The Virtual Victrola

"When You're With Somebody Else"

(originally published July 24, 2005)

Today the Virtual Victrola brings you two different versions of Ruth Etting's 1928 hit, "When You're With Somebody Else."

Nathaniel Shilkret was the musical director for Victor Records in the 1920's and he led the studio's main house orchestra, which was billed (not surprisingly) as Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra. Apart from the main house orchestra Shilkret led many other sessions featuring smaller chamber groups or salon orchestras.  One of these was Shilkret's Rhyth-Melodists, which usually featured 5 - 10 musicians and whose output generally consisted of skillfully-arranged performances of current pop tunes with little or no jazz improvising.

"When You're With Somebody Else" is a quartet recording featuring harp, muted trombone, piano, and pipe organ.  What makes this side interesting is that the pipe organist is none other than the great jazz pianist Thomas "Fats" Waller.  Waller recorded a number of sides on pipe organ during the 1920's, and is one of the pioneer jazz organ players.

Download Shilkret's Rhyth-Melodists - When You're With Somebody Else.mp3

Paul Whiteman also recorded this same song.  Whiteman was known as "The King of Jazz," though is orchestra was really more of an outstanding pops and light classical orchestra.  Whiteman became the most successful orchestra leader of the 1920's and he could afford to hire not only the best musicians that money could buy, but also a lot of them: on this record session Whiteman used over 20 musicians.

This Bill Challis arrangement is not really a "jazz" record, though it does feature short solos by bass saxophonist Min Leibrook and c-melody saxophonist Frank Trumbauer, as well as a brief two bar cornet break by the legendary Bix Beiderbecke.

Download Paul Whiteman - When You're With Somebody Else.mp3

Today the Virtual Victrola brings you two different versions of Ruth Etting's 1928 hit, "When You're With Somebody Else."

Nathaniel Shilkret was the musical director for Victor Records in the 1920's and he led the studio's main house orchestra, which was billed (not surprisingly) as Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra. Apart from the main house orchestra Shilkret led many other sessions featuring smaller chamber groups or salon orchestras.  One of these was Shilkret's Rhyth-Melodists, which usually featured 5 - 10 musicians and whose output generally consisted of skillfully-arranged performances of current pop tunes with little or no jazz improvising.

"When You're With Somebody Else" is a quartet recording featuring harp, muted trombone, piano, and pipe organ.  What makes this side interesting is that the pipe organist is none other than the great jazz pianist Thomas "Fats" Waller.  Waller recorded a number of sides on pipe organ during the 1920's, and is one of the pioneer jazz organ players.

Download Shilkret's Rhyth-Melodists - When You're With Somebody Else.mp3

Paul Whiteman also recorded this same song.  Whiteman was known as "The King of Jazz," though is orchestra was really more of an outstanding pops and light classical orchestra.  Whiteman became the most successful orchestra leader of the 1920's and he could afford to hire not only the best musicians that money could buy, but also a lot of them: on this record session Whiteman used over 20 musicians.

This Bill Challis arrangement is not really a "jazz" record, though it does feature short solos by bass saxophonist Min Leibrook and c-melody saxophonist Frank Trumbauer, as well as a brief two bar cornet break by the legendary Bix Beiderbecke.

Download Paul Whiteman - When You're With Somebody Else.mp3

Celebrating Bix Beiderbecke

March 10, 2008 marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of Leon 'Bix' Beiderbecke, the musical prodigy from Davenport, Iowa whose contributions to jazz made him one of the music's earliest and most important influences.

Bix was a self-taught musical genius who could pick out melodies on the piano at age 2.  So great was his musical gift that he could recreate complex passages from twentieth century composers like Ravel and Stravinsky on the piano after hearing them only once, and when he played with other musicians he had no need for sheet music.  He always played by ear, creating what his peers described as some of the most perfect improvisations they had ever heard.

Bix's primary instrument was the piano.  He only received a limited number of piano lessons as a child, but he made up for his lack of formal study by practicing the piano incessantly.  He enjoyed playing popular songs over and over again, altering their chord structure and experimenting with new melody lines.

