Interracial Jazz Recording (#40): Fletcher Henderson and Dick Robertson

We've seen white vocalist Dick Robertson a couple of times with black orchestras. Here he does his usual peppy performance with a Fletcher Henderson outfit. 

Dick Robertson

                                         

  

Fletcher Henderson

"Oh, It Looks Like Rain" is the choice tune from this recording session. It was written by Y.P Harburg, known for his collaborations with Harold Arlen and Milton Ager, composer of more confectionary tunes like this one, as well as "Ain't She Sweet" and "Happy Days Are Here Again." Coleman Hawkins often carries the heaviest solo load for Henderson, but there's nice solo work here by Russell Procope on alto, Edgar Sampson on violin, Rex Stewart on cornet and Claude Jones on trombone.

Fletcher Henderson and His Connie’s Inn Orchestra: Rex Stewart (cnt) Bobby Stark (tp) Claude Jones (tb) Russell Procope (cl,as) Edgar Sampson (as, vln) Coleman Hawkins (ts) Fletcher Henderson (p,arr) Clarence Holiday (g) John Kirby (tu) Walter Johnson (d,bells) Dick Robertson (vcl) July 31, 1931.

• Oh, It Looks Like Rain– vDR-Vic 22786, Zon EE-275;
• Sweet Music– vDR: Vic 22775, HMV K-6390;
• My Sweet Tooth Says I Wanna (But My Wisdom Tooth Says No) – vDR: Vic 22786, HMV B-4911;
• Malinda’s Weddin’ Day– vDR: Vic 22775, HMV B-4911, BB B-5518

All entries are from my book “As Long as They Can Blow. Interracial Jazz Recording and Other Jive Before 1935.”

Great Pre-1930 Jazz Tunes

I solicited the favorite pre-1930 songs of the Hot Jazz Records (1917-1931) Facebook group and this is what that knowledgeable group of folks came up with. It represents an enormous variety of music, ranging from "dance" to "blues" to "hot."

People will know some of the names in the list, but I'm sure many more individuals and bands will be unfamiliar. Do yourselves a favor and check out what these musicians have to offer. All of the songs on the list are available online. They are in no particular order.

1.     Oreste's Queensland Orchestra-When The Morning Glories Wake Up In The Morning

2.     Frenchie’s String Band-Red Hot Hottentot

3.     Fletcher Henderson-Whiteman Stomp

4.     Luis Russell: Jersey Lightning

5.     Duke Ellington: Jubilee Stomp (Victor)

6.     King Oliver: Canal St. Blues

7.     Louis Armstrong: Hotter Than That

8.     Irving Mills & His Modernists (w Jack Pettis) - At The Prom-

9.     Red Nichols: Feelin' No Pain (Brunswick)

10.  Nat Brusiloff and His Orchestra-Out of a Clear Blue Sky

11.  Powell's Jazz Monarchs -Chauffer's Shuffle

12.  Original Dixieland Jass Band: Margie

13.  New Orleans Rhythm Kings: Panama

14.  Jimmy Wade: Someday Sweetheart

15.  Red Allen: Swing Out

16.  Clarence Williams: Longshoreman's Blues

17.  Bix: In a Mist

18.  Frank Trumbauer: Ostrich Walk

19.  Walter Page: Squabblin'

20.  Cecil Scott: Springfield Stomp

21.  Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang: The Wild Dog

22.  Al Trent: The Nightmare

23.  Benny Moten: Goofy Dust (1924 Okeh)

24.  Jabbo Smith: Bandbox Stomp

25.  Charlie Johnson: Walk That Thing (take one or 2)

26.  Bessie Smith: Backwater Blues

27.  James P. Johnson: Snowy Morning Blues

28.  Fats: Ain't Misbehavin' (solo piano)

29.  Ted Lewis: Milenberg Joys

30.  Jelly Roll: Black Bottom Stomp 

31.  Jabbo Smith and his Rhythm Aces-Take Your Time

32.  Jack Purvis either Copy'n Louis or Mental Strain At Dawn

33.  Harlem River Quiver" Duke Ellington And His Orchestra

34.  The University Six -San

35.  Benny Goodman and his boys-Jungle Blues

36.  Miff Mole & His Little Molers-Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble

37.  Albert Wynn's Creole Jazz Band-Parkway Stomp

38. Fats Waller - Lookin' Good But Feelin' Bad

39.  Junie C. Cobb & his Grains Of Corn - Shake That Jelly Roll

40.  Fletcher Henderson - Pensacola

41.  Henry Red Allen - Singing Pretty Songs

42.  Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orch. - Rumba Negro

43.  Johnny Dunn, "Sergeant Dunn's Bugle Call Blues" and "Buffalo Blues"

45.  Paul Howard-Quality Shout

46.  Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five-Struttin' With Some Barbecue

