmy Dorsey (1942), Raymond Scott (1942-43), 
free-lance and Cozy Cole Trio (1943). Recorded with Goodman, 
Shaw, Dorsey, Cootie Williams. Piano solos: The Sheik, Good 
Enough to Keep, A Smooth One, Boy Meets Goy, Poor Butterfly 
(Goodman); Moonglow, Chantez Les Bas, St. James Infirmary 
(Shaw); West End Blues, Blues in My Condition (Williams). Harp 
sichord solos: Summit Ridge Drive, Dr. Livingstone, I Presume 
(Shaw). 

HACKETT, Robert Leo (Bobby) . Trumpet. Received 3 points: 
Smith, Stacy, Thiele. Born Jan. 31, 1915, Providence, R. I. Began 
his musical studies on guitar, played in local bands. In 1933, at the 
Theatrical Club in Boston, with his own band, he switched to cornet 
and soon became the talk of top-ranking musicians all over the coun 
try. After several years in Boston he came to Nick's in New York 
with his own small combination (1937-38) and eventually increased 
this to a full-sized band (1939). Joined Horace Heidt (1939-40), 
Glen Miller (1941-42). Between these engagements he headed his 
own banU at night spots in New York. Recorded with his own band, 
Dick Robertson, Jam Session at Commodore, Heidt, Miller. 

HAGGART, Robert (Bob). String bass. Received 2 points: 
Grennard, Smith. Born Mar. 13, 1913, Douglaston, L. L, N. Y. Began 
musical activities on the banjo, took guitar lessons under George 
Van Epps, his Long Island neighbor. At a Salisbury, Conn., school he 
played trumpet and piano in school bands. Switched to bass during 
high school period. Studied under private teachers and on his own. 
Played with Bert Brown, Bob Sperling, joined Bob Crosby (1936- 
42). Now in the armed services. Composer of Dogtoim Blues. 

HALL, Edmond. Clarinet. Received 5 points: Feather, Goffin, 
Moon, Ulanov. Now playing with Teddy Wilson, Hall played for 
several years, during the 1930*5, with Claude Hopkins; and with the 
recording group of Frankie Newton, which made a series of sides 



i8o Esquire's Jazz Book 

for the Variety label. For Blue Note, Hall recorded four 1 2-inch 
sides with a quartet under his own name. 

HAMPTON, Lionel. Vibraphone, drums. Received 15 points: 
Avakian, Campbell, Feather, Green, Grennard, Kay, Lim, Smith, 
Stacy, Tbiele. Born 1913, Louisville, Ky. Attended high school in 
Chicago. Evinced first interest in music at St. Elizabeth's school in 
Chicago and continued under private teachers and on his own. 
Migrated to Los Angeles about 1930 and was soon playing with Les 
Hite (1932-36). Joined Benny Goodman (1936-40), organized his 
own band (fall of 1940-43), which has made strong bids for big-time 
rating. Recorded with pick-up bands under his own name for the 
Victor label, with Goodman, and most recently, with his own band. 
Vibra solos: Blues in My Flat, Moongloiv, Liza (Goodman Quartet) ; 
Buzziri* Around with the Bee, Shoe Shiner's Drag (own band) . Drum 
solo: Drum Stomp (own band). Piano solo: Piano Stomp (own 
band). Vocalisms: Blues in Your Flat, Vibraphone Blues (Goodman 
Quartet). 



DISCOGKAPHY 



With Louis Armstrong (2-3): 

Okeh 

41422 Ding Dong Daddy/I'm in 

Market for You 
41448 Confessing/If I Could Be 

with You 

41468 Body & Soul 
41463 Memories of You/You're 

Lucky to Me 
41478 Peanut Vendor/ You're 

Driving Me Crazy 
41486 Just a Gigolo/Shine 

Columbia 
2688 Sweethearts on Parade 

With Paul Howard (2-3): 

Victor 

22660 My Kinda Blues 

23354 California Swing/Harlem 



With Paul Howard (2-3) con 
tinued 

23420 Cuttin' Up/Gettin' a Ready 
Blues. . 

38068 Moonlight Blues/The 
Ramble 

38070 Overnight Blues/Charlie's 
Idea 

38122 Quality Shout/Stuff 

With "Benny Goodman (retail): 

Victor 

25808 Always & Always/Oooo-oh 

Boom 
25814 Please Be Kind/Ti-Pi-Tin 

With Teddy Wilson (1-2): 
Brunswick 

7736 Swing Baby Sing/ You 
Turned Tables on Me 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 181 



With Teddy Wilson (2-2) con 
tinued 

7739 Here's Love in Your Eyes/ 
You Came to Rescue 



With the Polynesians (retail): 
Decca 

941 Aloha/On a Cocoanut 
Island 

With Benny Goodman Quartet 

(i-3): 
Victor 

25398 Moonglow/Dinah 
25473 Melancholy Baby/Sweet Sue 
25481 Whispering 
25521 Vibraphone Blues/Stompin' 

at the Savoy 

25529 Runnin' Wild/Tea for Two 
25531 Ida 

25644 Avalon/The Man I Love 
25660 Liza/Smiles 
25705 Handful of Keys/Vieni 

Vieni 

25725 I'm a Ding Dong Daddy 
25751 Bei Mir Bist du Schoen 
25822 Dizzy Spells 
26044 Blues in Your Flat/Blues in 

My Flat 

26090 S' Wonderful 

26091 Opus }4 /Sweet Georgia 
Brown 

26240 Opus % /Sugar 

By Benny Goodman Quintet (1-3): 

Victor 

26139 I Cried for You 

26166 Pick-a-Rib 



By Benny Goodman Sextet (1-3): 

Columbia 

35254 Flying Home/Rose Room 

35320 Soft Winds/Memories of 

You 

35349 Seven Come Eleven/Shivers 
35404 Till Tom Special/Gone 

with What Wind 

With His Oum Band (retail): 

Victor 

25527 My Last Affair/The Mood 

I'm In 

25535 Jivin' the Vibres/Stomp 
25575 Buzzin' Round with the Bee 

/Whoa Babe 
25586 China Stomp/Rhythm 

Rhythm 
25592 On the Sunny Side of the 

Street/I Know That You 

Know 

25601 Stompology 
25658 Confessing/Drum Stomp 
25666 Piano Stomp/I Surrender 

Dear 
25674 After You've Gone/Baby 

Please Come Home 
25682 Just Couldn't Take It/ 

Everybody Loves My Baby 
25699 Judy/Object of My 

Affection 
25771 You're My Ideal/Sun Will 

Shine Tonight 
26011 Shoe Shiner's Drag/I'm in 

Mood for Swing 
26017 Ring Dem Bells/Muskat 

Ramble 

26039 Any Time at All 
26114 Down Home Jump/Rock 

Hill Special 



182 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With His Own Band (retail) -con 
tinued 
26173 Don't Be That Way/Fiddle 

Diddle 
26209 High Society/Sweethearts 

on Parade 
26233 Denison Swing/Wizzin' the 

Wizz 
26254 Don't Mean a Thing/ 

Shufflin' at Hollywood 
26296 Bigwig in Wigwam/Stand 

By for Announcements 
26304 Memories of You/Jumpin' 

Jive 
26343 Johnny Get Your Horn/I 

Can Give You Love 
26362 Ain'tcha Comin' Hoine/mh 

St, Rag 
26371 Hot Mallets/When Lights 

Are Low 
26393 Early Session Hop/One 

Sweet Letter 
26423 Gin for Christmas/Heebie 

Jeebies Are Rockin' 
26447 I' ve Found New Baby/4 or 

5 Times 
26453 Munson St. Breakdown/I 

Can't Get Started 
26476 Haven't Named It Yet/I'm 

on My Way from You 
26557 Singin' the Blues/Dinah 
26595 Flying Home/Save It Pretty 

Mama 
26604 Shades of Jade/Till Tom 

Special 



With His O<wn Band (retail) con 
tinued 

26608 Tempo & Swing/My Buddy 

26652 Central Av. Breakdown/ 
Jack the Bellboy 

26696 Ghost of a Chance/Dough- 
Ra-Me 

26724 Jivin' with Jarvis/Blue Be 
cause of You 

26739 Martin on Every Block/ 
Charlie Was a Sailor 

26751 House of Morgan/I'd Be 
Lost without You 

26793 Pig Foot Sonata/ Just for 
Laughs 

27278 Lost Love/Smart Aleck 

Decca 

18265 Just for You/My Wish 

18285 Southern Echoes/Nola 

18394 Flying Home/In the Bag 

18535 Now I Know/Half a Love 
Is Better than None 

With His Oim Sextet (retail): 

Victor 

27316 Altitude/I Nearly Lost My 

Mind 

27341 Open House/Bogo Joe 
27364 Bouncing at the Beacon/ 

Fiddle Dee Dee 
27409 Three-Quarter Boogie/Give 

Me Some Skin 
27529 Chasin 7 with Chase/Now 

that You're Mine 



HAWKINS, Coleman. Tenor saxophone. Received 17 points: 
Campbell, Goffin, Lim, Miller, Moon, Rosenkrmtz, Smith, Stacy, 
Ulanov. Born Nov. 21, 1907, St. Joseph, Mo. Began study of piano 
and cello at age 5, under his mother's encouragement. Switched to 



Musicians' 1 Bio-Discographies* 183 

tenor at 9. Continued his studies during his three years at Washburn 
College, Topeka. In addition to tenor, he also studied harmony and 
composition. During his attendance at Washburn he played with 
local bands. Then joined Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds in Kansas City 
(1923). Upon his arrival in New York with this group, he moved 
to Fletcher Henderson (1924-34), toured England and the Conti 
nent, as soloist, leader and sideman (1934-39). On returning to the 
IL S. in the fall of 1939 he organized his own band, first a large one 
which was not too successful, and then a small one which has been 
playing night spots in New York and the Middle West. Recorded 
with his own bands, the Chocolate Dandies, Spike Hughes, Mound 
City Blue Blowers, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Henderson, and 
many pick-up bands during his European sojourn. Solos: Queer 
Notions, It's the Talk of the Town, PDQ Blues, Tozo, Sugar Foot 
Stomp, Stockholm Stomp (Henderson); Heartbreak Blues (own 
band); Firebird (Hughes); Td Love It (McKinney). 



DISCOGRAPHY 



With Fletcher Henderson (5-15): 
Columbia 

228 Go Long Mule/Manda 
249 Meanest Band o' Blues/ 

Naughty Man 

292 Play Me Slow/Bye & Bye 
383 Money Blues/I'll Take Her 

Back 
395 Sugar Foot Stomp/What- 

Cha-Call-Em Blues (Co 

35668) 

509 TNT/Carolina Stomp 
532 Pensacola/Nobody's Rose 
654 Stampede (Co 35669)/Jack- 

ass Blues 
817 The Chant/Henderson 

Stomp 

854 I Need Lovin'/Sweet Thing 
970 Rocky Mountain Blues x 

Tozo 



With Fletcher Henderson (f-if) 

continued 
1002 Livery Stable Blues/PDQ 

. Blues 
1059 Whiteman Stomp/I'm 

Coming Virginia 
1543 D Natural Blues/King 

Porter Stomp 

1913 Blazin'/Wang Wang Blues 
2513 Sugar Foot Stomp/Clarinet 

Marmalade 

14392 Easy Money/Come On 
Baby 

Vocalion 

1065 Hot Mustard/Clarinet 

Marmalade 
1069 Have It Ready/Stockton 

Stomp 



184 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Fletcher Henderson (^-i 1 }) 

continued 
1079 Baby Won't You Please 

Come Home/Some of These 

Days 
1092 Sensation/Fidgety Feet 

(UHCA 21-22) 
2527 King Porter Stomp/ Yeah 

Man 
2583 Can You Take It (Co 35671) 

/Queer Notions (De 18169) 
14926 Copenhagen/Words 
14935 Shanghai Shuffle/Naughty 

Man 
15030 Memphis Bound/When You 

Do 

Victor 

20944 Variety Stomp/St. Louis 

Shuffle (Blu 10246) 
24699 Phantom Fantasie/Harlem 

Madness 

Bluebird 

5682 Tidal Wave/Hocus Pocus 
(Blu 10247) 

Brunswick 
4119 Hop Off (Co 35670) 

Paramount 

20367 Prince of Wails/Mandy 
Make Up Your Mind 

Regal 

9753 One of These Days 
9770 Why Couldn't It Be You 

Apex 
8039 Alabamy Bound 

Ajax 

17109 Everybody Loves My Baby 

17123 Why Couldn't It Be You 



With Fletcher Henderson (f-if) 

continued 
Banner 
1445 How Come You Do Me 

1470 I'll See You in My Dreams 

1471 Everybody Loves My Baby 

Cameo 
3491 Old Black Joe Blues 

With Fletcher Henderson (2-4): 
Columbia 

126 Somebody Told My Gal/ 

Papa Doesn't Two-Time 
164 Muscle Shoals Blues/ 

Houston Blues 
202 That's Georgia/You'll 
Never Get to Heaven 
209 I Never Care/He's the 
Hottest Man in Town 
2559 Sugar/Blues in My Heart 
2565 Singin' the Blues/It's the 

Darndest Thing 
2586 My Gal Sal/Pretty Girl 
2732 Honeysuckle Rose/Under 
neath Harlem Moon 
2825 Nagasaki/It's the Talk of the 
Town 

With Connie's Inn Orchestra 

(5-20): 
Crown 

3093 After You've Gone/Stardust 
3107 Tiger Rag/Somebody Stole 

My Gal 
3180 Blue Rhythm/You Rascal 

You 
3191 Sugar Foot Stomp/Low 

Down on the Bayou 
3212 Milenberg Joys/Twelfth St. 