Bix also excelled as a cornet player.  He became interested in the cornet after hearing records made by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.  As a teenager, Bix acquired a second-hand cornet and began learning the cornet passages originally played by Nick LaRocca on the ODJB records.  Bix had no formal training on the cornet.  He learned everything by trial and error and, as a result, he played the instrument completely "wrong" with respect to standard brass instrument pedagogy.  Yet he produced one of the purest, most beautiful cornet sounds ever captured on record.  His cornet sound has been compared to everything from a hammer striking a bell, to a girl saying 'yes.'

Bix's professional career began in 1924 when he joined a regional jazz group called The Wolverines.  Bix later joined the Jean Goldkette Orchestra  (first briefly in 1924, then again in 1926) and after the Goldkette Orchestra broke up in the fall of 1927, Bix joined the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and stayed until the fall of 1929, when he was sent home due to his deteriorating health.  During his employment in the Goldkette and Whiteman orchestras, Bix also recorded under his own name and with other small jazz groups, mainly those led by his close friend, saxophonist Frank Trumbauer.  With the exception of only a handful of records, all of Bix's recorded performances were as a cornetist.

Like so many others possessed of a rare genius, Bix had many weaknesses, the most serious of which was alcoholism.  Anecdotes about his behavior and peculiar habits have led some to speculate that Bix may have suffered from depression or bipolar disorder or perhaps even an autistic spectrum disorder.  He was kind, affectionate, an avid reader with a quick wit, and very charming.  He was also absent-minded, disorganized, timid, and wholly absorbed in his music.  He worked himself to exhaustion, drank and socialized with his friends until his health completely failed, and finally succumbed to pneumonia in 1931, at the age of 28.

Recently I uploaded videos of six Beiderbecke performances, all recreated on my 1926 Granada Orthophonic Victrola.  I enjoy playing these records occasionally on the Orthophonic, just to get an idea of how Bix first sounded to so many other musicians and jazz lovers.

Jean Golkdette and his Orchestra - "In My Merry Oldsmobile" (1927)



Jean Goldkette and his Orchestra - "Clementine (from New Orleans)" (1927)



Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang - "Since My Best Girl Turned Me Down" (1927)



Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra - "Is It Gonna Be Long ('Till You Belong To Me)" (1928)



Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra - "China Boy" (1929)



Bix Beiderbecke and his Orchestra - "I'll Be A Friend 'With Pleasure'" (1930)

The Bix Beiderbecke October 1927 Sessions - October 25 at Okeh

The smoothness of Bix Beiderbecke's first Okeh session convinced Tommy Rockwell that he should bring Bix and his Gang back into the studio to record a few more sides.  The invitation was extended, and just a little over three weeks after his first solo date, Bix returned with his group and a few other musicians, including Frank Trumbauer, Eddie Lang, Pee Wee Russell, and Joe Venuti.

Bix kicked off the session with a spirited rendition of Fletcher Henderson's "Goose Pimples."  For years music enthusiasts have speculated about the odd two-note cornet blast in the middle of Frank Signorelli's piano solo.  Perhaps Bix's short cornet break, which overlaps the beginning of the piano solo, provides the best clue.  It is entirely possible that Bix mistakenly overran the piano solo and thought he had ruined the take, so he impishly blasted another clam in the middle of the solo, just for spite.  Yet the band played on, and Bix plays the outchorus of "Goose Pimples" with an intensity that is virtually unrivaled in any of his other recordings.  And this was the take that Rockwell chose to release, coupled with "Royal Garden Blues" recorded three weeks earlier, as an Okeh 8000 series race record credited to The New Orleans Lucky Seven.

Download New Orleans Lucky Seven - Goose Pimples.mp3

Next the Gang played through a scaled-down arrangement of "Sorry," written by Howdy Quicksell.  After two sides by Trumbauer's group were recorded, Bix's Gang finished out the session with "Since My Best Girl Turned Me Down," another original by Quicksell and trumpeter Ray Lodwig that was a specialty of the Jean Goldkette Orchestra.  While Bix's recording of this number is a classic -- especially the way the band glides through the alternating time signatures in the coda -- it is unfortunate that the full Goldkette orchestra was never given the chance to record the full version.