47.  Bix Beiderbecke & His Gang -Sorry

48.  Original Memphis Five -Fireworks

49.  Jabbo Smith -Michigander Blues

50. Benny Goodman's Boys-Blue

51.  Roy Johnson's Happy Pals -Happy Pal Stomp

52.  Freddie Keppard's Jazz Cardinals-Stock Yards Strut

53.  McKinney's Cotton Pickers -I'll Make Fun For You

54.  Brownlee's Orchestra Of New Orleans -Peculiar

55.  Fate Marable's Society Syncopators -Frankie And Johnny

56.  Golden Gate Orchestra -After You've Gone

57.  Original Dixieland Jass Band-I Lost My Heart In Dixieland

58.  New Orleans Rhythm Kings-Barataria

59.  Mississippi Maulers -My Angeline

60.  Red Nichols & His Five Pennies -Alice Blue Gown

61.  Jack Purvis -Copyin' Louis

62.  Maynard Baird & His Orchestra -Postage Stomp

63.  Jelly Roll Morton-Burnin' The Iceberg

64.  Tiny Parham -Washboard Wiggles

65.  Danny Altier -My Gal Sal

66.  Paul Tremaine And His Aristocrats -Four Four Rhythm

67.  Cliff Jackson-Torrid rhythm

68.  Duke Ellington - Immigration Blues

69.  Cliff Jackson-Ring Around the Moon

70.  Blue Steele Orch.- Sugar Babe, I'm Leavin

71.  Perdido St. Blues- Johnny Dodds

72.  Tennessee Ten-Long Lost Mama-augmented version of the Original Memphis Five

73.  Charles A. Matson & his Creole Serenaders-Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do

74.  Charleston Chasers -My Gal Sal

75.  Lou Weimer's Gold and Black Aces, "Merry Widow's Got a Sweety Now

76.  McKinney's Cotton Pickers - Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble

77.  Jelly Roll Morton - Hyena Stomp

78.  Jimmie Lunceford and his Chickasaw Syncopators-In Dat' Mornin'

79.  King Oliver's Dixie Syncopators-Wa Wa Wa

80.  Louis Dumaine's Jazzola Eight - Franklin Street Blues

A Big Sid Catlett Show

The Duplex of 10.19.17 featured the work of the great drummer Sid Catlett. As the playlist shows, he could play in any jazz style and make it work. He was also a master showman with the sticks. To see him in action, go here:  Enjoy the show.

LISTEN HERE

PLAYLIST

Benny Carter - "Swing It" Benny Carter, vocal, as, ‪Buster Bailey (cl as) Omer Simeon (as) Elmer Williams Chu Berry (ts cl) Horace Henderson (p) Bob Lessey (g) Israel Crosby(b) Sidney Catlett (d)‬, Columbia 1933

Fletcher Henderson - "Jangled Nerves" Dick Vance Joe Thomas Roy Eldridge (tp) Fernando Arbello Ed Cuffee (tb) Buster Bailey (cl as) OmerSimeon (as) Elmer Williams Chu Berry (ts cl) Horace Henderson (p) Bob Lessey (g) Israel Crosby(b) Sidney Catlett (d) Victor 1936

New Orleans Feetwarmers and Sidney Bechet "Shake it and Break It" S. Bechet (ss), S. de Paris (tp), S. Williams (tb), C. Jackson (p), B. Addis (g), W. Braud (b), S. Catlett (d) 1940 on VIctor

John Kirby Sextet "Jumping in the Pump Room" Charlie Shavers,cl:Buster Baily,as:Russel Procope,p:Billy Kyle, b:John Kirby,big sid catlett-d 1940 on Okeh, 1940

Benny Goodman "Pound Ridge"-Benny Goodman, cl, dir: Billy Butterfield, Jimmy Maxwell, Cootie Williams, Al Davis, t / Lou McGarity, Cutty Cutshall, tb / Skippy Martin, as, a / Clint Neagley, as / Vido Musso, George Berg, ts / Charles "Chuck" Gentry, bar / Mel Powell, p, a / Tom Morgan, g / John Simmons, sb / Sid Catlett, Chicago, 1941.

