Variety (Feb 1941)

4» Wednesday, February 5, 1941 Band Reviews PAUL WHITEMAN OBCH. (18) . With Ann Sutherland Colonial Inn, Hallandare, Fla. This is a new PaulWhiteman,,. It's ?erhaos his best:dance ; band in years, fs as modern as 1941. New blood, iresh arrangements, peppery rhythm and thoroughly solid in every re- spect. : P:ovipi: that'nelther tjme nor tide can- dim the. K.ihgOf Jazz> 1 Excepting for Mike. Pingitpre who; Whitemari states, will, always have a job with Him. it's all fresh Local 802 fodder: . .It : s. a zingy setup of four -.violins, four- reeds,r four .brass, .Ave. rhythm '■: including- a. .crack ;.Cuban drummer: when the. band converts Into ^n equally fancy' smaller' unit tor the congaihuniba tempo's.. The four strings become _seven through doubling by the reed section: There's klso a relief, bianist to round put the 18 '. ■ personnel in addition to Ann Sutherland, who chants a nice vocal; 'As fr .Whiteman's batoning for the three-ply, stellar,, lineup that Ben Marden. transplanted from: his Riviera in Jersey, to this hew Colo- nial Inn on' the Federal Highway at Hallandale, Fla.. some 20 miles from Miami, the maestro is too veteran a hand not to do- better than- an- aver- age showmanship job. He's a dig-: hifled personality on the podium to back up Sophie -Tucker; Harry Rich-; man and Joe E. Lewis; he himself gives the show eclat With the Gersh-. . winv'Rha'oso.dy', teeoff; and: he's ever nn excellent foil in supporting. the - stars and: other talent throughout the three:flpbr shows.nightly* in addition to his own dance sessions. ■ \: Whiteman went , into -temporary retirement for several months after breaking, ub his old -combo. This date marks his.emergence 'frjom-self" imposed Coventry and he's a cinch for . trie bi<» /leagues all oyer again. The Babe Ruth, of .bounce has bounced right back with this setup: and after the Florida season, when he goes to the Hotel Roosevelt, New Orleans, etc., the rest Of the coun- try will see and hear a 'new* -Paul Wiiiteman: the 'hear* part contingent on the ASCAP. situation, of course. Abel. is. split so ; that- Eddie Heintel and Clark'Brown are .on. trumpet, Ralph Palmer on trombone. Fritz Gehl is stationed -at bass,. Bill : Weber ..on drums, and Austin. .O'Donnell at piano! .' . " ■Dancers find- the .Becker; music: easy for them, good enough to get response from the young- jumpers, yet with a number Of arrangements that will present no difficulties for the oldsters to. follow. .. ' „. ';". Becker'^, main forte Would be ballj rooms, considering his volume; and the straight manner 'of playing with- out shbw numbers. :.-'-.:■ Art. Mrs. Maiid Loses Point vs. at RUDY RUDISILL ORCHESTRA (11) With Jean Gordon Turnpike Casino, Lincoln, Neb. Once part of the comedy with Jan Garber's band, Rudy Rudisill, hut : pianist, is i now fronting his own group, libraried with music of the same ' style as the Garber arrange- ments with which.'he was associated so long: Besides Rudisill, other Garber. alumni \it the outfit include Jean Gordon; brightly attractive and; nice voiced girl singer, and Lew Palmer on the drums. Rudisill's group has one novelty in its man-power which probably isn't duplicated in another entourage in the country—his reed, section. It's composed Of four brothers—Sher- man, Robert; Richard', and. Albert Dix. . .■■ ■:..'":-;-.'. / . Trumpet men are Russ Walden and Don Ferrell. with Paul Potzick on. bass, and Bob JDale at trombone. Palmer is the. heater, and Rudisill manfully hammers the piano into; musical submission. . In addition to a large number of the pod tunes, Rudisill, in this . day of BMI bringing out: a lot of. tunes never heard before anyway, has en- couraged his' - boys, to write' a few originals into the supply. Many of them are creditable, efforts and draw applause. Palmer is the leadoff male voice, although there are others who "aren't shy at. the* .mike, but it's- to Jean Gordon the band looks for toting, of the vocal load. She's a brunet with sparkle; and a showy physical make- up., augmenting her. capable chirping. Rudisill's bunch, modelled as it is after Garber; has the same appeal; and is up to giving any buyer satis- factory response in patronage. " . • "- ' Art.. ■ ■ Maud Lambert Ball's" plea Tor per- mission to' examine , Gene Buck) president of the American Society of Composers,' Authors and, Publishers; before trial; in order to. allow her to frame a complaint against ASCAP, w>s denied .yesterday^^(Tues.) ; by Jus- tice Philip. J, McCopk, in N. Y, su- preme court.. Plaintiff is the widow of ; Ernest. R. Ball who: wrote several hundred songs between: 1903-1927, the year of His.death. .'v The plaintiff had sought td deter- mine her rights; Under, the copyright: act, | as to revenues, royalties, and