Rag 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 185 



With Connie's Inn Orchestra 

(5-20) continued 
Victor 

22698 Roll On Mississippi/Moan 

You Moaners 
22721 Sugar Foot Stomp/Singin' 

the Blues 

Melotone 

12145 Singin' the Blues/Crazy 

'Bout My Baby 
12216 House of David Blues/You 

Rascal You 
12239 Sugar Foot Stomp/ Just 

Blues (Br. 80037) 



With the Dixie Stampers (2-8) 

continued 
353 Snag It (Co 3567o)/Ain't 

She Sweet 
407 Wabash Blues/Wang Wang 

Blues 
451 Variety Stomp/St. Louis 

Blues ' 
467 Have It Ready/St. Louis 

Shuffle 

526 Baltimore/Black Maria 
545 Goose Pimples/Cornfed 
636 Oh Baby/Feelin' Good 
974 I'm Feelin' Devilish 



With the Savannah Syncopators 
(10): 

Brunswick 

6176 Radio Rhythm (Br. 800377 
Low Down on the Bayou 

With the Dixie Stomp&rs (2-8): 
Harmony 

70 Spanish Shawl/Clap Hands 

Here Comes Charlie 
88 Get it Fixed/Florida Stomp 
92 Panama/Chinese Blues 
121 I've Found a New Baby 
153 Black Horse Stomp/Nervous 

Charlie Stomp 

1 66 Tampeeko/Jackass Blues 
179 Hi Diddle Diddle 
197 Static Strut/Hard to Get 

Gertie 

209 Dynamite 
283 Alabama Stomp 
299 Off to Buffalo/Brotherly 
Love 



With Fletcher Henderson (1-2): 

Victor 

22775 Malinda's Wedding Day/ 

Sweet Music 
22786 It Looks Like Rain/My 

Sweet Tooth Say 
22955 I Wanna Count Sheep/ 

Strangers 
24008 Poor Old Joe/Take Me 

Away from River 

With McKinney's Cotton Pickers 

(5): 
Victor 
22736 Wherever There's a Will 

Baby (Blu 10249) 
38097 Gee Ain't I Good to You 

(Blu 10249) 
38102 Miss Hannah/The Way I 

Feel Today (Blu 10232) 
38133 Peggy /I'd Love It (Blu 

10706) 



1 86 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Mound City Blue Blowers 

(8-10): 
Victor 

38100 One Hour/Hello Lola (Bin 
10037) 

Okeh 

41515 Georgia on My Mind/Can't 

Believe You're in Love 
41526 Darktown Strutters Ball/ 

You Rascal You 

With Benny Goodman (}): 

Columbia 

2892 Junk Man/Ol' Pappy 
2907 Georgia Jubilee/Emaline 

With the Chocolate Dandies (3-7): 

Okeh 

8728 That's How I Feel/Six or 
Seven Times 

Columbia 
2543 Bugle Call Rag/Dee Blues 

With Jack Purvis (5-7): 
Okeh 

8782 Poor Richard/Down 
Georgia Way 

8808 Dismal Dan 

With the Newport Syncopators 

(8): 

Van Dyke 
81879 The Terror 

With Allen-Hawkins Orchestra 

(i): 

Melotone 
12759 Shadows on Swanee/ 

Swingin' Along on Shoe 
string 



With Allen-Hawkins Orchestra 

(i) continued 
12769 River's Takin' Care of Me/ 

Ain'tcha Got Music 
12842 You're Gonna Lose Your 

Gal/My Galveston Gal 
12858 Hush My Mouth/Dark 

Clouds 

With Bennie Carter (foreign): 
English Vocalion 

8 1 New Street Swing/I'll 

Never Give In 
94 Rambler's Rhythm/Black 

Bottom 

104 Blues in My Heart/Some 
body Loves Me 
no I Ain't Got Nobody/ 
Mighty Like the Blues 
118 Lazy Afternoon/My Buddy 
126 Skip It/Pardon Me Pretty 
Baby 

With Spike Hughes (retail): 

Decca 

18170 Nocturne/Arabesque 

English Decca 

3563 Nocturne/Someone Stole 
Gabriel's Horn 

3606 Pastoral/Bugle Call Rag 

3639 Arabesque/Fanfare 

3717 Donegal Cradle Song/Fire 
bird 

3836 Music at Midnight/Music at 
Sunrise 

3972 Sweet Sue/How Come You 
Do Me 

5101 Sweet Sorrow Blues/ Air in 
DFlat 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 187 



With European groups (-foreign): 
English Parlophone 
1825 I Ain't Got Nobody (De 
1 8252) /On the Sunny Side 
of the Street 
1837 It Sends Me 
2007 Lady Be Good/Lullaby 
2041 Honeysuckle Rose/Lost in a 

Fog (De 18252) 
English Decca 

5451 I Wish I Were Twins 
5581 After You've Gone/Some of 

These Days 

6407 Consolation/Original Dixie 
land One Step 
6445 A Strange Fact/Smiles 
6502 Wanna Go Back to Harlem/ 
Something Is Gonna Give 
Me Away 
42050 Hands Across the Table/I 

Only Have Eyes for You 
His Master's Voice English 
8754 Honeysuckle Rose/Crazy 

Rhythm 

French Gramophone 
7455 Blue Moon/What a Dif 
ference a Day Makes 
7527 Avalon/Star Dust 
Swiss Parlophone 

35512 Sorrow/Love Cries 

35513 Tiger Rag/It May Not Be 
True 

American Decca 

66 1 Netcha's Dream/Chicago 
742 Meditation/What Harlem Is 
to Me 

18251 Star Dust/Well All Right 
Then 

18252 Lost in a Fog/I Ain't Got 
Nobody 



With His Own Band (15): 

Okeh 

41566 Heartbreak Blues/ Jamaica 
Shout 

With His Own Band (retail): 

Bluebird 

10477 She's Funny That Way/ 
Meet Doctor Foo 

10523 Body & Soul/Fine Dinner 

10693 When Day Is Done/Bounc 
ing with Bean 

10770 The Sheik/My Blue Heaven 

With Fletcher Henderson Ac 
companiments (2-5): 

Brunswick 

2591 I Ain't Gonna Marry /If 
Your Good Man Quits 

Vocalion 

14682 Ev'ry Woman's Blues/ 
Won't Be Long Now 

Columbia 

14074 Cheatin' on Me/Mama 

With the Baltimore Bell Hops (5): 

Columbia 

2449 Hot & Anxious/Comin' & 
Goin' 

With Fletcher Henderson (retail): 

Decca 

18254 Night Life/I've Got to Sing 
Torch Song 



1 88 Esquire's Jazz ~Book 

HEARD, J. C. Drums. Received i point: Kay. First came into 
prominence with Teddy Wilson's band of 1940-41. When Cozy 
Cole left Cab Galloway about a year ago, it was Heard who was 
called in for the replacement. 

HERBERT, Arthur. Dmms. Received 2 points: Rosenkrantz. 
Known principally in New York, where he has jobbed around with 
various local combinations. 

HIGGINBOTHAM, J. C. (Higgie). Trombone. Received 6 
points: Campbell, Feather, Hainmond, Lim. Born May n, 1906, 
Atlanta, Ga. Attended school in Cincinnati, Ohio; Morris Brown 
University. Music mostly self-taught. He originally intended to be 
come a tailor, but joined a local Cincinnati band, Wes Helvey (1924- 
25). Went to Buffalo, N. Y., played with Eugene Primos, later taken 
over by Jimmy Harris (1926-27), went to New York, also playing 
with local bands there during this period (1926-27), joined Luis 
Russell (1928-30), Fletcher Henderson (1930-31), Chick Webb 
(1932-33), Blue Rhythm Band (1934-36), Louis Armstrong (1936- 
40), Red Allen (i 940-43) -a period intermittently taken up with 
free-lancing in New York area. Recorded with Russell, Armstrong, 
Webb, Henderson, Us own recording combinations, Allen, M. Mesi- 
row, The Port of Harlem Seven, King Oliver. 

HILLMAN, Roscoe (Roc). Guitar. Received 2 points: Green. 
Born July 13, 1911, Denver, Colo. He attended high school in Den 
ver, later going to the University of Colorado, studied his instrument 
under George Van Epps. As a youngster, he appeared on the stage 
in a musical act with his father and played bass fiddle as well as guitar, 
making a choice in favor of the latter instrument during his high 
school days. One of the members of the original Dorsey Brothers 
band, it was with this organization that he made his professional 
debut, later playing with Smith Ballew, more recently with Jimmy 
Dorsey. Recorded with Dorsey. Composes popular songs. 

HINES, Earl (Father). Piano. Received 7 points: Campbell, Kay, 
Lim, Smith, Thiele. Born Dec. 28, 1905, Pittsburgh, Pa. Gained piano 
fundamentals under his mother's guidance, further studies under pri- 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 189 

vate teachers. Launched professional career as accompanist for Louis 
Deppe, in Pittsburgh (1918), after which he played with local bands. 
Migrated to Chicago, played solo at the Elite and Entertainers cafes 
(1923-24), then joined Erskine Tate (1925-26), Carroll Dickerson 
(1926-27), Jimmy Noone (1927-28), organized his own band, play 
ing at the Grand Terrace from 1928 to 1938, and has since been tour 
ing the country. Recorded solos for QRS, Brunswick, Okeh. As band 
pianist recorded with Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Noone, his own band. 
Solos: West End Blues, Weather Bird (Armstrong); Monday Date, 
I Knoiv That You Know (Noone) ; Deep Forest, Blue Drag, Rock 
and Rye, Fat Babes (own band) 



SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 



With Louis Armstrong (5-15): 
Okeh 

8597 West End Blues/Fireworks 

8609 A Monday Date/Sugar 
Foot Strut 

8631 Skip the Gutter/Knee Drops 

8641 Two Deuces/Squeeze Me 

8649 Tight Like This/Heah Me 
Talkin' 

8657 St. James Infirmary/Save It 
Pretty Mama 

8669 No One Else But You 

8680 Beau Koo Jack 

8690 Basin St. Blues/No 

8703 Muggles 
41454 Weather Bird 

With Johnny Dodds (20-50): 
Vocalion 
1128 Melancholy 
15632 Weary Blues/New Orleans 
Stomp 

Brunswick 

3567 Wild Man Blues/ 
Melancholy 



With Jimmy Noone (15-25): 
Vocalion 

1184 I Know That You Know/ 
Sweet Sue 

1185 Every Evening/Four or Five 
Times 

1207 Apex Blues/Sweet Lorraine 
1215 Blues/Oh Sister Ain't That 

Hot 
1229 A Monday Date/King Joe 



Piano Solos 
QRS 

7036 Off Time Blues/Blues in 
Thirds 

7037 A Monday Date/Chicago 
High Life 

7038 Chimes in Blues/Stowaway 

7039 Just Too Soon/Panther Rag 

With O f wn Band (i-io): 
Brunswick 
6345 Blue Drag/Oh You Sweet 

Thing 

6379 Sensational Mood/I Love 
You Because I Love You 



190 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With O f um Bmd (2-10) con 
tinued 

6541 Cavernism/Rosetta 

6710 Bubbling Over/I Want a 
Lot of Love 

6771 Harlem Lament/Take It 
Easy 

6872 Blue/Julia 

Decca 

182 That's a Plenty/Sweet 
Georgia Brown 

183 Cavernism/ Angry 

218 Maple Leaf Rag/Fat Babes 



With Own Band (i-io)con~ 

tinned 

337 Copenhagen/Rosetta 
380 Rhythm Lullaby /Disap 
pointed in Love 
577 Wolverine Blues/Rock & 

Rye 

654 Julia/Japanese Sandman 
714 Bubbling Over/Blue 

With His Own Quartet (3): 
Vocalion 
3586 Honeysuckle Rose 



HINTON, Milton John. String bass. Received 5 points: Kay, 
Lim, Miller. Born June 23, 1910, Vicksburg, Miss. Attended high 
school in Chicago. Began study of violin in 1923, later learning brass 
and string bass in high school and through his own efforts, as well 
as subsequently studying under private teachers. Began his career 
with Eddie South, then played with Erskine Tate (1932-), Eddie 
South, for the second time (1933-36), Cab Galloway (1937-43). 
Solos: Ebony Silhouette, Plucking the Bass (Galloway). 



SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 

With Cab Galloway (1-2): 



Variety 

501 Swing Swing Swing/That 

Man Is Here 
535 Wake Up & Live/Don't 

Know If Comin' 
593 Congo/My Gal Mezzanine 
612 Manhattan Jam/Peckin' 

Vocalion 

4019 Bugle BIues/Foolin' with 

You 
4100 Azure/Peck a Doodle Do 



With Cab Galloway 
tinned 



(1-2) con- 



4144 Rustle of Spring/Hoy Hoy 

4400 Boogie Woogie/Miss Halle 
lujah Brown 

4753 St. Louis Blues/Minnie the 
Moodier 

4905 Long Long Ago/Afraid of 
Love 

5005 Trylon Swing/Jumpin* Jive 

5062 Crescendo in Drums/Ut Da 
Zay 

540^ Pluckin* the Bass/Give Baby 
Give 



Musicians' Bio-Disc ographiet 191 

With Cab Galloway (i-2)con~ With Cab Galloway (1-2)- con 
tinued tinned 

5467 Paradiddle/Pickin' the 5827 Lonesome Nights/Yo Eta 
Cabbage Cansa 

5687 Ghost of a Chance/Come 6192 Ebony Silhouette 
On with Come-On 

HODES, Art. Piano. Received 2 points: Avakion. Born Chicago, 
111., where he received his musical education, some along classical 
lines. Played during the early 30'$ with a small local group consisting 
of such men as Wingy Mannone, Gene Krupa, Bud Freeman and 
Dave Tough but with little success. Went to New York in 1938, 
played piano at local nightspots, always toying with the idea of 
forming a small combination. With a large following of jazz en 
thusiasts, he has been able to hold forth as piano soloist in New York 
niteries such as Nick's and the Village Vanguard. He has also been 
active in conducting radio shows (WNYC) . 

HODGES, John Cornelius (Johnny). Alto and soprano saxo 
phones. Received 10 points: Campbell, Goffin, Green, Grennard, 
Rosenkrantz, Smith, Thiele. Born July 25, 1906, Cambridge, Mass., 
where he attended school. Began his musical studies at school and 
studied under private teachers. Entered upon his career with Bobby 
Sawyer (1925), Lloyd Scott (1926), Chick Webb (1927), Duke 
Ellington (1928-43). Recorded with Ellington, Lionel Hampton, 
Johnny Dunn and his own studio combinations for the Variety Vo- 
calion and Okeh labels. Alto solos: Warm Valley, I Let a Song Go 
out of My Heart, The Girl from Joe's, Saratoga Swing (Ellington) ; 
Buzzin Around with the Bee, Ring Dem Bells (Hampton) . Soprano 
solos: Dear Old Southland, The Sheik (Ellington). 