Eddie Condon w. Lee Wiley "Down With Love" from The Town Hall Concerts Forty-Four and Forty-Five-Eugene Schroeder-p· Sid Weiss-b· Sid Catlett-d· Lee Wileyv· Billy Butterfield-tp Eddie Condon -guitar, Monmouth Evergreen1944

Teddy WIlson Sextet "Don't be that way" The Onyx Club Original Live Recordings 1944, Teddy Wilson (piano), Edmond Hall (clarinet), Emmett Berry (trumpet), Benny Morton (trombone), Slam Stewart (bass), Sidney Catlett (drums) 1944 on Columbia

Esquire All Stars jazz concert "Rose Room," Art Tatum - piano, Big Sid Catlett-drums, Oscar Pettiford - bass, Barney Bigard - clarinet,  Christy Records 1945

Big Sid Catlett's Band, "Love For Scale" -Joe Guy (tp), Bull Moose Jackson (as), Bumps Myers and Illinois Jacquet (ts), Horace Henderson (p), Al Casey (g) and John Simmons (b). Capital 1945 

Big Sid Catlett and His AllStars "Humoresque Boogie"- Catlett, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (ts), Bill Gooden (org,celeste,vcl), Pete Johnson (p), Jimmy Shirley (g) and Gene Ramey (b). Manor 1946 

Dizzy Gillespie with Charlie Parker, "Salt Peanuts," Sidney 'Big Sid' Catlett, Al Haig, and Curly Russell. 1945 Guild

John Kirby Sextet Musicomania-Charlie Shavers - trumpet, Buster Bailey - clarinet, Charlie Holmes - alto saxophone Billy Kyle - piano, John Kirby - bass, film-Sepia Cinderella, 1947

JATP "Sid Flips His Lid," Sid Catlett, d., Charlie Shavers, tpt, Hank jones, P, Verve 1947

Pre-Election Tunes

Here's some of the music rattling around in my brain a week before the November 8, 2016 elections. What's in your brain?

Fletcher Henderson, Part II

The second of two Duplex Mystery Jazz Hours devoted to Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra, broadcast 8.21.15 on WZBC.ORG.

LISTEN HERE

PLAYLIST

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Come on Baby" (Jazz, 1928) on Columbia

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Freeze N Melt"  1929) on Columbia

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Raisin the Roof"  1929) on Romeo

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Blazin'" (Jazz, 1929) on Columbia  

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Wang Wang Blues"  1929) on Columbia 

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Chinatown" (Jazz, 1930) on Columbia 

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Somebody Loves Me" 1930) on Columbia 

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Keep a Song in Your Soul" 1930 Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Sweet and Hot" (Jazz, 1931) Columbia  

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "My Gal Sal" (Jazz, 1931) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Sugarfoot Stomp" 1931) on Columbia  

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Clarinet Marmalade" 1931) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Hot and Anxious"  1931) on Columbia  

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Comin' and Goin'"  1931) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Singin' the Blues" 1931) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Sugar" from "" 1931) on Columbia  

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Blue Moments"  1932) on Unissued Master

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "New King Porter Stomp" 1932) Okeh

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Underneath the Harlem Moon" 1932 Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Honeysuckle Rose" 1932) on Columbia 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Yeah Man" (Jazz, 1933) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Queer Notions" (Jazz, 1933) Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Can You Take It?" 1933) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "King Porter’ Stomp" 1933) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Christopher Columbus" 1936) Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Stealin' Apples"  1936) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Blue Lou" 1936) on Vocalion 

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Rhythm Of the Tambourine" 1937) Vocalion 

Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Back in Your Own Backyard" 1937 Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Chris and His Gang" 1937) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Sing You Sinners" 1937) on Vocalion 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "Moten Swing" (Jazz, 1938) on Vocalion 

The "Classical Tinge" in Jazz

Jelly Roll Morton famously cited the "Spanish Tinge," but jazz has also been influenced by "classical" music. I'm calling this the "Classical Tinge." This began well before the term "Third Stream" was coined by Gunther Schuller in the 1950's. In fact, as soon as jazz-influenced dance bands (or dance-influenced jazz bands) began to record, we began to hear this happen. I hope you enjoy this look at some of tunes from 1920-1931 that had a Classical Tinge.

