Here we find the Novelty Dance Orchestra of F. Wheeler Wadsworth recording a W. C. Handy composition for Pathé. Pathé issued the tune on its vertical-cut discs and also licensed the masters to the Operaphone company, who produced lateral-cut dubs that they reissued on that label. This dub was then licensed and re-issued by the Empire Talking Machine Company of Chicago Illinois. So this recording has had quite a journey!
Wadsworth, Arden, and Green recorded extensively for Victor, Edison, and Okeh as the “All Star Trio” starting in 1918 – but here on the third-hand Empire label, they appear anonymously using the alias Jones’s Novelty Dance Orchestra.
Interesting to note that the saxophone in 1919 was not as ubiquitous an instrument in jazz orchestras as it is today. Then, clarinets, trumpets, and trombones were favored as lead instruments. The saxophone was seen as a novelty instrument.
Artists such as Wadsworth, Rudy Wiedoeft, Paul Biese, Nathan Glantz, and Six Brown Brothers all played a role in popularizing the instrument, which would gain popularity over the next 10-15 years to take more and more of the spotlight in the jazz ensemble.
Recorded in New York City circa September 1919.
Released as Pathé 22206, Empire 507 and Operaphone 31136.
Credits:
Frank Wheeler “Waddy” Wadsworth – alto sax
Victor Arden – piano
George Hamilton Green – xylophone
Source:
American Dance Band Discography, Brian Rust
Leave a Reply