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 

With O<vm Band (retails): With Own Band (retail-2)con- 

Variety ' md 

576 Foolin' Myself/You'll Never Vocalion 

Go to Heaven 3948 My Day/Silvery Moon & 

586 A Sailboat in the Moonlight Golden Sands 



192 Esquires Jazz Book 

With Own Band (retail-*) con 
tinued 
4046 I Let Song Go Out of My 

Heart/If You Were in My 

Place 
4115 Jeep's Blues/Rendezvous 

with Rhythm 
4213 Empty Ballroom Blues/You 

Walked Out of Picture 
4242 Pyramid/Lost in Meditation 
4309 A Blues Serenade/Jitterbug's 

Lullaby 
4351 Krum Elbow Blues/Some 

thing About an Old Love 
4386 Prelude to a Kiss/ Jeep Is 

Jumpin' 
4335 Swingin* in the Dell/Love m 

Swingtime 

4573 Hodge Podge/Wanderlust 
4622 Dancing on the Stars/I'm in 

Another World 
4710 Swingin' on the Campus/ 

Like Ship in Night 
4849 Dooji Wooji/Mississippi 

Dreamboat 
4917 You Can Count on Me/ 

Kitchen Mechanic's Day 
4941 Dance of the Goon/Home 

Town Blues 



With O f wn Band (retail-^) con 
tinued 

5100 Rent Party Blues/The 
Rabbit's Jump 

5170 Savoy Strut/Good Gal Blues 

5330 Truly Wonderful/My 

Heart Jumped Over Moon 

5353 Dream Blues/I Know What 
You Do 

5533 Skunk Hollow Blues/Tired 
Socks 

5940 Moon Romance/Your Love 
Has Faded 

Bluebird 

1 102 1 Junior Hop/Day Dream 

11117 That's the Blues Old Man/ 

Good Queen Bess 
11447 Squaty Roo/Things Ain't 

What They Used to Be 

With Duke Ellington: 

See Barney Bigard Discography 

With The Jungle Band: 

See Barney Bigard Discography 

With The Harlem Footivarmers: 
See Barney Bigard Discography 



HOLIDAY, Billie. Vocalist. Received 23 points: Avakian, Camp 
bell, Feather, Goffin, Hammond 9 Kay, Lim, Miller, Moon, Rosen- 
krantz, Smith, Stacy, Thiele, Ulanov. Born Apr. 7, 1915, Baltimore, 
McL Moved to New York at age 14. Obtained her first singing job at 
15, at Jerry Preston's Log Cabin Club. She rapidly rose to national 
prominence. Sang with the orchestras of Count Basie and Artie Shaw. 
Since 1940, however, she has been singing solo in nightspots through 
out the country. Recorded with Benny Goodman, Shaw, Basie and 
her own studio combination. 



Musicians' Bio-Disco graphics 193 



DISCOGRAPHY 



With Benny Goodman (2): 

Columbia 

2856 Mother's Son-in-Law 
2867 Keep on Doin' What You're 
Doin' 

With Artie Shaw (2): 
Bluebird 
7759 Any Old Time 

With Teddy Wilson (1-2): 
Brunswick 
7498 Sunbonnet Blue/What a 

Little Moonlight Can Do 

(Co 36206) 
7501 I Wished on the Moon/Miss 

Brown to You (Co 36205) 
7514 Sweet Lorraine/Painting the 

Town Red 
7520 Too Hot for Words/What a 

Night What a Moon 
7550 Yankee Doodle Never Went 

to Town/24 Hours a Day 
7554 If You Were Mine (Co 

362o6)/Eeney Meeney 

Miney Mo 

7577 These 'n That 'n Those 
7581 Spreadin' Rhythm Around/ 

You Let Me Down 
7612 Life Begins When You're in 

Love 
7699 These Foolish Things/Why 

Do I Lie About You 
7702 Guess Who/Like Reaching 

for the Moon 
7729 I Cried for You (Co 35862) 



With Teddy Wilson (1-2) con 

tinued 
7762 Easy to Love/ Just the Way 

You Look Tonight 
7768 Who Loves You/With 

Thee I Swing 
7789 Pennies from Heaven/That's 

Life I Guess 
7781 Sailin'/I Can't Give You 

Anything But Love, Baby 
7824 This Year's Kisses/He Ain't 

Got Rhythm 
7840 My Last Affair/You 

Showed Me the Way 
7844 Mood I'm In/Sentimental & 

Melancholy 
7859 Why Was I Born (Co 

3 62 83 )/ Must Have That 

Man (Co 36207) 
7867 Carelessly/How Could You 
7877 Moanin' Low/Fine & Dandy 
7917 Yours & Mine/Sun Showers 
7903 Mean to Me/Til Get By (Co 



^ 
7911 Easy Living (Co 362o8)/ 

Foolin' Myself (Co 36207) 

With Teddy Wilson (retail): 

Columbia 

35926 Mean to Me/I'll Get By 

36208 When You're Smiling 

With Own Band (1-2): 
Vocalion 

3276 No Regrets/Did I 
Remember 



194 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Ovm Bmd (2-2) continued 
3288 Billie's Blues/Summertime 

3333 A Fine Romance/I Can't 
Pretend 

3334 Let's Call Heart a Heart/ 
Button Your Shoe 

3431 One Never Knows/Got 

My Love to Keep Me 

Warm 
3440 Keep Me in Your Dreams/If 

My Heart Could Talk 
3520 Let's Call the Whole Thing 

Off /They Can't Take That 
3543 Where Is the Sun/Don't 

Know if I'm Coming 
3593 Me, Myself & I/Without 

Your Love 
3605 Sailboat in the Moonlight/ 

Born to Love 
3701 Getting Some Fun/Who 

Wants Love 
3947 On the Sentimental Side/ 

They CaU It Swing 
4029 When Woman Loves Man/ 

Back in Your Own Back 

Yard 
4126 You Go to My Head/The 

Moon Looks Down 
4151 If I Were You/Forget If 

You Can 

4208 Says My Heart/Havin' My 
self a Time 
4238 Wish I Had You/I'm Gonna 

Lock My Heart 
4396 Got a Date with a Dream/ 

You Can't Be Mine 
4457 I Can't Get Started/The 

Very Thought of You 



With Own 'Band (1-2) continued 
4631 Dream of Life/That's All I 

Ask of You 
4786 Under Blue Jungle Moon/ 

Everything Happens to Me 
4834 You're Too Lovely/Why 

Did I Always Depend 
5021 Them There Eyes/Some 

Other Spring 
5129 Swing Brother/Our Love Is 

Different 
5302 You're Just No Account/ 

You're a Lucky Guy 
5377 The Man I Love/Night & 

Day 
5481 Body & Soul/What Is This 

Going to Get Us 
5609 Ghost of Yesterday/Falling 

in Love Again 
5719 Tell Me More/Laughing at 

Life 

Okeh (i): 
5802 I Hear Music 
5806 Same Old Story/Practice 

Makes Perfect 
5831 I'm All for You 
5991 Time on My Hands/I'm 

Pulling Through 
6604 Loveless Love/St. Louis 

Blues 

Vocal Solo (retail) : 
Commodore 

526 Strange Fruit/Fine & 
Mellow 

527 Yesterdays/Gotta Right to 
Sing the Blues 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 195 

HUNTER, Bud. Tenor saxophone. Received 2 points: Avakian. 
Born about 1905, Chicago, 111., where he attended Austin High 
School with the rest of that now famous "Gang." Beginning as a 
hobby, his tenoring became, during the twenties, his regular source 
of income. He worked at numerous Chicago nightspots, and on 
WBBM, WJJD, and WSBC with a group known as the Honky Tonk 
Gloom Chasers. During the thirties he was to be found with the 
Chicago bands of Phil Dooley, Sig Meyers, Jack Chapman, Frank 
Snyder. Recorded with Bud Jacobson's Jungle Kings for the Signa 
ture label. 

JACOBSON, Orville Kenneth (Bud). Clarinet. Received i point: 
Avakian. Born Feb. 22, 1906, Milwaukee, Wis. Attended high school 
in Chicago, going on to the University of Wisconsin. Mostly on his 
own, he studied clarinet, as well as banjo, trumpet, drums, tenor and 
piano. Started playing professionally at 12. Joined the Wolverines 
(1925), Joe Kayser (1927-28), Thelma Terry (1928-29), Wingy 
Mannone (1929-30). Has since played with many small Chicago and 
New York groups, now with Earl Wiley. Recorded with Bud Free 
man, Jimmy McPartland, Muggsy Spanier, and his own group on the 
Signature label. Composer of Red Light, Opus No. i. 

JAMES, Harry. Trumpet. Received 3 points: Campbell, Green. 
Born Mar. 15, 1916, Albany, Ga. Attended high school in Beau 
mont, Tex. Began study of trumpet at an early age, under his father's 
tutelage. In 1930 he won the high school championship for the state 
of Texas for a solo trumpet performance. Entered professional ranks 
immediately after high school, playing with the Old Phillips Friars 
band. Subsequently played with Logan Hancock (a local group), 
Herman Waldman, Ben Pollack (1935-37), Benny Goodman (1937- 
39), organized his own band (1939-43). Recorded with Pollack, 
Goodman, own band, Teddy Wilson. Solos: Deep Elm, ]vmto c vM 
Blues (Pollack); Sugar Foot Stomp, Sing, Sing, Sing (Goodman); 
Just a Mood (Wilson); Sleepy Lagoon and numerous others (own 
band) . 

, JOHNSON, Lonnie. Guitar. Received 2 points: Avakian. Born 
Feb. 8, 1900, Baton Rouge, La. Coming from a musical family, he 



196 Esquire's Jazz Book 

has been playing guitar since boyhood days. In New Orleans (1919) 
he did gig dates with Louis Armstrong. He worked with his brother 
as a duo in New Orleans (1919-21), at Nat Robinson's in St. Louis 
(1922-24), with Charlie Creath (1925-26). As the result of winning 
first -prize in a Blues-recording contest held at St. Louis' Booker 
Washington Theatre, Okeh signed him for a recording contract 
(1926-33), after which he waxed for Columbia (1933-35) UIlder 
the name of Blind Willie Dunn. He migrated to Chicago in 1933, 
has been playing nightspots, mostly solo since 1935. Solos: Handfull 
of Riffs, Rhythm in My Fingers, Misty Morning. 

JONES, Jonathan (Jo). Drums. Received 7 points: Harmnond, 
Kay, Lim, Stacy. Born Oct. 7, 1911, Chicago, 111. Attended school in 
Alabama, going on to A. & M. Institute. Played with college dance 
bands. Joined Count Basie (1936-43). 

JORDAN, Louis Thomas. Vocalist. Received i point: Kay. Born 
July 8, 1908, Brinkley, Ark., where he attended high school, later 
went on to Arkansas Baptist College at Little Rock. Began musical 
studies at age 7, under his father's tutelage; continued during school 
and on his own. After playing with Ruby Williams in Hot Springs, 
Ark, migrated to Philadelphia, joining Charlie Gaines (1930), to 
New York, and work with Kaiser Marshall, Leroy Smith, then Chick 
Webb (1932-39), organized own band (1939-43). Recorded with 
Webb, own band. Solos: Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie (baritone 
and vocal), Rusty Hinge (alto and vocal) both Webb; Gee, But 
Yodre Swell (alto and vocal) own band. 

KAMINSKY, Max. Trumpet. Received ^ points: Smith. Born 
1909, Brockton, Mass. Attended high school in Boston. Took up the 
cornet while in school, playing in the school band. Studied under 
private teachers. By 1924 he was playing with local orchestras in 
Boston, and continued his gigging until 1928 when he came to Chi 
cago and played with Frank Teschemacher and George Wettling 
at the Cinderella Ballroom. There followed engagements with Red 
Nichols (1929), Jacques Renard, Leo Reisman and other radio bands 
(1930-34), Tommy Dorsey (1935), Artie Shaw (1937, and again, 
1941-42), Bud Freeman and Pee Wee Russell (1938), Tony Pastor 



Musicians* Bio-Discographies 197 

(1940). Now with Artie Shaw's Navy Band. Recorded with Shaw, 
Dorsey, Russell, Eddie Condon. Solos: Maple Leaf Rag (Dorsey); 
There'll Be Some Changes Made (Russell); Tennessee Twilight, 
Madame Dynamte (Condon). 

KIRBY, John. String bass. Received 4 points: Campbell, Moon. 
Born Dec. 31, 1908, Baltimore, Md., where he attended high school. 
Started study of music with the trombone and did not change to 
bass until some years later. Launched big-time career with Fletcher 
Henderson (1929-34 and again in 1936). Then joined Chick Webb, 
Lucky Millinder, organized his own band (1937-43) and has attained 
big-name status with only a six-piece orchestra. One of the few 
Negro bands ever to play a radio commercial show. In 1941 he gained 
wide popularity also with a sustaining radio program, Flow Gently, 
Sweet Rhythm. Recorded with Henderson, Paul Whiteman, Eddie 
Lang, Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, Buster 
Bailey, and his own band. Solos: I Know That You Know (Good 
man Quartet) ; numerous records with his own band. 

KRESS, Carl. Guitar. Received i point: Grennard. Born Oct. 20, 
1907, in New Jersey. Began musical studies on the piano, but changed 
to banjo at an early age and then to guitar. Played around New York 
with various bands, including Eddie Elkins. Teamed up with the late 
Dick McDonough and became the country's best-known guitar duo. 
Since then has engaged principally in radio work. Recorded with 
McDonough, Frankie Trumbauer, Five Pennies, Joe Venuti. Solos: 
Stage Fright (with McDonough) ; an album of guitar solos released 
in 1941 by Decca. 

LUCIE, Lawrence. Guitar. Received r point: Miller. Born 
Dec. 1 8, 1907, Emporia, Va. Attended high school in New York 
City. Study on the piano was his introduction to music, which he 
continued at high school and under private teachers, as well as on 
his own. Professional career launched with June Clark (1931). Sub 
sequently played with Benny Carter (1932-33), Dave Martin (1934), 
Fletcher Henderson (1935 and again 1937), Blue Rhythm Band 
(1936-37), Lucky Millinder and Coleman Hawkins (1939-40), Louis 
Armstrong (1941-43). Recorded with Carter, Henderson, Blue 



198 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Rhythm, Hawkins, Armstrong, Joe Sullivan, Albert Ammons, Spike 
Hughes, Teddy Wilson, Red Allen, Putney Dandridge. Solos: Out 
in the Cold Again (Allen); That's What You Think (Dandridge); 
In the Gloaming (Armstrong). 

MANN, Peggy. Vocalist. Received i point: Green. Born about 
1920, Yonkers, N. Y., where she attended high school Joined Ben 
Pollack. Subsequently sang with Johnny Johnson, Enoch Light, 
Larry Clinton, Teddy Powell (1942). 

McGARITY, Lou. Trombone. Received 2 points: Miller. Born 
1917, Athens, Ga., where he went to high school. At age 7 he began 
ten years of study on the violin, later playing in the school orchestra. 
In 1932 he won the state high school contest for a violin solo and in 
this year also started studying trombone. Attended University of 
Georgia for two years, where he studied harmony and played with 
the college band. In 1936 he left college to take his first professional 
job with Kirk DeVore's band, joined Nye Mayhew in New York 
(1937), Ben Bernie (spring, 1938-00:., 1940), Benny Goodman 
(Oct., 1940-42), Raymond Scott and studio work (1942-43). 
Recorded with Goodman, Cootie Williams. Solos: West End Blues 
(Williams); The Count (Goodman). 

