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***
Note: parts marked * were Updated April 15, 2006 *** (It
might be as well, at this early stage in the proceedings, to state once
again that this group had NO connection with the Southern Syncopated
Orchestra, nor did Sidney Bechet ever record with them!) Somehow
they came to the attention of W.F. Mitchell, who ran not only Rector’s
Club in Tottenham Court Road, London, but also the Hammersmith and
Birmingham Palais de Danse. Thus Mitchell arranged for them to play at
Rectors (and probably both the other venues), and they appear to have
arrived in England sometime during the summer of 1921. I
have so far been unable to trace the ship on which they came here, and
thus have no exact date for their arrival, nor can I yet confirm just
who made the trip. Likewise enquiries at the Library Archive of Nebraska
University have not (as yet) produced any information. However they are
reported as playing opposite Benny Peyton’s Jazz Kings at the
Birmingham Palais de Danse in September 1921 when that establishment
re-opened, having closed for the summer period. Further investigation has still not turned up details of the band's first arrival, but it has been suggested that the band may have first played in France (there was a "Rector's Club" in Paris at the time) and then moved on to England. * (It
should be noted that both the Hammersmith and Birmingham establishments
had a “two band” policy; presumably they would play alternate sets
during the evening.) Given
that the photo of the Rag-A-Jazz Band bears the caption “Rectors,
London” it seems likely this was their first engagement, probably in
August 1921. Those
musicians who made the trip appear to have been as follows:- GRUBB,
Gayle V -
Piano
(NB.
Some names have a different spelling from that in “Jazz Records”, and
I have not listed the trumpet player Robert Leroy or the drummer Floyd
Schultz. We will return to them later. The
drummer Schmidt had been missed on the original article, due to being in
the passenger list as "Dr Schmidt" *.) The
Edison Bell company were also interested in the band’s activities, and
the Rag-A-Jazz Band made recordings at three sessions, these being in
September, October and November, 1921.(Jazz Records q.v.) The titles cut
at the first session in September do not feature a trumpet player, but there
is a trumpet player on the last session for Winner. The
band must have finished working in this country about the end of
November, as the Passenger List for the S.S. “Adriatic”, sailing
from Southampton on 14th. December, 1921, included “Fairchild,
Donville. Aged 21. Born Quincy, Illinois; 8th. December, 1900”. Billboard
for November 26th, 1921 reported:- As if to confirm
the above, Billboard for July 8th, 1922 carried the
following item:- The
S.S. “Paris”, sailing from Le Havre in France on January 7th, 1922
listed “Cressell, Edward. Aged 27. Born Buffalo, New York, September
7th. 1895.” and Messrs.
Grubb and Peterson do not appear to have returned to America; at least
they are not shown on the Database of the Ellis Island Immigration
Records. (As will be seen, they must have returned…if only to be able
to come back again! There were other ports on the Eastern Seaboard of
America they could have used, but Ellis Island has the only Archive
material readily available for study.)
The
story should end at this point….. but on November 25th. 1922, the
United States Line S. S. “President Polk” docked in the Port of
London, having sailed from New York via Queenstown, Plymouth and
Cherbourg (PRO Ref. BT26/722). Amongst
the passengers were:- Gayle
V. Grubb
Musician
Age 26 (Piano) (NB.
I have added in brackets the instruments they are known (or believed) to
have played.) It
may be the last name is NOT the same man as previously listed, but it
seems fairly likely, given the ages quoted. All of them gave their
address in the UK as “c/o American Club, 95, Piccadilly, London”. Assuming they all came over here as members of a band….which band, and where did they play? And did they also make further recordings? It is still not known where the band played on the second visit and, indeed, they may not have played in England at all, but travelled straight to France after arriving in London. This argument is supported by the fact that they returned to America from Europe, not from England.* So
far I have been unable to find out anything about their activities, but
on checking in “American Dance Band Discography” I noted a recording
session for Edison Bell in March, 1923, which produced four titles, all
issued as the Original Paramount Orchestra. The instrumentation given is
Tpt/ Tbn/ Soprano Sax -Alto Sax/ ?Tenor Sax/ Bass Sax/ Vln/ Pno/ Drms. I
have not heard these sides, and assume they are “straight”
renditions of the four tunes involved. However, the instrumentation
looks about right, assuming one or two of them “doubled” on other
instruments. Given that the Rag-A-Jazz Band had no less than three
sessions in as many months, it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility
that Edison Bell was prepared to consider members of that group again on
their second visit to England. It
has been suggested in the past that these 1923 sides for Edison Bell
could have been made by a band calling itself the Paramount Six, who
were also American visitors and appeared at the Birmingham Palais de
Danse in January, 1922. However at least one of the players known to
have been with the Paramount Six had returned to America by February,
1923. One or two of the others may have returned even earlier, but I
have yet to confirm this. Obviously this needs some further research. There
is also a mysterious Test Pressing bearing an Imperial matrix no. listed
in Jazz Records, which is dated as November 7th. 1923, and supposedly
labelled as by the Rag-A-Jazz Band. This recording may or may not
involve some or all of them, but unless or until someone comes up with a
copy the question will remain unanswered. The
departure of the “President Polk”
group is no less shrouded in mystery than that of the Rag-A-Jazz
Band. Of the six names listed above, I have so far only been able to
trace the return to America of Messrs. Grubb and Peterson. They arrived
in New York on 17th. August, 1923, on the S. S. “Lapland”, which
sailed from Antwerp on 8th. August, and called in at Cherbourg and
Southampton en route. These two may have embarked at any of these ports;
I have not yet been able to examine the Passenger Lists at the Public
Record Office. It is quite possible some of the rest of the band went on
to work briefly in Europe; there is evidence that other
groups which came here did so. Nothing
is known of the subsequent life and careers of any of these musicians,
apart from the following: Obviously
this is all very much “work in progress” and I would welcome any
assistance anyone can give. In particular I should like to hear the four
sides by the Original Paramount Orchestra, and also confirmation of the
instrumentation for the Southern Rag-A-Jazz Band sides from the October
and November 1921 sessions. To
conclude, I must thank John Wright for his assistance. Through his
excellent Website, John has been in touch with the family of Bert Reed,
who supplied the photo with this article, and details of his subsequent
career. Thanks also to Steve Walker for comment and advice. Passenger
List information appears by permission of the Public Record Office. Author:
Joe Moore Sources/Acknowledgements: Storyville:
Issue 105
“Saturday Night At The Palais -’21” (Edward S. Walker) |
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