Apart from director and pianist Charles Matson, little is known about the performers of the Creole Serenaders. They recorded two sides for Edison in 1923 – one of the very few black jazz bands to record on the Edison label.
German website grammophon-platten.de did some sleuthing and discovered newspaper clippings from early 1923 that list band personnel as follows:
Thomas E. “Petey” Hillery – cornet
Levi Bush – trombone
Carlos Daugherty – clarinet/sax
Charles O. Moseley – sax/clarinet
Julian Arthur – violin (?) or sax (?)
Leroy Parker – violin
William ‘Splif’ Escoffery – banjo
William “Bill” Benford – tuba
Curtis Moseley – drums
Source: https://grammophon-platten.de/page.php?579
They recorded two sides for Edison in New York on July 30, 1923 – about a month after King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band released “Chime’s Blues” on Gennett.
Three takes (A, B, C) were recorded and all were released. This digital transfer is from an Edison Diamond Disc containing take C.
Recorded in New York on July 30, 1923.
Released as Edison 51224.
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