Listen Here.

Playlist:

 Paul Whiteman Orchestra "The Japanese Sandman" (Jazz, 1920) on Victor 

 Paul Whiteman Orchestra "Thais" (Jazz, 1924) on Victor 

 Hitchs Happy Harmonists "Boneyard Shuffle" (Jazz, 1925) on Gennett 

 Ross Gorman And His Earl Carroll Orchestra "Rhythm of the Day"  (Jazz, 1925) on Columbia 

 Bix Beiderbecke  "Humpty Dumpty"  (Jazz, 1927) on Parlophone 

 Fletcher Henderson "Whiteman Stomp" (Jazz, 1927) on Columbia 

 Bix Beiderbecke "In a Mist"  (Jazz, 1927) on Okeh 

 Romain Baud "Flashes (By Bix)" Jazz, 2011) 

 Red Nicholls & His Five Pennies "Davenport Blues" (Jazz, 1927) on Victor 

 Carl Fenton's Orchestra "Delirium" (Jazz, 1927) on Brunswick 

 Carroll Dickerson and His Orchestra "Symphonic Raps" (Jazz, 1928) on Odeon 

 Red Nichols "Imagination" (Jazz, 1928) on Brunswick 

 Frankie Trumbauer And His Orchestra "Jubilee"(Jazz, 1928) on Parlophone 

 Paul Whiteman and His Orch "San" (Jazz, 1928) on Victor 

 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra "My Gal Sal"  (Jazz, 1931) on Columbia 

 Red Nichols & His Five Pennies  "That's No Bargain" (Jazz, 1926) on Brunswick 

Sweet, Hot and Smooth Roots-by Steve Provizer

Now, ladies and gents, the promised jazz cage scrap between Fletcher 'Hatchet' Henderson and 'Grapplin' Guy Lombardo, or should we say, the familias Henderson and Lombardo. It's tag team, as both come brothered-up, but Fletcher and Horace are outgunned by the Lombardo mob: Guy, Carmen, Liebert and Victor.

Henderson does higher ed. and pledges Alpha Phi Alpha at Atlanta U. At the same time, the Lombardos rehearse a grammar school orchestra in the back of their dad's tailor shop. That puts them ahead in the early rounds, as they turn pro in the teens.

Henderson, however, comes on strong and is the first to score in NYC, forming an orchestra in 1922 and getting good gigs at Club Alabam and the Roseland.

The sweet and hot waters are muddy.

Henderson's arrangements at this point are as much Whiteman as anything else. His is a social dance band with a blues tinge. Meanwhile, Lombardo records for jazz label Gennett in early 1924 and there's not a hell of a lot of difference between those recordings and early Henderson. Late 1924 marks the real split. The Lombardo boys start "The Royal Canadians" and Louis Armstrong joins the Henderson crowd. First knockdown goes to the Royal Canadians, as they implement a strong PR strategy, using the tag line: "The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven." Even if the sobriquet 'sweet' has been in general use, it starts to get burnished to a high cultural gleam by the Royal Canadians. When Armstrong joins Henderson in 1924, he brings the heat. Henderson and fellow arranger Don Redman respond by creating arrangements that allow the Armstrong fire to shine in a large ensemble context. Soloists like Hawkins hear Louis and join the fray. As the boys in the quarterlies would say, this is the juncture at which Henderson and Lombardo self-differentiate; in the process, creating more distinguishable sweet and hot streams in popular music. A quick retrospective follow-up reveals the following: Henderson's band nurtured jazz stars and the new idea of what large-ensemble jazz arranging could be. He couldn't keep the band together and mostly lived off arrangements he'd originally done for his 20's band that the Goodman band scored big with a decade later. The Royal Canadians go on to sell somewhere between 100-300 million records and become the musical face of New Year's Eve in America. Just sayin'. Next Time on JazzGrudgeMatch2010@: All in the Family-"Dorsey vs. Dorsey."