The record changer (Jan-Dec 1944)

MANHATTAN (Continued from page 44) Marsala's Hickory House Band. ... Leonard Smith, formerly of the Broadway Music Shop, took over a record store on Halsey Street, in Newark. Worked for Beacon Record Company. Will specialize in jazz and popular records. At Keynote, September 19th, Jonah Jones took some men from Calloway's band into the WOR studios and cut four sides. The band consisted of Jonah Jones, trumpet ; Tyree Glenn, trombone and vibes; Hilton Jefferson, alto; J. C. Heard, drums; Milton Hinton, bass; Buster Harding,' piano and arranger. They made : Twelfth Street Rag, Just Like a Butterfly Caught in the Rain; B. H. Boogie, That's the Lick, Jack. . . . Gene Cedric and his band returned to town from Philly September 26th, to play Mondays and Tuesdays at the Onyx Club. . . . Bobby Hackett, before leaving for Chicago, made a date for Commodore, September 23rd, using Lou McGarity, trumbone ; Ernie Caceres, baritone and clarinet ; Peewee Russell, clarinet ; Jess Stacy, piano ; George Wettling, drums ; Bob Casey, bass, and Eddie Condon, guitar. They made: When Day is Done; Neiv Orleans, At Sundown, Skeleton Jangle. . . . Benny Goodman's youngest brother, Jerome, was killed in a plane crash in Texas. September 30th in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel New Yorker, the Junior and Senior Clubs of Columbia University held a prom, using a band under the baton of Hank D'Amico. The men, all studio artists, were : "Spots" Esposito, trumpet ; Billy Butterfield, trumpet ; Johnny Fallstich, trumpet ; Vernon Brown, trombone ; Sid Stoneburn, alto and clarinet ; Jerry Jerome, tenor ; Art Rollini, tenor ; Hank D'Amico, clarinet ; Felix Giobbe, bass ; George Wettling, drums ; Marty Dale, piano. . . . Stan King, former Goldkette and Whiteman drummer, now working at the El Morocco with Chauncey Grey's Band. . . . Roy Harte, drummer, and wellknown record collector, switched from the George Paxton Band at Roseland to the Johnny Richards Band at the Hotel Lincoln. The Walter Gross Orchestra, from Camp Kilmer in New Jersey, broadcasts each Monday over WNEW, from 9:00 to 9:30 P. M. In the band are Buck Clayton, formerly with Basie ; Sy Oliver, formerly with Lunceford and Tommy Dorsey ; Jimmy Crawford, former Lunceford drummer, and Bill Miller, former Red Norvo, and Charlie Barnet, pianist. Walter Gross had his own combo at CBS I before entering the Army. ... Jo Jones, drums, Sidney Catlett, drums, Lester Young, tenor, Marlowe Morris, piano, and other musicians made a musical short for W'arner Brothers. . . . Count Basie, after his stint at the Plantation Club in Los Angeles, comes to the Roxy Theatre in New York, and a short run at the Lincoln Hotel. . . . Dick Voynow, of the Original Wolverines Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke, died last month in California. He was recording director for Decca Records. . . . Vic Berton, former Red Nichols' drummer, now working for Columbia Picture studios. Cliff Leeman, famous drummer (formerly with Charlie Barnet, Tommy Dorsey, John Kirby and Raymond Scott), now rehearsing a band for a New York spot . . . Jimmy Harris, pianist, who formerly worked at Orsati's in Philadelphia, and Wyoming Show Bar in Detroit for eight months, took over the piano chair at the Hickory House for Vivian Smith (Jimmy Hamilton's wife), who is now laid up with pneumonia. Plays good boogie woogie and blues. Also request numbers for the customers. Commodore Records recently recorded Lips Page Orchestra, which did four sides, namely, Fish for Supper, 6-7~7-9 Blues, You Need Coaching, and These Foolish Things. The band which Lips brought into the Commodore studio were : Lips on trumpet; Butch Hammond, alto; Earl Bostic (former bandleader at Small's Paradise in Harlem), alto; Don Byas, tenor; Clyde Hart, piano; Jack (the Bear) Parker, drums, and Al Lucas, bass. . . . Another date at Commodore, October 5th, had : Billy Butterfield on trumpet ; Moe Zudikoff and Lou McGarity, trombones; Ernie Caceres, clarinet and baritone ; less Stacy, piano ; George Wettling, drums; Carl Kress, guitar, and Red Norvo on vibes. They made Talk of the Tozvn. Sweet Loraine, Through a Veil of Indifference, Wherever There's Love. These should be good records for the "Chicago" cats. At the Pied Piper, Monday, October 16th, an entertainer and drummer from the 19th Hole sat in with James P. Johnson, reminding me a great deal of Jimmy Crawford, former Lunceford drummer, now playing with the Army Band at Camp Kilmer. He's known as Struttin' Sam and plays drums with the band at the 19th Hole, after doing a dance act, interspersed with some coon-shouting. He has a steady beat and really pushes. Sam, whose name is Nelson Cannon, has led bands, notably at the former 101 Ranch, at 139th Street 46