In the mid 1920s, Columbia label created a mobile recording unit using electronic equipment made by Western Electric that allowed them to travel and record bands in their hometown, without having to travel to studios in New York City. It is for this reason that this recording, and others from bands like the Halfway House Orchestra, and the Celestin’s Original Tuxedo Jazz Orchestra exist.
The New Orleans Owls was the house band at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans from 1922-29. All of their 23 recorded sides were made in New Orleans or Atlanta.
This tune celebrates lakefront experiences along Lake Pontchartrain’s historic West End entertainment district in New Orleans, where the band spent summers playing spots like the West End Roof Garden and practicing in local boathouses.
The tune gets off to a right swingin’ start, with joyful ensemble playing. Bill Padron takes a solo on muted cornet, followed by alto sax and cornet choruses before coming to what perked my ears up: a guitar and clarinet duet with a light banjo keeping rhythm. As a guitar player myself, I always love the early jazz guitar breaks – and a duet with a clarinet is quite unique for this period!
Hope you enjoy the romp and take a moment to appreciate what early vacuum tube technology was able to capture in such rich fidelity for our listening pleasure 100 years later.
Recorded in New Orleans, Louisiana on April 14, 1926.
Released as Columbia 688-D.
Credits:
Benjie White – clarinet, alto sax, director
Bill Padron – cornet
Frank Netto – trombone
Pinky Vidacovich – clarinet, alto sax
Lester Smith – tenor sax
Mose Farrar – piano
Rene Gelpi – banjo, guitar
Dan LeBlanc – tuba
Earl Crumb – drums
Sources:
The New Orleans Owls, Part One, Hal Smith and Jeff Barnhart, Syncopated Times
https://syncopatedtimes.com/the-new-orleans-owls-part-one/
Jazz at the Lakefront, Bruce Raeburn
https://64parishes.org/jazz-at-the-lakefront
Leave a Reply