Lieutenant Tim Brymn served as band leader in the U.S. Army’s 350th Field Artillery regiment in 1918-1919. By October 1918, his band was comprised of over 100 musicians – including sergeant Drum Major William H. Smith (aka “Willie the Lion”).
The regiment served with distinction in several battles during World War I. After the war’s end, they toured the front by order of General Pershing – and also special engagements across France. Upon return to the U.S. they toured the country, appearing at events across New England, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Over the next three years, the band shrank to fewer and fewer members – and they found work playing hotels and nightclubs.
In the early part of 1921, the band did a number of sessions for OKeh records – including this delightful and well-recorded tune: “Arkansas Blues”, which features relatively straightforward but quite compelling ensemble playing. In particular, the many brief sliding interjections from the trombone serve as a kind of punctuation that keeps the listener on their toes.
It was the second release in the outstanding 8000 “race” series for OKeh – a series that would run through 1927 and include many seminal jazz and blues records by luminaries such as Mamie Smith and her Jazz Hounds, Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra, Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, Clarence Williams, and many others.
Recorded in New York City in April-May, 1921.
Released as OKeh 8002
Credits:
Tim Brymn – piano, director
Unknown or Unconfirmed Artists – cornet (2), trombone, clarinet & alto sax (2), clarinet & tenor sax, banjo, tuba, drums
Biographical information about Lt. Brymn from “Chronology and Itinerary of the Career of J. Tim Brymn Materials for a Biography” by Peter M. Lefferts
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/musicfacpub/64/
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