MEYERS, Ernest Wilson (Serious)- String Bass. Received 3 
points: Rosenkrantz, Ulanov. Born about 1912, New York City. Has 
played and recorded with The Spirits of Rhythm, Sidney Bechet 
(1932), recorded with Putney Dandridge, Alix Combelle, Eddie 
South. In France (1937-39) he worked with Willie Lewis, then 
headed his own band. Now free-lancing in New York. 

MOLE, Milfred (Miff). Trombone. Received i point: Moon. 
Born Mar. 11, 1898, Long Island, N. Y. Beginning the study of 
music at an early age, he took up violin and piano and then trom 
bone. Played in local bands, then joined the famous Original Mem 
phis Five (1922-23), after which he became associated with Red 
Nichols with whom he regularly recorded- (1924-29). Simultaneously 
he played with other bands, such as Ray Miller, Ross Gorman, Roger 
Wolfe Kahn, Sam Lanin. From 1930 to 1938 he free-lanced in the 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 199 

New York radio studios, joining Paul Whiteman, 1939 to 1940, then 
once more free-lancing and teaching (1941-42), Benny Goodman 
(1943), then back to radio work. Recorded with the Original Mem 
phis Five, the Cotton Pickers, the Five Pennies, the Arkansas Travel 
ers, the New Orleans Blackbirds, the Golden Gate Orchestra, the 
Charleston Chasers, Red and Miff's Stompers, Whiteman and his own 
recording groups. Solos: Avalon, Bugle Call Rag (Five Pennies); 
Slippiri* Around (Stompers) ; Wild Oat Joe, That's a Plenty (own 
band) ; Ain't Misbehavin' (Chasers) . 

MOORE, Oscar. Guitar. Received 10 points: Feather, Goffin, 
Grennard, Kay, Lim, Rosenkrantz, Ulcmov. Since September, 1937, 
he has been associated with the King Col Trio, in collaboration with 
Nat (King) Cole, the pianist and Wesley Prince (later Johnny 
Miller) on bass. Working mostly on West Coast nightspots and doing 
recording work in movie studios, he spent some time in New York 
during the 1941-42 season with the Trio. Recorded with King Cole, 
Art Tatum. 

MORGAN, Al. String bass. Received 5 points: Avakian, Camp 
bell, Stacy, Thiele. Born Aug. 10, 1908, New Orleans, La., where he 
attended high school, after which he attended the University of 
Texas. Interest in music began with clarinet and drums at age 9, 
string bass at 10, which he studied under private teachers. Band 
activities: Fate Marable on the riverboats (1926-28), recorded and 
jobbed with various bands in New York (1928-30), Cab Galloway 
(1930-36), free-lancing in Hollywood (1937-41), Les Hite (1942), 
Sabby Lewis (1943). 

DISCOGRAPHY 

With Mound City Blue Blowers With Mound City Blue Blowers 
(3-5) " (3- $) continue d 

Victor Okeh 

38087 Tailspin Blue/Never Had a 41515 Georgia on My Mind/I 

Reason Can't Believe You're in Love 

38100 One Hour/Hello Lola (Blu. 41526 Darktown Strutters' Ball/ 
ooooo) You Rasoaf You 



200 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Billy Banks Rhythmakers 
(w): 

Perfect 

15615 Spider Crawl/Bugle CaU 

Rag (UHCA oooo) 
15620 Oh Peter/Margie (UHCA 

oooo) 
15642 Bald Headed Mama/Who's 

Sorry Now 

With Fats Waller (3): 

Victor 

38086 Lookin' Good Feelin' Bad/I 

Need Someone 
38110 Lookin' for Another 

Sweetie/When I'm Alone 
38119 Ridin' But Walkin'/ Won't 

You Get Off It 

With Cab Galloway (2): 
Brunswick 

6340 You Gotta Ho-de-Ho/ 
Reefer Man 

6400 Hot Toddy/Old Yazoo 

6424 I've Got World on String/ 
Harlem Holiday 

6435 Dixie Doorway/Wah-Dee- 
Dah 

6450 Man from Harlem/My Sun 
day Gal 

6460 Gotta Right to Sing Blues/ 
That's What I Hate 

6473 Sweet Rhythm/Gotta Go 
Places Do Things 

6992 Chinese Rhythm/ Weakness 



With Cab Galloway (i) con 
tinued 

7386 Good Sauce from Gravy 
Bowl/Keep Hi-di-Ho 

7411 Avalon/Moonlight 
Rhapsody 

7504 Miss Otis Regrets/Nagasaki 

7530 Baby Please Come Home/ 
Ain't Got Nobody 

7638 Save Me Sister/I Love to 
Sing 

7639 You're the Cure for What 
Ails Me 

7685 When You're Smiling/ Are 

You in Love with Me 
7677 Juss Naturally Lazy /Love Is 

the Reason 
7748 Copper Colored Gal/ 

Wedding of Swing 
7756 Frisco Flo/Hi-de-Ho 

Miracle Man 

Melotone 

12488 Swanee Lullaby/How Come 
You Do Me 

12489 Dinah/I'm Now Prepared to 
Tell the World 

12554 Beale St. Mama/Strange As 

It Seems 
12583 Hot Water/Eadie Was a 

Lady 

Perfect 

15366 Sweet Jennie Lee 

15412 Reefer Man/You Gotta 

Hi-de-Ho 

15442 Dixie Vagabond/So Sweet 
15457 Mood Indigo/Farewell Blues 



MORTON, Henry Sterling (Benny). Trombone. Received i 
point: Miller. Born 1907, New York City, where he attended school 
and there began his musical studies. Worked with local bands, includ- 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 201 

ing that of Billy Fowler (1924-30), then joined Fletcher Henderson 
(1931-32), Don Redman (1932-39), Count Basie (1939-40), Joe 
Sullivan (1941), Teddy Wilson (1940-43). Recorded with his own 
studio combination, Redman, Henderson, Benny Carter. Solos: 7 
Got Rhythm, Nagasaki (Redman) ; Sugar Foot Stomp, ]ust Blues 
(Henderson) . 

NANCE, Raymond (Ray). Trumpet, violin. Received 3 points: 
Rosenkrantz, Ulanov. Born Dec. 10, 1913, Chicago, 111., where he 
attended high school and began his study of music under private 
teachers and on his own. Formed his own band in 1932, but gained 
most of his professional experience as a night club entertainer. Later 
played with Earl Hines (1938), Horace Henderson (1940), Duke 
Ellington (1940-43). Trumpet solos: Kitty on Toast (Henderson); 
Perdido, Take the A Train (Ellington). Violin solos: Moon Mist 
(Ellington). Vocalisms: Eli-Blip (Ellington). 

NICHOLS, Ernest Loring (Red). Trumpet. Received i point: 
Miller. Born May 8, 1905, Ogden, Utah, where he attended school. 
Began study of music at age 4, under the guidance of his father, 
who was a professor of music at Weber College. Attended Culver 
Military Academy in Indiana for a brief period, but left to join 
Johnny Johnson's band, which went to New York to play the 
Pelham Heath Inn (1923). Johnson later went to Florida, and Nichols 
took over the band, which formed the basis for some of his later 
recording groups. By the spring of 1924 he was leading his own 
recording groups and entered upon an extensive five-year period of 
record making, under many pseudonyms, for twenty different labels. 
Among these recording groups were the Redheads, Five Pennies, 
Red and MifF s Stompers, Arkansas Travelers, Charleston Chasers, 
Louisiana Rhythm Kings. Simultaneously with his activities in re 
cording groups, he played off and on with the California Ramblers, 
Vincent Lopez, San Lanin, Ross Gorman and Paul Whiteman. Be 
ginning in 1927, also simultaneously with his recording activity, he 
conducted the pit band for Broadway musical shows such as Earl 
Carroll's Vanities, Rain or Shine, Strike up the Band (1929), Girl 
Crazy (1930-31). During part of this period, he also held a contract 
at CBS and did both sustaining and commercial shows over that 



202 Esquire's Jazz Book 

network. He then formed his own full-sized dance band and played 
in New York's Hollywood Restaurant (193 1-32) and Park Central 
Hotel (1932-33). After touring with the band (1933-35) he con - 
ducted bands of from 1 8 to 36 men for radio commercials such as 
the Kellogg program with Ruth Etting and James Melton, and the 
Atlantic Refining program with Frank Parker and Bob Hope (it was 
Hope's first radio show). Since then he has been touring with his 
own band. Solos: Riverbo&t Slwffle, ?anama, Eccentric, Eoneyard 
Shuffle, Hurricane, Honolulu 'Blues, Oh Peter, Margie (Five Pennies) . 
During his recording and musical show days, many now famous 
instrumentalists and bandleaders worked under Nichols' direction. 
Among these were Gene Krupa, Dave Tough, Ray Bauduc (drum 
mers); Eddie Lang, Carl Kress, Dick McDonough, Eddie Condon 
(guitarists) ; Adrian Rollini, Joe Tarto (bassists) ; Joe Sullivan, Jack 
Russin, Arthur Schutt, Billy Maxted (pianists); Benny Goodman, 
Artie Shaw, Jimmy Dorsey, Pete Pumiglio, Pee Wee Russell, Joe 
Allard, Fud Livingston (clarinetists); Arnold Brilhart, Alfie Evans 
(alto saxophonists); Babe Rusin, Bud Freeman, Ray Kamer, Paul 
Ricci (tenor saxophonists) ; Miff Mole, Charlie Butterfield, Jack Tea- 
garden, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller (trombonists) ; Manny Klein, 
Charlie Teagarden, Ruby Weinstein (trumpeters). 

NOONE, Jimmie, Clarinet. Received i point: Campbell Born 
Apr. 23, 1895, oa a farm near New Orleans. Began the study of his 
instrument at age of 15, on his own and with Sidney Bechet and the 
Tio Brothers. Soon was playing with Kid Ory and Armand Piron 
(1917-18). Migrated to Chicago and worked with King Oliver 
(1918-19), Freddie Keppard (1919-21), Doc Cook's Dreamland 
Orchestra (1922-27). Organized his own small combination and went 
into the Apex Club (1927-29) and has since been playing night 
spotsmainly in Chicago. Solos: My Daddy Rocks Me (both Cook 
and own band)^ Monday Date, 1 Know That You Know, The Blues 
Jumped a Rabbity Sweet Lorraine (own band). 



NORVO, Kenneth (Red). Xylophone, marimba. Received 15 
points: Avakian, Goffin, Hammond, Miller, Moon, Rosenkrantz, 
Stacy, Thiele, Ulanov. Born about 1905, Beardstown, 111., where he 
attended school. First musical interest was the piano, but he switched 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 203 

to xylophone during high school Migrated to Chicago, where he 
played with Paul Ash (1926), then worked at KSTP (Minneapolis) 
and WGN (Chicago), after which he joined Paul Whiteman (1928- 
34), organized his own band (1935-43). Xylophone solos: Smoke 
Dreams, Knockirf on Wood, Blues in E Flat, Hole in the Wall 
(Norvo); Just a Mood (Teddy Wilson Quartet). Marimba solos: 
Dance of the Octopus^ In a Mist (Norvo) . 



DISCOGRAPHY 



With His Own Quartet (10): 
Brunswick 
6562 Hole in the Wall/Knockin' 

on Wood 

6906 Dance of the Octopus/In a 
Mist 



With Mildred Bailey (i) con 

tinued 
3057 Someday Sweetheart/When 

Day is Done 
3508 Never in Million Years/Lull 

in My Life 
3553 Rockin' Chair/Little Joe 



With His Own Sextet & Octet (f): Witb Qewn Band ( 2 _ 2 ) : 

Columbia Brunswick 

2977 I Surrender Dear/Tomboy 



3026 Night Is Blue/With All My 

Heart & Soul 
3059 Old Fashioned Love/ 

Honeysuckle Rose 
3079 Blues in E Flat/Bughouse 

(Co 36158) 

With Teddy Wilson Quartet (5): 
Brunswick 

7964 Honeysuckle Rose/Ain't 
Misbehavin' 

7973 J ust a Mood (two parts) 

With Mildred Bailey (i): 

Vocation 

3056 I'd Love to Take Orders/ 
Rather Listen to Your Eyes 



7732 Picture Me Without You/ 

Begins & Ends with You 
7744 I Know That You Know/ 

Porter's Love Song 
7761 Can Happen to You/When 

Is a Kiss Not a Kiss 
7767 Now That Summer Is Gone 

/Peter Piper 
7813 Slummm' on Park Av./Fve 

Got My Love 
78-15 Smoke Dreams/A Thousand 

Dreams of You 
7868 Liza/Anything for You 
7896 Jivin' the Jeep/Remember 
7928 Everyone's Wrong But Me/ 

Posin' 
7932 The Morning After/Do You 

Ever Think of Me 
7970 Tears in My Heart/Worried 

over You 



204 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Own Band (i -2) -continued 
7975 Russian Lullaby/Clap Hands 
Here Comes Charlie 

8068 Love Is Here to Stay/Doing 
All Right 

8069 It's Wonderful/Always & 
Always 

8085 Serenade to the Stars/More 
Than Ever 

8088 Please Be Kind/Week End 
of a Private Secretary 

8089 There's a Boy in Harlem/ 
How Can You Forget 

8103 Tea Time/Jeannine 

8135 Says My Heart/You Leave 

Me Breathless 

8145 Savin' Myself for You 
8175 After Dinner Speech/ 

Cigaret & Silhouette 
8182 Sunny Side of Things/Put 

Your Heart in Song 
8194 Wigwammin'/How Can I 

Thank You 
8202 Jump Jump Here/Garden 

of the Moon 

Bluebird 

6343 Touch of Your Lips/Hope 
Gabriel Likes Music 

6344 You Never Looked So 
Beautiful/You 

6345 Will I Never Know/Don't 
Wanna Make History 



With Own Band (2-2) -continued 
Decca 

670 Polly Wolly Doodle/Wed 
ding of Jack & Jill 
691 Gramercy Square/Decca 

Stomp 

779 Lady Be Good/I Got 
Rhythm 

Champion 

40100 Let Yourself Go 

40101 Misty Islands of the High 
lands 

40107 What's the Name of That 
Song/You Started Me 
Dreaming 

Vocalion 
4648 Kiss Me with Your Eyes/I 

Get Along Without You 

Very WeU 
4698 Cuckoo in the Clock/We'll 

Never Know 
4738 Toadie Toddle/There'll 

Never Be Another You 
4785 Three Little Fishies/ You're 

So Desirable 
4818 Yours for a Song/I Can 

Read Between the Lines 
4833 Rehearsin' for a Nervous 

Breakdown/Blue Evening 
4953 My Love for You/In Middle 

of a Dream 
5009 Some Like It Hot/Have 

Mercy 



O'BRIEN, Floyd. Trombone, Received 2 points: Avakian, 
Tbiele. Played with numerous local Chicago bands during the late 
1920*5 and 1930*5, now with the Eddie Miller band on the West 
Coast. Has recorded with Mezz Mesirow, Eddie Condon, Fats Wai- 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 205 

ler, The Chocolate Dandies. Solos: Madame Dynamite, Tennessee 
Twilight (Condon). 