Download Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang - Sorry.mp3

Download Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang - Since My Best Girl Turned Me Down.mp3

In between the last two Gang sides, the Trumbauer group (Bix's Gang plus Trumbauer, Russell, Lang, and Venuti) recorded "Cryin' All Day" and "A Good Man Is Hard To Find," both taken at ballad tempo.   "A Good Man" had become a standard by the time this version was waxed, but Trumbauer and Bix add their own touch in the form of a double-time coda at the end.  "Cryin' All Day" follows Trumbauer's arrangement of "Singin' The Blues" very closely, and undoubtedly was an attempt to recapture the spirit (and the record sales) of Trumbauer's big hit.  Although this recording has been somewhat overlooked by critics, Bix's contribution is still every bit as good as his work on any other Trumbauer recording of the period.

Download Frank Trumbauer and his Orch - Cryin' All Day.mp3

Download Frank Trumbauer and his Orch - A Good Man Is Hard To Find.mp3

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Behind the scenes, Frank Trumbauer had been continually negotiating with Jimmy Gillespie, Paul Whiteman's road manager.  With arranger Bill Challis eagerly encouraging him, Whiteman had finally extended an offer through Gillespie that included employment for both Trumbauer and Bix.  Bix's only sticking point -- a bizarre triviality that nearly blew the deal -- was a demand for $67.50 per record session, rather than the customary $50 per man.  Gillespie finally gave in, and just a few days after their October 25 session for Okeh, Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke joined the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.  Their New York freelancing days had at last come to an end.

The Bix Beiderbecke October 1927 Sessions - The Chicago Loopers

As part of his continuing quest to keep money in his pocket - as well as the pockets of his musician friends - Frank Trumbauer approached the Pathe Company and offered his services as a recording artist.  Pathe had some success a year earlier with The Red Heads, a small "chamber jazz" group led by cornetist Red Nichols, and the thought of snagging Bix and Trumbauer for a session must have pleased singer and songwriter Willard Robison, who arranged the session.

Sometime during the week of October 20, 1927, Trumbauer brought his group to the Pathe studios.  It was an unusually small group, possibly because the money offered by Pathe afforded nothing larger.  Included were Trumbauer, Bix, Don Murray on clarinet, Frank Signorelli on piano, Eddie Lang on guitar, and Chauncey Morehouse on drums.

Robison gave the Trumbauer group two pop songs to record, the forgettable "Clorinda" from the little-known all-black Broadway revue Africana, which starred Ethel Waters.  If "Clorinda" accurately represents the quality of songs in this revue, then it is no wonder why it quickly faded into oblivion.  The other pop song is a little-known Fats Waller tune called "I'm More Than Satisified."  And not surprisingly, the group contracted to provide the vocal refrains is painfully ill-suited for the job.  The stilted Deep River Quintet sounds more like a hold-over from a turn-of-the-century tent revival than a 1920s pop singing group.

Fortunately the group also got to record one original tune, and they came up with an intriguing scaled-down verision of Chauncey Morehouse's "Three Blind Mice."  A much larger Trumbauer group had recorded this tune for Okeh some months earlier, but this recording shows how the tune had evolved since then, perhaps influenced by the Trumbauer gang's stint in Adrian Rollini's Club New Yorker orchestra.  The relaxed tempo and sparse accompaniment in this version provide a much more interesting context for jazz soloing.

At least two takes of each tune were recorded and subsequently released on Pathe's "Perfect" record label, well-known among collectors for its red shellac pressings.  The recording quality is poor, and undermine further by low-level sound and records made from low quality, noisy material.  And to make things even more difficult for Bix fans, the records were issued as "The Chicago Loopers" or "Willard Robison and his Orchestra."  Sharp-eyed record buyers might have recognized "Three Blind Mice," but otherwise these records generally eluded collectors.  They are among the rarest jazz records on the market today, easily fetching hundreds of dollars each when they are sold. (Label image from bixbeiderbecke.com)

Download The Chicago Loopers - Clorinda (take 1).mp3

Download The Chicago Loopers - I'm More Than Satisfied (take 1).mp3

Download The Chicago Loopers - Three Blind Mice (take 1).mp3

The Bix Beiderbecke October 1927 sessions - Bix and His Gang

With the future of The New Yorker club - and their job as its house band - in serious doubt, a persistent cloud of uncertainty hung over the former members of the Jean Goldkette Orchestra who were living in New York City in October 1927.  The lack of other immediate prospects for steady work made the situation even more troubling.

