Tag: Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra f/ Louis Armstrong

Here’s an interesting record: A straightforward dance number by Fletcher Henderson with Louis Armstrong present at the recording session that *doesn’t* feature a hot solo. Though Satch is heard soloing quite prominently on “Poplar Street Blues” and “12th Street Blues” – the two songs recorded immediately before this one – I’m not hearing his distinctive signature on this tune at all. So he either just laid back and played it straight as an ensemble player or sat this one out. What do you think? Am I missing something?

This sweet dance tune, whose title is an anglicization of “Mi Niña”, was presented by music publishers as a “Spanish Love Song”. It was composed by Herbert Spencer, who also composed “Fancies” – which the Henderson Dance Orchestra recorded on the Black Swan label in 1921.

As was common at the time, this track was attributed to pseudonyms on the other record labels it was simultaneously released on: It was attributed to the “Lenox Dance Orchestra” on Perfect label and ironically, to “Lanin’s Arcadians” on Homochord. Henderson’s band had been headlining with Sam Lanin’s dance orchestra at the Roseland in NYC throughout 1924.

At the end of the track, a ukulele can be heard. it has been speculated that this could have been played by Fletcher Henderson himself, as he accompanied Clara Smith on ukulele in 1924 on “Backwoods Blues”. Alternately, since Cliff Edwards (“Ukulele Ike”) recorded on the next matrix number immediately following “Me Neenyah”, it also could have been him popping in for a brief cameo.

0:00 Intro / Main theme
1:14 – Trumpet – Elmer Chambers
1:36 – Alto sax – Don Redman
2:12 Trombone – Charlie Green
2:22 Outro – Main theme restatement

Recorded in New York City on February 1925.
Released as Pathé Actuelle 036213.

Credits:
Fletcher Henderson – piano, arrangement, director, ukulele?
Elmer Chambers, Howard Scott, Louis Armstrong – trumpet
Charlie Green – trombone
Buster Bailey, Don Redman – clarinet, alto sax
Coleman Hawkins – clarinet, tenor sax
Charlie Dixon – banjo
Ralph Escudero – tuba
Kaiser Marshall – drums

While Columbia 228-D (Manda/Go ‘Long Mule) is known as Louis Armstrong’s first recorded appearance with the Fletcher Henderson band, here we have Satchmo’s second Henderson recording session a few days later.

Armstrong reportedly had a few initial issues with the difficult arrangements in Henderson’s book, in some cases arising from his unfamiliarity with the formal musical notations used.

In a 1950 interview, Henderson tells it: “We had a medley of Irish waltzes in the book, an intricate, well-marked arrangement. One passage began triple fortissimo, and then it suddenly softened down on the next passage to double pianissimo. The score was marked ‘PP’ to indicate the pianissimo, but when everybody else softened down, there was Louis, still blowing as hard as he could. I stopped the band, and told him – pretty sharply, I guess – that in this band we read the marks as well as the notes. I asked him if he could read the marks and he said he could. But then I asked him: ‘What about “PP”?’ and he answered: ‘Why, it means pound plenty!’”

Here we have “My Rose Marie”, a relaxed tune that featured Armstrong in two solos. Biographer Walter C. Allen notes that the various takes of recordings at this session were quite similar, indicating that perhaps Armstrong may have been reading his solo or playing a pre-composed solo from memory. Still, in contrast to the sweet tenor sax solo that precedes his, Armstrong takes the tune in a new energetic direction, while effortlessly keeping the relaxed feel of the dance number.

Allen also noted – the tenor sax solo “does not particularly sound like [Coleman] Hawkins” – and that it may have been Cecil Scott.

0:00 Intro
0:11 Saxes & Brass
1:08 Tenor Sax solo (Coleman Hawkins)
1:26 Banjo and brass
1:44 Trumpet solo (Louis Armstrong)
2:19 Clarinet obbligato (Buster Bailey) over ensemble

Recorded in New York City circa October 10-13, 1924.
Released as Perfect 14337.
Also released as Pathé Actuelle 036156 and later as Silvertone 1298.

Credits:
Fletcher Henderson – piano, arranger, director
Louis Armstrong, Elmer Chambers, Howard Scott – trumpet
Charlie Green – trombone
Buster Bailey – clarinet, alto sax
Don Redman – clarinet, alto sax, arranger
Coleman Hawkins (or perhaps Cecil Scott) – clarinet, tenor sax
Charlie Dixon – banjo
Ralph Escudero – tuba
Kaiser Marshall – drums

From the last recording session of the Fletcher Henderson orchestra with Louis Armstrong.

Louis’ wife Lil Armstrong had already left NYC to move back to Chicago and had formed her own band that was booked at the Dreamland Cafe for November dates. Henderson drummer Kaiser Marshall said that Louis missed Lil and wrote her every day.

Lil encouraged Louis to join her band in Chicago. In early November, he did, ending a prolific year of collaboration with Henderson in New York. His influence on the New York jazz scene had been huge – and he would return to New York many times before moving to Queens permanently in 1943.

0:00 Intro/head
0:21 Louis Armstrong (trumpet breaks)
0:34 Clarinet trio & brass
0:51 Louis Armstrong (trumpet) & saxes
1:08 Restated head
1:33 Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax break)
1:46 Charlie Green (trombone breaks)
1:59 Clarinet trio
2:15 Joe Smith (trumpet)
2:31 Outro

Recorded in New York on October 21, 1925.
Released as Columbia 509-D under Columbia matrix Ⓦ141170.

Credits:
Fletcher Henderson – piano, director, arranger
Louis Armstrong, Elmer Chambers, Joe Smith – trumpet
Charlie Green – trombone
Buster Bailey – clarinet, alto sax
Don Redman – alto sax, tenor sax
Coleman Hawkins – clarinet, tenor sax, bass sax
Charlie Dixon – banjo
Bob Escudero – tuba
Kaiser Marshall – drums

In the winter of 1924-25, Sam Lanin and Fletcher Henderson were the house bands at the Roseland in NYC, playing every evening. Lanin’s band featured Trumpet player Red Nichols and Henderson’s band showcased the talents of a hot trumpet player from New Orleans by way of Chicago: Louis Armstrong.

In April of 1925, Howard Scott was replaced by Joe Smith on trumpet in Fletcher’s band – and he can also be heard soloing at the end of “Memphis Bound”.

The tune starts with Armstrong leading us off, Coleman Hawkins steps in with a wonderful bass sax solo followed by a piano break by Henderson and ending with Joe Smith taking us out with a trumpet solo.

Recorded in New York on April 18, 1925.
Released as Vocalion 15030.

Fletcher Henderson – director, piano
Louis Armstrong, Elmer Chambers, Joe Smith – trumpet
Charlie Green – trombone
Buster Bailey, Don Redman – clarinet, alto sax
Coleman Hawkins – clarinet, tenor sax, bass sax
Charlie Dixon – banjo
Ralph Escudero – baritone brass
Kaiser Marshall – drums