OSBORNE, Mary. Guitar. Received i point: Kay. Worked with 
the Russ Morgan band for a time, but now again free-lancing. 

PAGE, Walter Sylvester. String bass. Received 3 points: Rosen- 
krantZy Stacy. Born Feb. 10, 1900, Kansas City, Mo., where he at 
tended school. Went on to Kansas University. Headed his own band 
(1929-31), joined Bennie Moten (1932-35), Count Basic (1936-43). 
Recorded with Moten, Basie, and his own band. Solos: with his own 
band on the Commodore label. 

PAUL, Les. Guitar. Received 2 points: Miller. Born 1916, Wau~ 
kesha, Wis., where he attended high school. Began self-study of 
guitar at an early age and hasn't quit yet. Became staff artist at 
KMOX, St. Louis (1931), then to WLS, WBBM, WJJD, WIND- 
all Chicago, on all of which he worked as staff guitarist (1932-37). 
Joined Fred Waring (1938-41), after which he again returned to 
WBBM as staff artist (1941-42), radio work in California (1943). 

PETTIFORD, Oscar. String Bass. Received 6 points: Feather, 
Lim, Miller, Thiele. Born about 1920, Okmulgee, Okla. His father, 
a physician, gave up practicing medicine to form a band consisting 
of members of the family n children, all of whom were taught 
to be musicians or entertainers. When Oscar was three, the family 
moved to Minneapolis, and the boy's first appearance musically was 
as singer with this band. At the age of 10 he began piano lessons; 
he is self taught on the bass, and in 1936 appeared as bassist with 
the family band, remaining until 1941. During this time they toured 
Georgia, the Carolinas, and Alabama. Returning to Minneapolis, he 
started working with local bands, continually experimenting with 
complex bass rhythms. Here he was heard by Charlie Barnet, who 
hired him, even though it meant having two men on this instrument. 
As a result, Pettiford perfected a Concerto -for Two Basses. Worked 
with Roy Eldridge (1943). 

PHILLIPS, Joseph Edward (Flip) . Tenor saxophone. Received 
i point: Kay. Born 1915, Brooklyn, N. Y., where he attended high 



206 Esquire's Jazz Book 

school. During those school days he launched his musical efforts with 
the alto sax, which he played in local bands. With his own trio he 
worked an engagement at Schneider's Lobster House, Brooklyn 
(1934-39), then joined Frankie Newton (1940-41), Larry Bennett 
(1941-43). 

POWELL, Mel. Piano. Received 2 points: Feather. Born Feb. 12, 
1923, New York City, where he attended high school, graduating at 
age 14. Began playing piano during pre-grammar school days, studied 
in school, and under a private teacher. Organized his own band at 
i2-The Dixieland Six-which held down a job at the Palais Royale, 
Nyack, N. Y., for six months. After graduation played with local 
bands (Singleton, Brunis, McPartland, Hackett); became acquainted 
with pianist Willie (The Lion) Smith, who gave him further in 
formal instruction. Powell joined Muggsy Spanier (1940), then 
moved to Benny Goodman (1940-42), Raymond Scott's CBS band 
(1942-43), entered armed services (1943). Solos: The Earl, Tuesday 
at Ten, Caprice Paganini XXIV, Pound Ridge (Goodman). 

POWELL, Specs. Drums. Received 2 points: Ulanov. During 
the latter part of 1943, he worked with the Raymond Scott jazz band 
at New York's CBS studios. 

PURCELL, Jack. Guitar. Received i point: Green. Currently 
with Ina Ray Hutton. 

REDMAN, Donald (Don). Alto saxophone. Received i point: 
Miller. Born July 29, 1900, Piedmont, W. Va. A child prodigy, he 
was studying trumpet at age 3, playing in a band at 6, playing and 
studying piano at 8. He was a star student at Storer College, 
where he studied all instruments, in addition to composition, har 
mony, theory, etc. Continued his concentrated studies at music 
conservatories in Boston and Detroit. First big-band engagement with 
Fletcher Henderson (1925-27), both as altoman and arranger. He 
shifted to McKinney's Cotton Pickers (1927-3 1) in the same capacity 
and was virtually leader of the band, since William McKinney was 
by that time devoting all his attention to management and business. 
Organized his own band, with Horace Henderson's assistance, and 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 207 

continued with moderate success (1931-40), at which time he dis 
banded the orchestra to devote full time to free-lance arranging. 
Now again leading his own band (1943). As an arranger he has done 
work for Paul Whiteman, Jimmy Dorsey, and most recently for 
Bobby Byrne (as a staff man). One of the four Negro bands to 
play a full-time network radio commercial, Redman's band broadcast 
for Chipso in 1932. Solos: alto saxophone: Stop Kidding, Peggy, The 
Way I Feel Today, Milenberg Joys (McKinney's) ; Chant of the 
Weed (own band on both Brunswick and Bluebird labels) ; soprano 
saxophone: Milenberg Joys, Stormy Weather, That Naughty Waltz 
(own band); baritone saxophone: Milenberg Joys (McKinney's) . 
His arranging style may be sampled by listening to almost any 
records by his own band. 

ROCHE, Mary Elizabeth (Betty). Vocal. Received i point: 
Feather. Born Jan. 9, 1920, Wilmington, Del. Attended high school 
in Atlantic City. Migrated to New York (1939) where she worked 
variously as personal maid, manicurist, part-time singer; jobbed with 
Les Young. Joined Savoy Sultans (1941-42); while singing with this 
band at White's Emporium in Chicago, Duke Ellington heard her, 
hired her a few months later when Ivie Anderson left Ellington. 
In Ellington's concert presentations of Black, Brown, and Beige she 
sings the Blues section the so-called mauve sequence. Recorded with 
Savoy Sultans. Solo: 'Ats in There. 

RUSHING, James (Jimmy). Vocal. Received 2 points: Camp 
bell, Moon. First came into prominence singing with local bands in 
Kansas City, Mo., where, about 1935, he joined the newly formed 
band of Count Basic, which was soon to come into the national lime 
light. He's still with Basie, has made scores of recordings with that 
orchestra. 

RUSSELL, Charles Ellsworth, Jr. (Pee Wee). Clarinet. Received 
2 points: Avakian. Born Mar. 27, 1906, St. Louis, Mo. First musical 
interest was violin, then piano, drums, clarinet. Attended University 
of Missouri. Picked up knowledge of jazz from Mississippi riverboats. 
Upon coming to Chicago (in the 1920^) he began to play with 
small combinations, and has played with this type of group almost 



zo8 Esquire's Jazz Book 

exclusively. During 1937-38 season he played with Bobby Hackett. 
Much of his activity has been with his own combinations. Recorded 
with his own trio, Mound City Blue Blowers, Billy Banks, Eddie 
Condon. Solos: One Hour (Mound City Blue Blowers) ; Oh Peter 
(Billy Banks) ; Tennessee Twilight (Condon). 

RUSSIN, Irving (Babe). Tenor saxophone. Received i point: 
Green. Born June 18, 1911, Pittsburgh, Pa., where he attended high 
school. Studied his instruments during high school, but mostly self- 
taught. Professionally began career with The California Ramblers 
(1926), subsequently played with Smith Ballew (1926-27), Red 
Nichols (1927-32), Russ Columbo (1933), Ben Pollack, Roger Wolfe 
Kahn, Benny Goodman, staff musician, CBS, New York (i93 6 ~3 8 )> 
Tommy Dorsey (1939-40), own band (1941), Jimmy Dorsey 
(1942), Benny Goodman (1943). Recorded with Ballew, Nichols, 
Columbo, T. Dorsey, Franklyn Marks, Larry Clinton, Johnny 
Williams. Solos: Lonesome Road, Blue Moon, Easy Does It (T. Dor 
sey); I Want to Be Happy (Nichols' Five Pennies); Where's My 
Sweetie Hiding (Williams); Merry Widow on a Spree (Marks); 
Abba Dabba (Clinton). 

SAFRANSKI, Ed. String Bass. Received 2 points: Grennard. 
With Hal Mclntyre during latter half of 1943. 

SEDRIC, Eugene (Honeybear). Tenor saxophone. Received i 
point: Avaklan. Born June 17, 1907, St. Louis, Mo. His father, a 
pianist, introduced him to music, and at the age of 16 he was already 
playing with Fate .Marable's riverboat band. Subsequently worked 
with Don Redman, Charlie Creath, Sidney Bechet, Fats Waller. Has 
recorded extensively with Waller. Now fronting own small com 
bination. 

SHAVERS, Charles James (Charlie). Trumpet. Received 3 
points: Goffin, Grennard, Moon. Born Aug. 2, 1917, New York City, 
where he attended high school. Began musical studies on the banjo. 
Took up trumpet on his own. Professionally began playing with a 
local Philadelphia band -(193 5), then played with the Blue Rhythm 
Band (1936), John Kirby (1937-43)- Recorded with Blue Rhythm 



Musicians' Bio-Disc -o graphics 209 

Band, Kirby, Charlie Barnet, Lil Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Jimmy 
Noone, Teddy Grace, Ginny Simms, Maxine Sullivan. Solos: on 
numerous Kirby records. Compositions: Undecided, Dctvm on the 
Desert, Pastel Blue, The Duke's Idea, Rehearsing for a Nervous 
Breakdown. 

SHAW, Artie. Clarinet. Received 10 points: Campbell, Green, 
Kay, Miller, Stacy. Born 1911, New York City. Evinced an early 
interest in music, studied alto saxophone, then clarinet, and was soon 
playing in local bands in the New Haven, Conn., area. Joined Austin 
Wylie in Cleveland (1930), Irving Aaronson (1931), free-lanced in 
New York radio stations (1931-34), retired from music (1935), 
organized his first string combination (1936) which was commercially 
a failure, organized full-sized band without strings (1937-39). He dis 
banded this organization, then formed a new group which included a 
regulation i6-piece jazz band plus 15 strings (1940-42). In the spring 
of 1942 he entered the Navy, organizing a band which has since been 
touring the Pacific war area (1942-43). Recorded for Brunswick, 
Vocalion, Victor. Solos: St. James Infirmary, Nocturne, Streamline, 
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Fee Fi Fo Fum, Night 
mare, Concerto -for Clarinet (own band). 

DISCOGRAPHY 

With Jack Teagarden (2): With Red Norvo (f): 

Columbia Columbia 

2913 I've Got It/Plantation 2p7? Tomboy/I Surrender Dear 

Moods 3026 The Night Is Blue 

3059 Old Fashioned Love 

With Frankie Trumbauer (1-2): 

Brunswick Whh Bunny % erigm (^ 2 ) : 
7663 S'Wonderful/Mayor of 

Alabam Vocallon 

7665 Somebody Loves Me/ Ain't 3224 Melody from the Sky/ 
Misbehavin' Little Bit Later On 

Blue Moon/Down at Uncle 3225 I Can't Get Started/Rhythm 
Bill's Saved World 



210 Esquire's Jazz Book 
With Billie Holiday (2): 

Vocation 
3278 No Regrets/Did I 

Remember 
3288 Billie's Blues/Summertime 

With Wingy Mannone 

Unissued Brunswick 

In the Slot/I'm Alone With 
out You 

Easy Like/Never Had No 

Lovin' 

With Own Band (1-3): 
Brunswick 
7688 Japanese Sandman/A Pretty 

Girl Is Like a Melody 
7698 No Regrets/I Used to Be 

Above Love 
7721 It Ain't Right/South Sea 

Island Magic 
7735 Sugar Foot Stomp/Thou 

Swell 
7741 Giving Me a Song & Dance/ 

Not Without You 
7750 One Two Button My Shoe/ 

Let's Call a Heart a Heart 
7771 Skeleton in Closet/Frost on 

the Moon 
7778 Take Another Guess/ 

Something in the Air 
7787 Love & Learn/Moon Face 
7794 You Can Tell She Comes 

from Dixie/Same Old Line 
7806 Sobbin' Blues/Cream Puff 
7827 Copenhagen/My Blue 

Heaven 
7835 No More Tears/Moonlight 

& Shadows 



With Ovm Band (1-3) continued 
7841 Was It Rain/Love Is Good 

for Anything 

7852 Streamline/Sweet Lorraine 
7895 All God's Chillun Got 

Rhythm/It Goes to Your 

Feet 
7899 Because I Love You/ All 

Alone 

7907 I Surrender Dear/Blue Skies 
7914 Someday Sweetheart/Night 

& Day 
7934 Afraid to Dream/ If You 

Ever Should Leave 
7936 Sweet Adeline/How Dry I 

Am 
7942 Am I in Love/Pardon Us 

We're in Love 
7947 The Blues (two parts) 
7952 Chant/Fee Fi Fo Fum 
7965 Nightmare/It's a Long Long 

Way to Tipperary 
7971 Strange New Rhythm in 

My Heart/If It's the Last 

Thing I Do 
7976 Free Wheeling/Shoot the 

Likker to Me John Boy 
7986 Strange Loneliness/Let 'Er 

Go 

With Own Band (retail): 
Bluebird 
7746 Begin the Beguine/Indian 

Love Call 
7759 Any Old Time/Back Bay 

Shuffle 
7772 Comin' on/Can't Believe 

That You're in Love 
7875 Nightmare/Non Stop Flight 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 211 



With Own Band (retail) con 
tinued 

7889 I Have Eyes/Sweet Little 
Headache 

i ooo i Yesterdays/What Is This 
Thing Called Love 

10046 Deep in a Dream/Day After 
Day 

10054 Copenhagen/Softly as in a 
Morning Sunrise 

10055 Between Kiss & Sigh/Thanks 
for Everything 

10075 A Room with a Vie \v /They 

Say 
10079 Say It with a Kiss/It Took a 

Million Years 
10091 Jungle Drums/It Had to Be 

You 

10124 Carioca/Bill 

10125 Donkey Serenade/My Heart 
Stood Still 

10126 Lover Come Back to Me/ 
Rosalie 

10127 Supper Time/Ziegeuner 

10128 The Man I Love/Vilia 
10134 Delightful Delirium/Want 

My Share of Love 
10141 This Is It/It's All Yours 
10148 Rose Room/ Alone Together 
10178 Pastel Blue/Deep Purple 
10188 Prosschai/The Honorable 