In the absence of steady club or theater work, recording contracts were a good way for musicians to keep money in their pockets.  Frank Trumbauer had signed a contract with the OKeH label in January 1927, and his records, particularly Singin' The Blues, had sold fairly well.  OKeH chief Tommy Rockwell remained interested both in Trumbauer and in his cornetist, Bix Beiderbecke.  Rockwell had even persuaded Bix to record an original solo piano number, In A Mist.

Rockwell brought Bix back into the OKeH studios on Oct. 5, 1927 to record three numbers under his own name and leadership.  Apart from helping with the financial arrangements, Trumbauer did not participate in this session.  On hand were Bix, Don Murray on clarinet, Bill Rank on trombone, Frank Signorelli on piano, Adrian Rollini on bass sax, and Chauncey Morehouse on drums.  It was a straight jazz session; no stock arrangements of pop tunes, just impromptu head arrangements of three reliable old favorites: "At The Jazz Band Ball," "Jazz Me Blues," and "Royal Garden Blues."  Interestingly, "Royal Garden Blues" was issued on an OKeH 8000 series race record under the pseudonymn "The New Orleans Lucky Seven."

Despite the band being tired and a little hung over during the session, the records themselves are masterpieces, superceding all previously recorded versions of these three tunes and becoming their de facto standard performances.  Later generations of jazz musicians would testify to the fact that they listened to these records, and no others, when learning these tunes. (Image of original "Royal Garden Blues" issue courtesy www.bixbeiderbecke.com)

Download Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang - At The Jazz Band Ball

Download Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang - Jazz Me Blues

Download Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang ('New Orleans Lucky Seven') - Royal Garden Blues

The Bix Beiderbecke October 1927 sessions - The Club New Yorker

Sept. 22, 1927 is widely remembered as the date of the infamous "long count" rematch between Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey.  But in New York City, that particular Sunday brought renewed  excitement to Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Trumbauer, and nine other musicians squeezed together on the bandstand inside Manhattan's new Club New Yorker.  Bass saxophonist Adrian Rollini led the group, which consisted of musicans from the recently disbanded Jean Goldkette Orchestra and Rollini's California Ramblers.

But as opening nights go, this one was a disappointment.  Even though the club boasted the best collection of musicians in New York City as well as a floor show led by Broaway stars Frank Fay and Patsy Kelly, the turnout was relatively light.  And it stayed that way.  In fact the club's only regular patrons turned out to be other musicians -- notorious for bringing their own booze, ‘camping' at tables, and generally steering clear of any amenities that cost money. (Club New Yorker ad image  courtesy www.bixbeiderbecke.com)

But in the midst of their troubles at the Club New Yorker, Rollini's band stayed busy in the recording studios.  Since Rollini had no permanent recording contract, the New Yorkers recorded under Frank Trumbauer's name.  They were in the recording studios for three days, recording a total of seven numbers.

The first session took place at OKeH records on September 28.  The New Yorkers recorded three ‘modern' arrangements of their own material: Krazy Kat by Chauncey Morehouse, Humpty Dumpty by Fud Livingston, and The Baltimore, a current pop tune.

The next day, a smaller group drawn from New Yorkers personnel ventured over to the Columbia studios to record two songs for Columbia's budget Harmony label.  In order to save money, the Harmony records were still recorded using the outdated acoustic process, so their sound quality suffers.  The two sides made by the New Yorkers, There Ain't No Land Like Dixieland To Me and There's A Cradle In Caroline, were issued under the pseudonym "The Broadway Bellhops."

And the day after, the New Yorkers were back at OKeH, recording two more pop tunes, Just an Hour of Love and I'm Wondering Who.  For reasons unknown, the record was issued under the pseudonym of "Benny Meroff and his Orchestra" rather than under Frank Trumbauer's name.    Although the songs and their stock arrangements are lackluster, Just An Hour of Love features a satisfying "chase" chorus between Bix and Trumbauer.

After only four weeks of business, the doors of the Club New Yorker closed for good on Oct. 15, 1927.  Rollini promised to find work for the band, but his attempts were unsuccessful.  At the end of the month, Rollini, alto saxophonist Bobby Davis, and trumpeter Chelsea Quealey boarded a ship headed toward England and a lucrative offer from British orchestra leader Fred Elizalde.  And once again, Bix and the other former Goldkette musicians were out of work.