renewal . rights;•'. Which -she claimed were , due her. Ah : affidavit of Her- man Fihkelstein, of counsel for ASCAP! declared that Bali; cut the plaintiff out of his will, leaving her nothing at all, and that Jessie Mae White, Ball's first wife, two sons-and a daughter are (receiving '■: one-third; each pn ASCAP royalties. . Roland Ball, one of. the .sOns ? .Fihkelstein argued; questions Whether his father ever married Maud Lambert Ball, nor is any proof available that he ever secured a divorce from his first wife. Finlc^Isteih- : also..questioned plaintiff's right to; come In now after 14 years of Ball's death. . (Presented herewith, as a weekly tabulation, is the estimated cover :: charge business being done by name bands in various New York hotels. Dinner business (7-10 P.M*>' not fated. Figures after name of hotel give room capacity and cover charge. Larger'amount designates weekend and holiday price.) : -• v .-. ' Cover*' . Total W«ki Past Corora. Plrtj ed IVrolt On l)nte . 4■ ■■ , 525 : . 2,473 ,,. 3 ; 1,275 3,825 ... 3 1,300 '■■ 4,800 .-.;17 1.325 .22,700 .; 6 - 1,875 , 11,725 ..; 2 2;575 - 4,725 ': . .18 ; 650 . . 7,750. ■ Baaa Hotel Orrjn Tucker.Blltmore (300; $1-$1.50), ; ..... Leighton Noble...Waldorf .(375; $l-$lMX.v..... • Lani Mclntire*..,.Lexington' (300; 75cr$l:50).'.... Guy Lombardo..". Roosevelt (500; $1t$1.$0 ) • ..... Woody ..Herman*.. New Yorker ;(400;. 75c-$K50), Jimmy Dorsey ....Pennsylvania (500; 75c r $1.50)., Tony Pastor;.Lincoln (225( 75c-$1.50).; 'DANCER' SONG SUIT Columbia Records and Band In In-r frlngementClaim dn the Upbeat Jack; Renard-returned to the dance band field': starting tonight (11) with Boston men and. will play for. regu- lar dancing every -Saturday at Rose- land-State Ballroom, Boston, and on Tuesdays for Waltz Nights at the same spot., together With, one-night-, ers in New England, in addition to his regular Friday night chore with Abe: Lyman's Waltz Time 'program on WEAF-NBC red network. BILL CARLSEN ORCHESTRA With Mickey Dowd . Terrace Grill. Hotel Muehlebach Kansas City, Mo. , ♦ ■■ A newcomer to this supper spot Is the Carlsen crew , which makes its usual anchorage arbund Chi. For- merly Carlsen went in for the Show type band aiming 'at' theatre dates with singers, special .acts and singing' ensembles. Within , the past year, however, he has executed an about - face and has organized hi$_ band along the lines requested by ball- rooms, hotels and clubs.. He carries ten men besides himself and Mickey Dowd, Who is a definite asset as a singer. : In its K,C. engagement the band showed itself a .sprightly and lively crew, capable of. playing the many varied rhythms requested by pres- , ent day; dancers. Thus the crew swings from a fox trot to a. conga and to a novelty number in the same set without, any particularly empha- sized' style but rather with an ef- fort to concentrate on the mood or style of the particular composition.. Characterization of the Orch in Words would lir-t it as a lively, sweet out- fit as indicated by the prominence of its reed ''section,' In which the leader takes a noteworthy part. Work, of- Mickey Dowd handling the .sir' T .in'» assignments is .Outstand^ ing and gives this band a marked ad- vanta?ev Though short on stature measurements, Dowd has an attrac- tive phiz and sings. Irish lyric tenor In th» style of Donald Novis and Jack Fglton. His "best work, natur- ally, is on the ballads, but he works ... frequently and gets off the Latin and novelty'.tunes nicely^ as well. Reed foursome includes Eddie Bahr."Paul Peregrfn.and Harry Iver? son, who also clefts some of the ar- rangements. Brass has Jack BOnnett, Roy Peters. OJie Turner on trumpets and Jimmv Birchon' trombone. Rhythm section lists Lee Simmons at the P'ino, Harold Kussius itldrums Leo Shuk'in composing the music ■ and. .PHipA-rnew on bass. Carlson ,-f or 'New York Town' at Paramount, handles, the clarinet and sax: while " on the stand and also makes entries" in the arranger's book. \ Qtitn... ,. Eugene Jelesnlk and his 'tele vision orchestra opened Monday (3) in -the Ionian Room of the Deshler Wallick Hotel, Columbus; for in definite stay. Replaces Jimmy Rich ards. who moves on south, to Tampa Terrace in Florida. ; . • ' Asterisks indlcite a supporting/loo^^ major drdu;. ; '. : :.; ' : ':r: ■-' . ♦ ♦♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ f ♦ » > ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ . ♦ ' ♦ ' ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ > ♦ ♦ » ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦♦♦» > »♦ tt u on une-ragmers »♦♦♦♦♦♦»♦♦♦»♦»»♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦»»♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦♦»♦»»»♦♦♦♦»♦> »>» Lawrence Gellert filed