Mr. So & So 
10195 As Years Go By /If You 

Ever Change Your Mind 
10202 One Night Stand/One Foot 

in the Groove 
10215 Snug as a Bug in a Rug/ 

You're So Indifferent 
10307 When Winter Comes/I 

Poured My Heart Into a 

Song 



With Own Band (retail) con- 



10319 Octoroon/All I Remember 
Is You 

10320 I'm Coming Virginia/Out of 
Nowhere 

10324 Comes Love/I Can't Afford 

to Dream 
10334 Melancholy Mood/Moon- 

ray 

10345 I'll Remember/Easy to Say 
10347 A Man & His Dream/Go 

Fly a Kite 
10385 Traffic Jam/Serenade to a 

Savage 
10406 Day In Day Out/Put That 

Down in Writing 
10412 Two Blind Loves/Last Two 

Weeks in July 
10430 I Surrender Dear/Lady Be 

Good 
10446 Many Dreams Ago/If What 

You Say Is True 

10468 Table in the Corner/With 
out a Dream to My Name 
10482 Love Is Here/You're a 

Lucky Guy 
10492 All the Things You Are/ 

All in Fun 
10502 Shadows/I Didn't Know 

What Time It Was 
10509 Do I Love You? /When 

Love Beckoned 

Victor 

26542 Frenesi/Adios Mariquita 
Linda 

26563 Gloomy Sunday/Don't Fall 
Asleep 

26614 My Fantasy/Mr. Meadow- 
lark 



2i2 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With O f wn Band (retail) con 
tinued 

26642 Dreaming Out Loud/Now 
We Know 

26654 April In Paris/King for a 
Day 

26760 Old Castle in Scotland/If 
It's You 

26790 Love of My Life/A Hand 
ful of Stars 

27230 Star Dust/Temptation 

27256 Whispers in Night/You 
Forgot about Me 

27315 Beau Night in Hotchkiss 
Corners/Calypso 

27335 Dancing in the Dark 

27343 Pyramid/This Is Romance 

27354 Chantez Les Bas/Danza 
Lucumi 

27362 I Cover the Waterfront/ 
Marinela 

27385 Alone Together/Who's 
Excited 

27405 Moonglow 

27411 The Blues (two parts) 

27432 Prelude in C Major/What 
Is There to Say 

27499 Georgia on My Mind/Why 
Shouldn't I 

27509 Love Me a Little/Don't 
Take Your Love 

27536 It Had to Be You/If I Had 
You 



With Own Band (retail) con 
tinued 
27609 Blues in the Night/The 

Dream's on Me 
27641 Is It Taboo/Beyond the Blue 

Horizon 
27664 Rockin' Chair/If I Love 

Again 
27703 Nocturne/Through the 

Years 

27705 Solid Sam/Make Love to Me 
27719 I Ask the Stars/Take Your 

Shoes Off Baby 
27806 Sometimes I Feel Like a 

Motherless Child/Just 

Kiddin' Around 
27860 Carnival/Needlenose 
27895 St. James Infirmary (two 

parts) 
20-1526 Two in One Blues 

By His Own Gramercy Five 
(retail): 

Victor 

26762 Special Delivery Stomp/ 
Keepin' Myself 

26763 Summit Ridge Drive/Cross 
Your Heart 

27289 Dr. Livingstone I Presume/ 

When Quail Come Back 
27335 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes 
27405 My Blue Heaven 



SINGLETON, Arthur (Zutty). Drums. Received 6 points: 
Avakian, Campbell, Grennard, Moon, Smith. Born about 1902, New 
Orleans, La. Worked with Fate Marable on the riverboats during the 
early 1920*5. Migrated to Chicago, played with Charlie Elgar, local 
bands, headed his own group (1936-38) in Chicago, then in New 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 213 

York (1939-43). Recorded with Pee Wee Russell Trio, The 
Rhythmakers, Louis Armstrong. 

SMITH, Willie. Alto saxophone. Received 6 points: Goffin, 
Moon, Stacy. Born 1908, Charleston, S. G, where he attended high 
school. Went to Fisk University, Nashville, majoring in chemistry. 
Began clarinet studies at age 10 under private teachers. Started alto 
studies in college, but mostly self-taught. Played in school band. 
Entered professional career with Jimmie Lunceford (1930-41); then 
joined Charlie Spivak (1942). Now in armed services. Alto solos: 
/'// See You in My Dreams, Avalon, Uptown Blues, Sivingiri* Up 
town. Clarinet solos: Sophisticated Lady, Put on Your Old Gray 
Bonnet (Lunceford). 



SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 



With ]immie Lunceford (retail-i): With Jimmie Lunceford (retail) 

~ continued 
Decca 

_ . , _ . 980 Harlem Shout/Can't Escape 

503 Runnm' Wild/ 4 or 5 Times from 



628 Charmaine/Oh Boy (De I2Ip Muddy Water/Ho nest & 

4 2 5) Truly 

639 Rhapsody Junior/Bird of I229 Cout Me Out/Linger 

Paradise Awhile 

668 Swanee River/Avalon I340 Coquette/For Dancers Only 

908 Sleepy Time Gal/Organ I5 6 9 Annie Laurie/Frisco Fog 

Grinder's Swing !6i 7 Margie/Like a Ship at Sea 

960 Tain't Good/Living Day to 1659 Pigeon Walk/Laughing Up 

Day My Sleeve 

SOUTH, Eddie. Violin. Received 3 points: Campbell, Heather. 
Born Nov., 1904, Louisiana, Mo. Attended school in Chicago, began 
study of violin at age 10, and continued under private teachers, one 
of whom was Charlie Elgar, and also at the Chicago College of Music. 
He likewise studied in Budapest and Paris. Played locally, then joined 
Charlie Elgar (1922), Jimmie Wade (1921-26), Erskine Tate (1927), 
after which he formed his own small combination which toured 
Europe (1927-31 and again 1937-38) in addition to playing through 
out this country (1938-43). Recorded with band for Victor, an 
album of solos for Columbia. 



214 Esquire's Jazz Book 

SPANIER, Francis (Muggsy). Trumpet. Received i points: 
Avakian. Born Nov. 9, 1906, Chicago, 111., where he attended high 
school. Studied instrument under private teachers and at school. 
Began career with Sig Meyers (1922-24), played with other local 
bands including Floyd Towne (1925-26), later joined Joe Kayser 
(1926), Ray Miller (1927-28), Ted Lewis (1928-35), Ben Pollack 
(1936-38), after which he retired from music because of illness, until 
April, 1939, when he reappeared as leader of his own small group 
which later expanded to a full-size orchestra (1940-42). Recorded 
with Miller, Pollack, Lewis, Charlie Pierce, Chicago Rhythm Kings, 
the Bucktown Five, Mound City Blue Blowers, Dorsey Brothers, and 
more recently, with his own small combination on the Bluebird label. 

STACY, Jess Alexandria. Piano. Received 4 points: Green, Gren- 
nard, Thiele. Born Aug. 4, 1904, Cape Girardeau, Mo., where he 
attended school and began his piano studies. Professional career 
launched on the Mississippi riverboats (1925). Subsequently played 
with Joe Kayser, Art Kassel, Louis Panico, Earl Burtnett, Eddie 
Niebauer, Floyd Towne all in Chicago (1926-34), Benny Goodman 
(1935-39), Bob Crosby (1939-42), Benny Goodman (1942-43). 
Recorded with Goodman, Crosby, Ziggie Elman, Lee Wiley, Lionel 
Hampton, Bud Freeman, Eddie Condon. Solos: Roll 'Em (Good 
man) Stomp (Hampton) ; individually on the Commodore and Eng 
lish Parlophone labels. 

STEWART, Leroy (Slam). String Bass. Received 3 points: 
Feather, Goffin. Born Sept. 21, 1914, Englewood, N. J. His first 
musical instrument was the violin at age six which he studied for 
two years. It was not until 1934 that he became interested in the bass; 
first played that instrument in a local Newark, N. J., band. Attended 
Boston Conservatory of Music for a year, worked with local Boston 
bands two more years. Joined Peanuts Holland in Buffalo (1938), 
formed team of Slim & Slain with Slim Gaillard (intermittently, 1938- 
42), joined Art Tatum Trio (1943), free-lanced in Hollywood 
(1942) included recordings and movies. Recorded with Slim & Slam; 
co-composer of Flat Foot Floogie. 

SULLIVAN, Joe. Piano. Received 3 points: Avakian, Smith. Born 
1908, Chicago, 111., where he attended high school Began musical 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 215 

studies at an early age. Attended Chicago Conservatory of Music. 
Played with local bands including those of Sig Meyers and Louis 
Panico (1925-28). Worked as pianist at WBBM, KYW, WENR, 
Chicago. Migrated to New York, playing with numerous bands in 
cluding those of Dorsey Brothers, Benny Goodman, Ozzie Nelson, 
Roger Wolfe Kahn, Russ Columbo, Bob Crosby. Has headed his 
own band and engaged in solo work off and on from 1939 to 1943. 
Solos: two sides for the Columbia label; China Boy (Red Nichols 
and McKenzie & Condon's Chicagoans); Oh Peter (Rhythrnakers). 

TATUM, Art. Piano. Received 17 points: Campbell^ Feather, 
Goffin, Green, Kay, Lim, Moon, Rosenkrantz, Stacy, Ulanov. Born 
about 1912, Toledo, Ohio. Started playing violin at 13, later giving 
it up in favor of the piano. Studied for about five years in Toledo 
before going to work. Appeared in local amateur radio show, and his 
first professional job was with this station (WSPD), where he re 
mained three years, doubling in Toledo nightspots. As accompanist 
for Adelaide Hall he went to New York (1932), returning to Toledo, 
thence to Chicago (Three Deuces, 1937). Toured Europe (1938), 
and since his return has been featured as soloist in nightspots in 
Hollywood, Chicago, New York. Solos: for Brunswick and Decca. 

DISCOGRAPHY 

Piano Solos (2-3): Piano Solos (retail) continued 

Brunswick '373 Anything for You/Liza 

6543 St. Louis Blues/Tiger Rag l6 3 Stormy Weather/Gone 



6553 Tea for Two/Sophisticated *e 

2052 The Sheik/Chloe 



2456 Tea for Two/Deep Purple 
Piano Solos (retail): 18049 Elegie/Humoresque 

18050 Sweet Lorraine/Get Happy 
Decca . 18051 Tiger Rag/Lullaby of the 

155 Moonglow/Emaline Leaves 

156 Cocktails for Two/Love Me 

306 Star Dust/Beautiful Love /j; 

468 The Shout/ After You've v 

Gone Decca 

741 I Ain't Got Nobody/When 1197 Body & Soul/What Will I 

Woman Loves a Man Tell My Heart 



216 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With His Own Band (retail) con- With His Own 'Band (retail) con 
tinued tinned 

1198 Plenty of Money & You/ 8577 Rock Me Mama/Lucille 
I've Got My Love 

85,6 Battery Bounce/Wee Baby ^ ^^ ^^ ^^ 
Blues 

8536 Stompin' at the Savoy/Last Commodore 

Goodbye Blues 547 Esquire Bounce/Esquire 

8563 Corrine Corrina/Lonesome Blues 

Graveyard 548 Mop Mop/My Ideal 

TAYLOR, William (Billy). String bass. Received 2 points: 
Goffin, Hammond. Born April 3, 1906, Washington, D. C. Began 
his professional career with Elmer Snowden, later playing with Mc- 
Kinney's Cotton Pickers, Fats Waller, Chick Webb, Fletcher Hen 
derson, Don Redman, Duke Ellington (1934-39). Recorded with all 
except Snowden. 

TEAGARDEN, Welden John (Jack). Trombone, Vocalist. Re 
ceived 13 points as trombonist: Feather, Goffin, Green, Hammond, 
Kay, Moon, Smith, Thiele, Ulanov; 3 points as vocalist: Avakian, 
Smith, Thiele. Born Aug. 20, 1905, Vernon, Tex. Evinced interest in 
the piano at age 5, but by 7 found his real love in the trombone, 
which he picked up mostly on his own. Attended high school in 
Chapel, Neb., but quit at the end of his second year to work with his 
father in the cotton gin business. After working as a garage mechanic 
in Oklahoma City, he went to San Angelo, Tex,, to take a job run 
ning a motion picture projection machine. It was here that he began 
to "sit in" with local bands, soon accepted an oifer to play at San 
Antonio's Horn Palace (1920-21), then joined Peck's Bad Boys 
(pianist Peck Kelley's group) in Houston (1921-22) both Pee Wee 
Russell and Leon Rappolo played clarinet in the band, each during 
part of the period. In Kansas City he played with Willard Robison 
(1922-23), then went to Wichita Falls, Kans., where he took over a 
local band and played in that vicinity (1923-25). Joined Doc Ross 
(1925-25), became acquainted with Wingy Mannone, who also 
played in the band. Jack migrated to New York (1927) and was 
soon recording with Red Nichols, Willard Robison, Roger Wolfe 
Kahn, Sam Lanin. Accepted an offer from Ben Pollack (1928-32), 



Musicians' Bio-Disco graphics 217 

did a stint at the Chicago World's Fair with a pick-up band (1933), 
returned to New York for more free-lancing, including a date with 
Mai Hallett. Joined Paul Whiteman (1935-39), after which he 
formed his own band (1940-43). Recorded with his own band, 
Whiteman, Nichols, Pollack, Robison, Lanin, Kahn, The Charleston 
Chasers, Venuti-Lang All Stars, Frankie Trumbauer, Benny Good 
man, Mound City Blue Blowers, Adrian Rollini, and numerous pick 
up bands comprised of contingents of the Pollack band. Solos: The 
Blues (own band on the Varsity label); The Sheik,, After You've 
'Gone, China Boy (Nichols 3 Five Pennies); Tails-pin 'Blues (Blue 
Blowers) ; Beale St. Blues, Someday Sweetheart (All Stars) ; Jtiuerboat 
Shuffle (Rollini). 



