“Lots O’ Mama” – Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra (1924)

These early Fletcher Henderson Red Vocalions are gorgeous and always contain great music.

Hendersonia by Walter C. Allen recounts a curious episode from around this time:
“Don Redman has recalled that he and Coleman Hawkins were once surreptitiously approached by a young man who had a pair of clarinets for sale. They were all apart, in a sack, and had to be put together. A deal was concluded: ten dollars for the two. Don thought it best not to ask any questions, but he and Hawk always referred to them as their ‘hot’ clarinets! These ‘hot clarinets’ are heard jointly on a number of Henderson records, one of the first being Vocalion 14759.”

So enjoy the “hot” clarinets on this record – along with cornet and trombone solos in this jaunty arrangement of an Elmer Schoebel tune “Lots O’Mama” – which was also recorded the very same month by the California Ramblers, Ladd’s Black Aces, and the Original Memphis Jazz Band.

0:00 Intro
0:28 Cornet solo (Howard Scott)
1:05 Trombone solo (Teddy Nixon)
1:42 Clarinet solo (Redman? or Hawkins?)
2:00 Clarinet solo (Don Redman)
2:18 Outro

Recorded in New York City on January 29, 1924.
Released as Vocalion 14759.

Fletcher Henderson – piano, arranger, director
Elmer Chambers, Howard Scott – cornet
Teddy Nixon – trombone
Don Redman – clarinet, alto sax
Charlie Dixon – banjo
Ralph Escudero – tuba
Kaiser Marshall – drums