Download Frank Trumbauer and his Orchestra - Krazy Kat

Download The Broadway Bellhops - There Ain't No Land Like Dixieland To Me

Download The Broadway Bellhops - There's A Cradle In Caroline

Download Benny Meroff and his Orchestra - Just An Hour Of Love

The Bix Beiderbecke October 1927 sessions - introduction

October 1927 was a significant period in the short career of legendary jazz cornetist and pianist Bix Beiderbecke.  This month, the Virtual Victrola will explore the events surrounding his short, though crucial, stay in New York City, and will feature the recordings made by Bix and his fellow musicians during this time.

The primary catalyst for the events in October was the sudden demise of the Jean Goldkette Orchestra during a series of September dates in New Jersey and New York.  Bix had been the star jazz soloist in this Detroit-based orchestra for nearly a year, and during his tenure they had established themselves as the top hot band in the midwest, and had even defeated the fearsome Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in a battle of the bands on Henderson's own turf, the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

Even so, the band was hurting financially.  The orchestra suffered from the whims of record executives, who steered its recording sessions into the murky doldrums of unimaginative second-rate pop tunes rather than the hot ensemble jazz that excited its audiences; the resulting mediocrity was reflected in the band's record sales.   And the cost of staging the orchestra in top venues across the northeast and Great Lakes states nearly always exceeded its earnings.  In order to make payroll, Jean Goldkette was continually diverting revenue from his other business ventures into the coffers of his namesake orchestra.  Goldkette was out of options, and the band's final engagement was, ironically, the Roseland Ballroom, where the orchestra had scored its greatest triumph not quite a year earlier. 

While most of the other Goldkette musicians (including Bix) enjoyed their free time in New York in the company of fellow musicians, girls, assorted hangers-on, and lots of bootleg booze, C-melody saxophonist Frank Trumbauer was hard at work, securing a contract with OKeH Records and quietly negotiating with orchestra leader Paul Whiteman, who had expressed a strong interest in hiring some of the former Goldkette orchestra's top players. 

"Not now," was Trumbauer's final reply.  He and his former Goldkette bandmates had secured enough freelance recording work to keep money in the bank for the near future, and they were excited about playing with Adrian Rollini in the orchestra at the swank new Club New Yorker, located at the corner of Broadway and 48th Street, that was scheduled to open September 22nd.

---

On September 15, 1927, just three days before the Jean Goldkette Orchestra's final show at the Roseland Ballroom, the orchestra assembled in Liederkranz Hall to record two final numbers for Victor Records.  Fortunately the tunes they were given to record were not half-bad, and the band was able to spruce-up the stock arrangements into performances worthy of the band's reputation.

Particularly satisfying is their rendition of Clementine (from New Orleans), adapted by the band from the publisher's stock arrangement and garnished with a lengthy solo by Bix.  The relaxed, swinging 4/4 rhythmic feel of the record was unique, and many scholars believe that Clementine was the first true "swing" record, anticipating the eventual style of the Fletcher Henderson orchestra in the early 1930's.

Download Jean Goldkette and his Orchestra - Clementine (From New Orleans), Victor 20994

Download  Jean Goldkette and his Orchestra - Blue River, Victor 20981

And as a bonus, here is  Fletcher Henderson's 1934 recording of Hocus Pocus,  a  beautiful example of the relaxed swing that inspired Benny Goodman to pattern his own orchestra after Henderson's.

Andy Secrest Centenary

This week marks the 100th birthday of Andy Secrest, a fine jazz cornet and trumpet player whose accomplishments have been largely overlooked.

Secrest was born August 2, 1907 in Muncie, Indiana.  He began working professionally around the age of 18 with local bands, and his debut on records occurred during an October 1927 session led by Hoagy Carmichael.  Detroit-based bandleader Jean Goldkette hired Secrest when he re-organized his orchestra at the end of 1927.  Secrest appeared on several of the Goldkette band's records during the next year.

The big break in Andy Secrest's musical career came in February 1929, when Jean Goldkette recommended him as a substitute cornet soloist for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.  Whiteman was playing an engagement in Detroit and his star solo cornet player, Bix Beiderbecke, was in the midst of his first extended absence due to poor health.  Secrest idolized Bix and had incorporated much of Bix's sound and phrasing into his own playing.  Secrest was also a good sight reader and a dependable section player.  Whiteman liked what he heard, and when his engagement in Detroit was finished he discreetly purchased Secrest's contract from Jean Goldkette.