DISCOGRAPHY 



With Roger Wolfe Kcthn (ij: 

Victor 

21326 She's a Great Girl 

With Ben Pollack (1-2): 

Victor 

21743 Buy Buy for Baby/She's 
One Sweet Showgirl 

21827 Sentimental Baby 

21858 Futuristic Rhythm 

21944 My Kinda Love/On with 
the -Dance 

2 2 10 1 Sweetheart We Need Each 
Other 

22106 Where Forget-Me-Nots Re 
member 

22147 Song of the Blues 

22158 From Now On 

22267 Keep Your Undershirt On 

24284 Two Tickets to Georgia/ 
Linger a Little Longer 

Perfect 

15325 If I Could Be with You 

(CMS io3)/Wah Wah Girl 



With Ben Pollack (1-2) con 
tinued 
Oriole 

2193 Sing Song Girl 
2208 You Didn't Have to Tell 

Me (CMS 103) 
2214 I'm a Ding Dong Daddy 

Regal 

10057 Rollin' Down the River 

With Louisville Rhythm Kings 

(*) 
Okeh 

41189 In a Great Big Way/Let's 
Sit Down & Talk 

With Sen's Bad Boys (2): 
Victor 

21971 Wang Wang Blues/Yellow 
Dog Blues 

With Slim & Hot Shots (i): 
Victor 

38044 That's a Plenty/Mississippi 
Stomp 



218 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With the Kentucky Grasshoppers 
(1-2): 

Banner 
6295 Tight Like That/4 or 5 

Times 

6355 Shirt Tail Stomp/Tiger Rag 
6358 Sweet Liza 
6360 Makin' Friends (Co 36010) 

With Lou Conner's Collegians 

(*-*): 
Oriole 
1483 Tight Like That/4 or 5 

Times 
1537 Makin' Friends 

With Jitmny Bracken & Toe 
Ticklers (1-2): 

Domino 
4274 Shirt Tail Stomp/Tight 

Like That 
4322 Tiger Rag/Makin' Friends 

Regal 
8723 Tight Like That/4 or 5 

Times 

8768 Makin' Friends/Tiger Rag 
8813 Twelfth St. Rag 

With the Ten freshmen (i): 

Pathe 

37054 Bag o' Blues/Freshman Hop 

With Jack Pettis (5-8): 
Okeh 

41410 Bag o' Blues 

41411 Freshman Hop/Sweetest 
Melody 



With Goody <b Good Timers (2): 

Perfect 

15083 Diga Diga Do 

15105 Now I'm in Love 

With Ted White's Collegians (i): 

Oriole 
1544 Shirt Tail Stomp 

With the University Boys (i): 

Oriole 
1668 Twelfth St. Rag 

With Gil Rodirfs Boys (i): 
Regal 

8813 It's So Good/Twelfth St. 
Rag 

With New Orleans Ramblers (2): 

Melotone 

12130 That's the Kind of Man for 

Me 
12133 I'm One of God's Chilian 

With the Ten Blackberries (1-4): 

Romeo 

976 Dirty Dog/Sorority Stomp 
1453 Tiger Rag/Twelfth St. Rag 

With Jimmy McHugh's Bostonians 

(0: 
Harmony 

763 I Don't Care 

795 Baby 

823 In a Great Big Way 

836 Whoopee Stomp/Futuristic 
Rhythm 

Velvetone 
1795 Baby 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 219 
With the Varsity Eight (2): With the Lumberjacks (2): 



Cameo 
9098 Sorority Stomp 

With the Caroliners (i): 
Cameo 
9042 Hungry for Love 

With Mills Merry Makers (2): 

Harmony 

1099 When You're Smiling 
1104 St. James Infirmary 

With Mills Musical Chums (i): 

Pathe 

36944 Futuristic Rhythm Where 

Blue Begins 
36955 Sweetest Melody 

With the Dixie Jazz Band (i): 
Oriole 

1515 St. Louis Blues/Icky Blues 

1537 Makin' Friends 

1624 Twelth St. Rag 

1663 Moanin' Low 

1668 It's So Good 

With the Dixie Daisies (2): 

Romeo 

839 Bugle CaU Rag 

Cameo 

9035 St. Louis Blues/Bugle Call 
Rag 



Cameo 
9030 Whoopee Stomp 

With the Broadway Broadcasters 

(i): 
Cameo 

955 Deep Henderson 
1149 St. Louis Blues 
9023 She's Funny That Way 
9057 If I Had You 

With the Cotton Pickers (1-2): 
Cameo 

9048 Railroad Man 

9207 Hot Heels/Some of These 
Days 

With the Whoopee Makers (2-8): 
Oriole 

2528 I'm So in Love 
Perfect 
15126 St. Louis Blues/Bugle Call 

Rag 
15194 Tiger Rag/Some of These 

Days 

15217 It's So Good 
15223 Sorority Stomp/Dirty Dog 

With the Hotsy Totsy Gang (i): 

Brunswick 

4122 Since You Went Away 
41 12 I Couldn't If I Wanted To 
4200 Futuristic Rhythm/Out 
Where Blue Begins 



9004 Diga Diga Do/Cause I'm in 4983 Deep Harlem/Strut Miss 
Love Lizzie 



220 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With the Charleston Chasers ($): 
Columbia 

2415 Beale St. Blues/Basin St. 
Blues 

With Jack Wynn & Dallas Dandies 

(8): 

Vocation 
15860 St. Louis Blues/Loved One 

With Red Nichols (1-8): 
Brunswick 

4363 Chinatown/On the Alamo 
4373 Dinah/Indiana (Br 80006) 
4456 Alice Blue Gown/Pretty 

Girl Like Melody 
4500 I May Be Wrong/The New 

Yorkers 
4651 They Didn't Believe Me/ 

Say It with Music 
4695 Strike Up the Band/Soon 
4724 I Want to Be Happy/Tea 

for Two (Br 80007) 
4778 Who Cares/Rose of Wash 
ington Square 

4790 Nobody Knows/Smiles 
4839 After You've Gone/Just 

Wild About Harry 
4885 The Shiek/Shimine-Sha- 

Wabble (Br 80005) 
4877 China Boy/Peg o' My Heart 

(Br 80004) 
4925 Who/Carolina in the 

Morning 
4944 By the Shalimar/Sweet 

Georgia Brown 
4957 I Got Rhythm/Embraceable 

You 
4982 Linda/Yours & Mine 



With Red Nichols (1-8) con 
tinued 

6014 Blue Again/When Ken 
tucky Bids Good Night 

6026 On Revival Day 

6029 Sweet & Hot/You Said It 

6035 The Peanut Vendor/Sweet 
Rosita 

6068 Keep Song in Your Soul/ 
Things I Never Knew 

6070 Teardrops & Kisses/Were 
You Sincere 

6118 Love Is Like That/Don't 
Know What You're Doin' 

20091 Some of these Days/See You 
in My Dreams 

20092 Had to Be You/Sally Won't 
You Come Back 

Victor 

23026 I'm Tickled Pink/That's 

Where South Begins 
23033 If You Haven't Got Girl/ 

At Last I'm Happy 



With the Louisiana Rhythm Kings 
(2-8): 

Brunswick 

4938 Tell Me/Pretty Baby 
4953 Sweet Sue/Squeeze Me 

Vocalion 

15828 Basin St. Blues/Last Cent 

With Mound City Blue Blowers 

(4): 
Victor 

38087 Tailspin Blues/Never Haa 
Reason (Blu 10209) 



Musicians' Bio-Disco graphics 221 



With Eddie Condon (4-7): 
Victor 

38046 I'm Gonna Stomp/That 
Serious Thing (Blu 10168) 

Okeh 



With Benny Goodman (1-3) 

continued 
1 2 100 Mine Yesterday/99 out of 

100 
12120 Can We Live on Love/ 

When Lover Has Gone 



41142 Makin' Friends/Sorry Made I2I3 g I Wanna Be Around My 



You Cry (UHCA 27-28) 

With Louis Armstrong (15): 
Okeh 
8703 Knockin' a Jug (Co 35663) 



With Fats Waller (3): 

Victor 

38086 Lookin' Good Feelin' Bad/ Columbia 

Need Someone Like You 
38119 Ridin' But Walkin' 



Baby/What Have You Got 

to Do 
12149 Little Joe/It Looks Like 

Love 
12205 Slow But Sure/Can't Stop 

Me from Lovin' You 
12208 Pardon Me Pretty Baby/ 

What Am I Gonna Do 



With Hoagy Carmchael (3-5): 
Victor 

22864 Bessie Couldn't Help It 
23013 Georgia on My Mind/One 
Night in Havana 

With Venuti-Lang All Stars (10): 

Vocalion 

15858 Farewell Blues/Someday 

Sweetheart (UHCA 105-06) 
15864 After You've Gone/Beale St. 

Blues (UHCA 107-08) 

With Benny Goodman (1-3): 
Melotone 

12023 He ' s Not Worth Your 
Tears/Your Lips Met Mine 

12024 Overnight/Linda 

12079 Falling in Love Again/If 
Haven't Got Girl 



2835 Aintcha Glad/Gotta Right 

to Sing Blues 
2845 Texas Tea Party/Dr. 

Heckle & Mr. Jibe 
2856 Tappin' the Barrel/Mother's 

Son-in-Law 
2867 Riffin' the Scotch/Keep on 

Doin' 
2871 Love Me or Leave Me/ 

Why Couldn't It Be 
2923 I Ain't Lazy/As Long as I 

Live 
2927 Breakfast Ball/Moonglow 

Victor 

25021 You're a Heavenly Thing/ 
Restless 

Ace. for Bessie Smith 
Okeh (5) 

8946 Do Your Duty/I'm Down 

in the Dumps 

8949 Gimme a Pigfoot/Take Me 
for Buggy Ride 



222 Esquires Jazz Book 

With Paul Whiteman (retail): 

Victor 

24571 Fare Thee Well to Harlem 

24615 Christmas Night in Harlem 

24668 Tailspin/G Blues 

24704 Pardon My Southern Accent 

/Here Come British 
24885 Itchola 
25086 Ain't Misbehavin'/Doging 

Divorcee 
25113 The Duke Insists/Garden 

of Weed 

25150 New Orleans/Sugar Plum 
25192 Farewell Blues/Darktown 

Strutters Ball 
25319 Nobody's Sweetheart/Stop 

Look Listen 

25404 Announcer's Blues 
25552 Shall We Dance/For You 
Decca 

2073 Peelin' Peach/Used to Be 
Color Blind 

2074 Jamboree Jones/Sing Song 
of Sixpence 

2145 Aunt Hagar's Blues/I'm 
Coming Virginia 



With Own Band (retail): 

Columbia 

35206 Aunt Hagar's Blues/I Swung 
the Election 

35215 Hundred to One/I'll Re 
member 

35224 I'm Takin' My Time/ 
Wanna Hat with Cherries 

35233 Two Blind Loves/Hawaii 
Sang Me to Sleep 

35245 Stop Kidding My Heart/ 
You Could Say HeUo 



With Own Band (retail) con 
tinued 

35252 So Many Times/Table in 
the Corner 

35297 Wolverine Blues/Muddy 
River Blues 

35323 Beale St. Blues/Swingin' on 
Teagarden Gate 

35450 Redwing/Somewhere a 
Voice Is Calling 

Commodore 
505 Diane 
Hot Record Society 

2006 St. James Infirmary/Shine 

2007 Big Eight Blues/The World 
Is Waiting for the Sunrise 

With Own Band (2-2): 
Brunswick 

8370 The Shiek/Persian Rug 
8373 If It's Good/Class Will Tell 
8378 That's Right/Cinderella 

Stay in My Arms 
8388 Octoroon/White Sails 
8397 Gotta Right to Sing the 
Blues/Yankee Doodle 
Doodle 

8401 Pickin' for Patsy /Undertow 
8431 You're the Moment/Espe 
cially for You 
8435 You Know/Little Man Who 

Wasn't There 

8454 Blues on the Dole/Puttin' & 
Takin' 

Varsity 
8196 Moon & Willow Tree/You 

You Darlin' 
8202 For Sale/Wham 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 223 

With Own Band (1-2) continued Ace. for Ramona (retail): 
8209 Melancholy Baby/If I Could Victor 

25138 Every Now & Then/No 

Strings 
25156 Barrelhouse Music/I Can't 



Be with You 
8218 The Blues 
8273 Fatima's Drummer Boy/I 

Hear Bluebirds 
8278 Devil May Care/Night on 

Shalimar 

With O f um Band (2-10): 
Crown 
3017 Beale St. Blues 

3045 99 out of 100 

3046 Hello Beautiful 

3051 Loveless Love/Rockin' 

Chair 
Columbia 
2558 You Rascal You/ What I 

Like 
2802 Shake Your Hips/Stole 

Gabriel's Horn 
2902 Plantation Moods/I've Got 

It 

Brunswick 
6716 Hundred Years from Today 

/I Just Couldn't Take It 
6741 Blue River/Love Me 
6780 OF Pappy/Fare Thee Well 
6993 Stars Fell on Alabama/Your 

Guess Is as Good as Mine 
7652 Junk Man 
Perfect 
15361 Simply Delish 

With O f um Band (retail): 
Decca 

4071 Rhythm Hymn/Blue River 
4317 Nobody Knows the Trouble 

I've Seen/ 1 oo Years 
4409 Prelude to Blues/Blues Have 
Got Me 



Give You Anything But 
Love 

Ace. -for Johnny Mercer (retail): 
Decca 

142 Bathtub Ran Over/Lord I 
Give You My Children 

Ace. -for Teddy Grace (retail): 
Decca 
2050 Crazy Blues/Love Me or 

Leave Me 

2128 Downhearted Blues/Mon 
day Morning 

With Clover dale Club Orch. (i): 
Okeh 
Chances Are 

With Wingy Mannone (i): 
Vocalion 

3070 You Are My Lucky Star/ 
I've Got Feelin' 

3071 I've Got a Note/Every 
Now & Then 

With the Three Ts (i): 

Victor 

25273 I'se a Muggin' (two parts) 

With Eddie Condon (retail): 
Commodore 

1501 Serenade to Shylock/Em- 
braceable You 



224 Esquire's Jazz Book 

With Eddie Condon (retail) con 
tinued 

505 Meet Me Tonight in Dream 
land 



With the All Star Band (retail): 

