1925 found African-American songwriter Jo Trent in a quite prolific period of his career. He claimed copyright on over 38 songs that year under contract with Grey Gull records – who did not publish sheet music themselves. They bought songs directly from songwriters to avoid having to pay royalties to an outside publisher. In 1925-26, there were a total of 77 Trent/Grey Gull song copyrights!
The unfortunate side of the deal for Trent was that because Grey Gull did not publish the music or license the songs elsewhere, much of this prolific songwriting output from this time was not available to other orchestras and can only be found recorded on Grey Gull discs published during those years.
I can’t seem to find much information on this recording – Wondering if it might be Nathan Glantz on alto sax? At 2:09 there’s a feisty trumpet solo that’s quite good.
Recorded circa September 1925.
Released as Grey Gull 1305
Sources:
Duke Ellington, Jo Trent, Blu-Disc, Up-to-date and Various Topics of Related Interest by Steven Lasker, 2004
https://tdwaw.ellingtonweb.ca/DEMS/DEMS-04-3f,200412-200503,pt55-58.html
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