Bix Beiderbecke returned to the Whiteman Orchestra in March 1929, but Whiteman kept Secrest in the trumpet section.  Secrest also joined Bix in the small group led by reedman Frank Trumbauer, which recorded for OKeH records.  Although Bix had recovered somewhat, he was still not strong enough to play both the ensemble parts and the solos on Trumbauer's records.

The influence of Bix Beiderbecke on Andy Secrest's playing can be most clearly heard on Frank Trumbauer's recording of "Baby Won't You Please Come Home,"(Mp3) made in April 1929.  Both Bix and Secrest are present on this record.  It is extremely difficult to tell them apart, but the consensus among most Bix afficionados is that Secrest plays the solo before the vocal chorus, Bix plays fills in a derby hat behind Trumbauer's vocal, Bix plays the cornet solo after the vocal chorus, using a derby to mute his horn, and Secrest plays lead in the final chorus with Bix playing fills in a derby.

As Richard Sudhalter noted in Bix: Man and Legend, sitting next to Beiderbecke in the Whiteman and Trumbauer orchestras proved to be a mixed blessing for Secrest.  He was playing in two of the top bands in the country, and on its own, Secrest's cornet work stands up very well.  But compared to Bix his efforts continually fell short, as would the playing of virtually every other jazz cornetist of the period.  It is truly an injustice that Secrest remains to this day a largely forgotten jazz player, mentioned only in passing as an "imitator" who stole the spotlight in the waning days of Bix's career.

Two of the recordings made by Paul Whiteman in October 1929 feature Secrest prominently.  The first is the Paul Whiteman Orchestra's recording of "Nobody's Sweetheart,"(Mp3) made shortly after Bix was finally given a permanent leave of absence from the Whiteman orchestra.  This record, arranged by Lennie Hayton, was probably originally intended as a showcase for Beiderbecke.  A little over a week later, Secrest also contributed a fine 12-bar chorus to Whiteman's recording of "After You've Gone."(Mp3)  The singer on this record is a young Bing Crosby.

Secrest left the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in 1932; his position as jazz soloist was eventually filled by trumpeter Charlie Teagarden.  After spending a year with the Ted Weems band he settled in Los Angeles and began a lengthy stint as a Hollywood studio musician, playing in radio and motion picture orchestras led by Victor Young, Billy Mills, and John Scott Trotter.

In 1937 John Scott Trotter had been working for Hal Kemp, writing vocal arrangements for Kemp's singer, Skinnay Ennis.  Bing Crosby offered Trotter the position of music director on his radio show, and Trotter eagerly accepted.

Bing Crosby and John Scott Trotter first recorded together in July 1937.  This session produced two memorable numbers, "It's The Natural Thing To Do,"(Mp3) and "Smarty,"(Mp3) both of which feature excellent work by Secrest.  Although there is not much known about the relationship between Bing and Secrest, it is certainly reasonable to assume that Bing enjoyed working with an old Whiteman band mate, and that he delighted in having Secrest appear on his records.

Secrest spent the bulk of his career working in studio bands, but when the so-called "Dixieland Revival" began to take off in the late 40's and early 50's, Secrest worked with many traditional jazz bands that played on the West Coast.  After he retired from music he enjoyed a successful career in real estate.  He died in California in 1977.

(Much more information about Andy Secrest is available in this thread from the Bixography Discussion Group.)

Singin' The Blues

A week or so ago, The Wall Street Journal published a piece by freelance writer Tom Nolan entitled "White-Hot Jazz Ballad."  The subject of the article was the recording of "Singin' The Blues ('Till My Daddy Comes Home)" written byJ. Russel Robinson  and Con Conrad, and cut by Frank Trumbauer and his Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke on Feb. 4, 1927.

"Singin' The Blues" is certainly the most famous record made by the Trumbauer-Beiderbecke small groups, which recorded around 40 sides between 1927 and 1929.  It is also the first celebrated jazz recording of a popular song taken at a relaxed tempo, the kind of playing that might lend itself to quiet reflection by the listner, or perhaps an intimate slow dance.  Until "Singin' The Blues,"  jazzing up a popular tune usually implied a "hot" performance of the song.  Jazz players, particularly from New Orleans, were well-versed in playing slow tunes: blues, crawls, moans, etc.  But it was rare for a popular song to be treated as a ballad by jazz musicians.