Victor 

26144 Th e Blues/Blue Lou 

Columbia 

36499 Royal Flush/I Got Rhythm 
35389 All Star Strut/King Porter 
Stomp 

With Adrian Rollini (retail): 
Decca 

265 Sugar/Riverboat Shuffle 
359 Davenport Blues/Somebody 
Loves Me 



With Frmkie Trumbauer (2): 
Brunswick 

6763 Break It Down/Juba Dance 
6788 Long About Midnight/Ema- 

line 

6912 China Boy/Break It Down 
6997 In a Mist 
7613 I Hope Gabriel Likes My 

Music/Breakin' New Shoes 
7629 Announcer's Blues/Flight of 

a Haybag 
7663 S'Wonderful/Mayor of 

Alabam 
7665 Ain't Misbehavin'/Some- 

body Loves Me 
7687 Diga Diga Do/I'm an Old 

Cowhand 

With Bunny Berigan (1-2): 
Vocalion 

3224 Melody from the Sky/Little 
Bit Later On 

3225 I Can't Get Started/Rhythm 
Saved the World 



TOUGH, Dave. Drums. Received 6 points: Avakian, Lim, Thiele. 
Born 1907, Oak Park, 111., where he attended high school, later going 
on to Lewis Institute, intermittently over a period of three years. 
At Lewis he met the Austin High gang, joined them under their 
engagements with Husk O'Hare (1925-26). Worked at the Com 
mercial Theatre, South Chicago, with Eddie Condon (1927). Went 
to Europe with Danny Polo, played with many different jazz bands 
there (1928-3 1). Inactive in musical circles from 1932-35, after which 
he joined Tommy Dorsey (1935-37 and again 1939-40), Bunny Beri 
gan (1938), Benny Goodman (1938), Joe Marsala (1941), Artie 
Shaw (1941-42), Charlie Spivak (1942). Now with Artie Shaw's 
Navy Band. Recorded with most bands with which he has played 
since 1935. 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 225 



SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 



With Red Nichols (2-3): 
Brunswick 

4778 Who Cares/Rose Washing 
ton Square 
4790 Nobody Knows/Smiles 

With Bunny Berigan (1-2): 
Vocalion 

3224 Melody from Sky/Little Bit 
Later On 

3225 Can't Get Started/Rhythm 
Saved World 

With Tommy Dorsey (retail-i): 
Victor 

25326 Royal Garden Blues/ Ja Da 
25496 Maple Leaf Rag/ Jamboree 
25523 Marie/Song of India 
25568 Twilight in Turkey/Milk 
man's Matinee 

25570 Satan Takes Holiday/Nola 
25577 Gypsy from Poughkeepsie/ 

Alibi Baby 

25600 Rollin' Home/Humoresque 
25673 Lady Is a Tramp/Tears 



With Tommy Dorsey (retail-i) 

continued 
25750 Little White Lies/Just a 

Simple Melody 
36207 Beale St. Blues (i2"-2 

parts) 

With Artie Shaw (retail): 
Victor 

27641 Is it Taboo/Beyond the Blue 

Horizon 
27664 Rockin' Chair/If I Love 

Again 
27703 Nocturne/Through the 

Years 
27705 Solid Sam/Make Love to 

Me 
27719 I Ask the Stars/Take Your 

Shoes off Baby 
27806 Sometimes I feel Like 

Motherless Child/Just 

Kiddin' Around 
27860 Carnival/Needlenose 
27895 St. James Infirmary (two 

parts) 
20-1526 Two in One Blues 



TURNER, Joe. Vocalist. Received 7 points: Feather, Hammond, 
Lim, Rosenkrantz, Ulanov. Born in Kansas City, Mo., where he got 
his start as a singer with the orchestra of Pete Johnson in 1930. Music 
mostly self-taught. Has also sung with Joe Sullivan, The Boogie 
Woogie Trio. 

VENUTI, Guiseppe (Joe). Violin. Received 3 points: Green, 
Lim. Born Sept. i, 1904, at sea, on a ship bound for U. S. Attended 
high school in Philadelphia, and with his friend, Eddie Lang, formed 
a band in 1925. Subsequently played with Roger Wolfe Kahn, Paul 
Whiteman, after which he organized another band (early 1930'$ to 



226 Esquire's Jazz Book 

1943). Recorded with his own band, the Venuti-Lang All Stars, 
Frankie Trumbauer, The Five Pennies, and many duets with Eddie 
Lang. Solos: Someday Sweetheart, Beale St. Blues (All Stars). 

VINSON, Eddie. Vocal. Received 2 points: Feather. Born Dec., 
1917, Houston, Texas. Having a musical heritage on the paternal 
side, he first taught himself to play piano. During high school he 
obtained his first saxophone (he is an altoman as well as vocalist); 
later he studied this instrument more carefully, was hired by Milt 
Larkin. While with that band he vocalized as a "stunt" which be 
came a regular part of his musical equipment. Joined Cootie Williams 
(1942-43). 

WATERS, Ethel Vocal. Received 2 points: Grennard. Born 
Oct. 31, 1900, Chester, Pa. First appeared on the stage at 14; toured 
vaudeville what at that time was known as the "colored circuit." 
Her name and talents gradually became known to a wider public; she 
played in nightspots throughout the country. Then came her asso 
ciation with musical shows, movies; eventually the legitimate stage 
(Ma-mba's Daughters). Has introduced many songs; examples: Dinah, 
1924; Memories of You, 1928; Stormy Weather, 1933. Musicals in 
which she has appeared: Miss Calico, 1927; African^ 1928; Black 
birds, 1928; Rhapsody in Elack^ 1930; As Thousands Cheer, 1934; At 
Home Abroad^ 1935; Cabin in the Sky, 1941-42. Movies: Cairo, Tales 
of Manhattan^ On 'with the Show, Cabin in the Sky. Has recorded 
vocals for the Paramount, Brunswick, Columbia, Black Swan, Liberty, 
and Victor labels. 

WALKER, T-Bone. Vocal Received 2 points: Lim y Ulanov. 
Has been associated principally with the Milton Larkin orchestra. 

WALLER, Thomas (Fats). Piano. Received 2 points: Stacy. 
Born May 21, 1904, New York City. Died December 15, 1943, Kan 
sas City. Studied intensively both piano and organ. His family wanted 
him to become a minister, but his musical inclinations were so strong 
that he was soon playing both as soloist and with his own band in 
various New York nightspots (1921-24). His recording activities 
began as early as 1922 when he played accompaniments for Sara 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 227 

Martin, joined Erskine Tate in Chicago (1925-26), returned to New 
York for more solo work (1927-30). Became staff artist at WLW, 
Cincinnati (1931-32). Organized his own band (1933-42), solo work, 
wrote music for new musical show (1943). Recorded with his own 
band, Louisiana Sugar Babes, Thomas Morris, McKinney's Cotton 
Pickers, Fletcher Henderson, The Rhythmakers. Piano and organ 
solos for the Victor label. Compositions: Ain't Misbehaving Honey- 
suckle Rose, Alligator Crawl, Variety Stomp, Whiteman Stomp, 
Lennox Avenue Blues, Stealin' Apples, etc. 

WATSON, Leo. Vocal. Received 9 points: Goffin, Miller, Moon, 
Rosenkrantz, Stacy. During the past year, known principally for his 
scat singing with The Spirits of Rhythm. Has recorded with Gene 
Krupa, Artie Shaw. 

" WEBSTER, Ben. Tenor saxophone. Received 3 points: Gren- 
nard, Hammond, Moon. Born Mar. 27, 1909, Kansas City, Mo., 
where he attended high school, later going to Wilberforce. Studied 
violin and piano at an early age, but turned to tenor, on which he is 
mostly self-taught. Began professional career with an Enid, Okla 
homa, band with which he played piano. Subsequently played with 
Dutch Campbell (piano), Gene Coy (first alto and then switching to 
tenor in that band in 1929). In rapid succession he then played with 
Blanche Galloway, Bennie Moten, Andy Kirk, Fletcher Henderson 
(1934 and again 1937-38), Benny Carter, Willie Bryant, Cab Gallo 
way (1935-37), Stuff Smith, Roy Eldridge, Duke Ellington (Jan. 
1940-42), own small combination (1943). Recorded with both Gallo 
ways, Moten, Carter, Bryant, Henderson, Ellington, Teddy Wilson, 
Billie Holiday. Solos: Limebouse Blues, Memphis Blues (Henderson) ; 
Sweet Lorraine, Seventy-one (Wilson); Some Saturday, Linger 
Awhile (Rex Stewart) ; Conga Brava, Cotton Tail, Blue Serge, Giddy- 
bug Gallop (Ellington) . 

WEISS, Sidney (Sid). String bass. Received 2 points: Green. 
Born April 30, 1914, Schenectady, N. Y., where he attended high 
school; began music studies in school, played in school band. Played 
with local New York State bands (1932-33), migrated to New York 
City, played with Louis Prima (1934), Wingy Mannone (1934-35), 



228 Esquire's Jazz Book 

Charlie Barnet (1935), Artie Shaw (1937-39). J oe Marsala (1940), 
Tommy Dorsey (1940-41), Benny Goodman (1941-42). 

WELLS, Dickie. Trombone. Received 2 points: Grennard, Kay. 
Born June 10, 1909, Centerville, Term. Attended high school in 
Louisville, Ky. Began his studies during school days, played in a do- 
piece brass band, locally in dance bands (1926-27), joined Lloyd 
Scott (1927-32), Fletcher Henderson (1933-34)1 Teddy Hill (1935- 
38), Count Basie (1938-43). Solos: Taxi War Dance, Love Jumped 
Out (Basie). 

WETTLING, George (Rider). Drums. Received 4 points: 
Avakian, Green, Thiele. Born Nov. 28, 1906, Topeka, Kans. Attended 
high school in Topeka and Chicago. Evinced interest in music during 
this time, playing first in school band and later with local Chicago 
orchestras, including those of Jack Chapman and Eddie Niebaur. 
Studied instrument under Roy Knapp and harmony with Milton 
Mesirow. He also played with Art Jarrett, Jack Hylton, Louis Panico, 
Eddie Condon, Red McKenzie, Mezz Mesirow, Artie Shaw (1936), 
Bunny Berigan (1937), Red Norvo (193?), ? aul Whiteman (1938- 
39), Joe Marsala (1941), Chico Marx (1942). Recorded with Shaw, 
Waller, Adrian Rollini, Joe Sodja, Sharkey Bonnano, Wingy Man- 
none, Baby Rose Majie, Berigan, Dick McDonnough, Armstrong. 
Compositions: Hurrah Hannah, My Father Shot a Skunk. 

WHITE, Josh. Vocal. Received 2 points: Hammond. Known 
principally for his free-lance work in the New York area. Has re 
corded for Blue Note with his own trio, and an album of Blues for 
Decca. 

WILLIAMS, Charles Melvin (Cootie). Trumpet. Received 8 
points: Feather, Grennard, Kay, Lim, Ulanov. Born 1908, Mobile, 
Ala., where he attended high school. Interest in music originated on 
drums at age 14, but he soon changed to trumpet. Studied in school 
and played in the school band. Professional career began in Florida 
with Eagle Eye Shields* band (1925-26), then joined Alonzo Ross 
(1926-28), Chick Webb (three weeks only, 1928), Fletcher Hender 
son (1928-29), Duke Ellington (early i929-Nov., 1940), Benny 



Musicians' Bio-Discographies 229 

Goodman (1940-41), organized his own band (1942-43). Recorded 
with Ellington, Goodman, Lionel Hampton and his own studio com 
binations. Compositions: Echoes of Harlem. Solos: (on Master label) 
East St. Louis Toodle-O, Black and Tan Fantasy, (Victor) Echoes 
of Harlem, Concerto -for Cootie (Ellington) ; Buzzitf Around with 
the Bee, Ring Dem Bells (Hampton). 

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 



With Ovm Band (retails): 
Variety 

527 Blue Reverie/Downtown 

Uproar 
555 Diga Diga Do/Can't Believe 

That You're in Love 

Vocalion 

3890 Watching/I Can't Give You 

Anything But Love 
3922 Pigeons & Peppers/ Jubilesta 
3960 Echoes of Harlem/Lost in 

Meditation 
4061 Swingrime in Honolulu/ 

Carnival in Caroline 
4086 A Lesson in C/O1' Man 

River 
4324 Blues in the Evening/ 

Sharpie 
4425 Swing Pan Alley/Chasin' 

Chippies 



With Own Band (retail-i) con 
tinued 

4636 Mobile Blues/Gal- Avantin* 
4726 Boudoir Benny/ Ain't the 

Gray Good 
4754 Delta Mood/Boys from 

Harlem 

4958 Black Beauty/Night Song 
5411 She's Gone/Beautiful Ro 
mance 
5618 Black Butterfly/Blues-a- 

Poppin' 

5690 Give It Up/Dry So Long 
6336 Toasted Pickle/Top & 
Bottom 

With Duke Ellington: 

See Barney Bigard Discography. 
Most Ellington Victors, All Bruns- 
wicks and Masters there listed in 
clude Cootie Williams as one of the 
featured instrumentalists. 



WILLIAMS, Mary Lou. Piano. Received 3 points: Grennard, 
Moon. Born May 8, 1910, Pittsburgh, Pa., where she attended school. 
Began study at an early age under private teachers mainly classical, 
but developed liking for jazz under the influence of Earl Hines. 
Played the Orpheum Circuit with an act called Seymour & Jeanette 
(1925), then joined her husband's band John Williams' Syncopators 
(1926-28), Andy Kirk (1929-42), organized her own small combina 
tion (1942), solo work and arranger for Duke Ellington (1943). She 



230 Esquire's Jazz Book 

has arranged for Kirk and Benny Goodman. Compositions: Night 
Life, Drag 'Em, Roll 'Em, Camel Hop, Mellow Bit of Rhythm, 
Froggy Bottom. Solos: on the Brunswick label; Messa Stomp, 
Wednesday Night Hop (Kirk). 

WILSON, Theodore (Teddy). Piano. Received 5 points: Goffin, 
Hammond, Miller, Rosenkrantz. Born Nov. 24, 1912, Austin, Tex. 
Attended high school Tuskegee, Ala., and went on to Tulladega 
College in Alabama. Began study of music at an early age under his 
parents' guidance. Became really interested in the piano during his 
college days. Went to Detroit, playing with local bands (1929), 
joined Milton Senior in Toledo (1930-31). With this band he traveled 
to Chicago, there playing with Erskine Tate, Jimmie Noone, 
Frangois' Louisianians, Benny Carter (1933), Willie Bryant (1934- 
35), the Charioteers (1935-36), Benny Goodman (spring, 1936-39). 
Organized his own band ( 1939-43). Recorded with Louis Armstrong, 
Bryant, the Chocolate Dandies, Goodman, Bob Howard, Red Norvo 
and his own numerous studio combinations. Solos: on the Brunswick 
label; Just a Mood, Blues in C Sharp Minor (own band) ; Blues in E 
Flat (Norvo) ; The Man I Love, Body and Soul, Tiger Rag (Good 
man). 

YOUNG, Lester (Les). Tenor saxophone. Received 2 points: 
Hammond. Best known for his feature solo work with the Count 
Basic band (1937-41). During the past several years he has been free 
lancing on the West Coast, working with his brother's band, in the 
studios, etc. Solos: Every Tub, Out the Window (Basie). Rejoined 
Basie Dec., 1943. 



CZ