Improvisation was the key element behind the success of this solely instrumental recording.  "Singin' The Blues" begins with a short introduction that leads directly into two improvised choruses, the first by Trumbauer on C-melody saxophone and the second by Beiderbecke on cornet,  that fit together with a kind of synergy that was rarely present in recordings from this era.   Eddie Lang's brilliant guitar counterpoint also serves to tie the two solos together.

"Singin' The Blues" sold well, and since the record was from Trumbauer's first OKeH session, the record company eagerly offered the group an extended recording contract.  The success of the recording introduced the golden-toned, lyrical, and completely unique improvising style of Bix Beiderbecke to a wide public audience.  And the impact of the recording on fellow musicians was nothing short of earth-shattering.  Instrumentalists around the country and around the world memorized the record note for note; many traditional jazz bands still recreate this performance today, even Jimmy Dorsey's somewhat hesitant clarinet solo.

Here is "Singin' The Blues" (MP3) as recorded by Frank Trumbauer's Orchestra, Feb. 4, 1927.  (Record label image from Red Hot Jazz.com.)

Some seven months later, the Trumbauer group was back in the OKeH studios.  The record company requested that Tram record a new instrumental number similar to "Singin' The Blues" in the hope of generating another best-selling record.  The group came up with "Cryin' All Day" (MP3) similar in its conception to "Singin' The Blues" but with a character all its own.  The band on this date is larger, and includes Adrian Rollini on bass sax and Joe Venuti on violin.

Other labels also encouraged their artists to produce similar performances.  Brunswick Records' top jazz  group, Red Nichols and his Five Pennies, waxed this version of "Ida! Sweet As Apple Cider" (Mp3) on Aug. 15, 1927.  The group features Nichols on cornet, Miff Mole on trombone, Adrian Rollini on bass sax, and Pee Wee Russell on clarinet.   It owes a lot to "Singin' The Blues," and went on to become one of the top ten records of 1927.

Frank Trumbauer and company were back in the recording studios two years later, this time accompanying the famous "Shimmy Queen" dancer, Bee Palmer.  Music impresario and orchestra leader Paul Whiteman (who was Trumbauer's employer at the time) had arranged to produce a "Paul Whiteman Presents" recording for Bee Palmer, who up to that time had never recorded.  Listening to her singing, it is not hard to understand why.  This recording was never issued, and survives only in the form of a test pressing.

Aside from Ms. Palmer's cringe-inducing vocals, this record is a landmark.  One of the tunes chosen was "Singin' The Blues" (MP3) and the arrangement was based almost note-for-note on the famous 1927 Trumbauer recording.  In addition, Bee Palmer sings a special chorus (with new lyrics by Ted Koehler) that is based on the melody of  Bix Beiderbecke's improvised solo.  The practice of singing lyrics to a well-known improvised melody is known today as vocalese, but singers would not routinely perform vocalese numbers until some twenty years after this record was made.  Trumbauer led the band on this date, and though some have suggested that Bix was in the orchestra, he is not audible.

Our last recording is by the renowned Fletcher Henderson Orchestra.  Fletcher's group recorded "Singin' The Blues" (MP3) on April 29, 1931.  Again, this recording is based nearly note-for-note on Trumbauer's 1927 recording.  Legendary sax man Benny Carder scored Trumbauer's solo for the entire Henderson sax section, and cornettist Rex Stewart recreated Bix Beiderbecke's memorable solo.  It is interesting to speculate about how Bix himself received this recording; although he was very ill, he was still living in New York and playing occasionally when this record was released.  Incidentally, this recording should completely dispell the notion that white musicians had little or no influence on black jazz musicians from this era.

Other musicians have recorded "Singin' The Blues" over the years, and like the recordings featured here, most of these other performances paid homage to the definitive version of the song by Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke.  Only the stellar "West End Blues" by Louis Armstrong surpassed the influence of this record on jazz musicians during the 1920's.

The Beiderbecke Affair has many more recordings by Bix and Frank Trumbauer, along with recordings of other jazz musicians playing the same tunes.