suit yester- day (Tues;)' in N. Y. federal court against Columbia Recording Corp., John Hammond, Of Columbia, and Joshua White, leader of Joshua White's Carolinians; seeking an in- junction, accounting of profits and damages for alleged infringement Of his song,; 'I Hear Danger. Singing,' Tjy recording it. : Plaintiff published a book In Octo- ber, 1939; called 'Me and My Cap- tain, Negro Songs of Protest,' con- taining the song over which the con- troversy has arisen. Both the book and song were, copyrighted. Rudolf Frlinl, Jr., and his. musical crew Were signed to play in a Souridie for the Mills projector out- fit.. Russ Morgan follows Glen Gray and the- Casa Lonia orchestra into the Palladium, Hollywood;. Music Notes . Sam Coslow turned in three tunes for the RooseveltrMills sOundies. TSitties are 'Jive, Little Gypsy, Jive,' 'What the Country Needs' and 'I Am in Love With a Song.' Jimmy Dodd sold his Song, Thirty-Two-Fifty a Month,' as a duet for' Buddy Rogers and Shirley Deane.' .. Robin & Rainger are waxing three, tunes for the 20th-Fox picture. Tall, Dark and Handsome,' to be' used-in plugging the'■.-fllni;'' HOWARD BECKER OBCH (11) : Turnpike Casino, Lincoln,. Neb. . Musical trend established by the late Hal Kemp has its mark well im- printed on Howard Becker's Orches- tra, njajority of whose membership consists of very young, instrumentpl- ly versatile: men. ..Becker,' himself. Is only 24, tall,' rangy, and packing nice voice to . fill the choruses with lyrical touches. . Nearly all the band's arranging is by Ivan Wabash (Washabaugh), who used :tO play in the entourage; but has how been studioed with pen and Werner Heyman .scoring 'That Un- certain Feeling' for Ernst Lubitsch: .' Peter Tinturin and Milton. Drake sold their song, 'You in' My Eyes,' to Columbia fbr use in 'Betty Co-Ed.' • Bernard : Hermann, who • didthe musical score for 'Citizen Kane,' has gone to -Death Valley to complete a symphony.: - Erich Wolfgang Korngold com poising the score for - 'The Sea Wolf' at Warners, George Stephan, ex-Alvino Rey trombonist, has joined Lee Shelley orch at Chez Ami, Buffalo. George Sedola returning from New York to take trombone chair with Harold Austin band, Buffalo.: Fenton Brothers signed with Junje Edwards, of Interstate. Orchestras, Inc., Boston. Layton Bailey, from Casino, Pitts- burgh, to Monaco's Cafe, Cleveland; replacing Doh Pablo's crew.' Legit a Racket SSContlnued from page 3jj= on In- the same, calm,. half-serious manner. 'Broadway producers stay in a legitimate racket, so they don't go to jail."-; They take a backer's money, put on a show nobody wants to see and at a cost beyond all rea- son. When it .flops they don't seem to mind; They.just* look around for another sucker . and do another flop show;:' ' \ \. . .';■•' 'DO yo.u realize, that .'more than $1,000,000 has been thrown away so far this season • Broadway? Thrown away on plays that never had a chance, Shoddy, flimsy, artifi- cial trifles that even the producers themselves, in many cases, knew, could never succeed. Who. does it help to put on shows like; that? . 'Maybe the producer makes a quick profit, but he damages his' reputa- tion, his integrity and his self-re specf. It doesn't, help the authors, the actors, nor. the, directors, design ers, stagehands or even the theatre owners—at least not more than ..tern porarily; .: In; the meantime,, it de- frauds . investors; who have been hoodwinked into putting their It's a paper; assigned the job of keeping T Richard Ullman, Jay. Gorney and • the library up to date. In those Bernard Simon sold five songs to be ; places; where sorig Is demanded, and Warbled, in. 'Hang Out the Moon' at 1 money into, such ventures, Becker chooses to step aside, Mac. bko. Ditties are 'Home Is Where.! crime that. :n. a country which is con- Harris lays, aside his sax and comes, y 0u Ha n g Your Heart,' 'Hiawatha;' centrating its effort and wealth' on to the.mike; Good, too. _ - •'Hang Out the Moon,' 'I Don't Mind national defense so much money ^«W S H» e r^ aI nfro Detwile? anff If I Do,' and 'The Chicken or the . should be thrown away in a racket IChSHelntel ^^^^ ^ ■ .1 ,SerIin. stirred his coffee for-a few . Bobby. Byrne -(Ricker Gardens,- Portland, Me., Jan. 29). Band.; turned up With a disappointing 400 attendance. It got estimated $280 at 65c-75c; Flu understood hurting thai territory. (Metropolitan theatre, Providence, R. I., Jan. 30-Feb. 1). Band did a fair 14,000, approximately, in three days here skipping around $3,500 through, the b.o. at 25c-68c. Byrne's Raleigh . radio broadcast : Was : done' from stage. '.• Larry Clinton '(Capitol a;, Johnstown, Pa., Jan. v 30).:":- Clinton -rounded; up : nice crowd of 1,088 at 99c .Oh his way throufih to Feb. 7 opening at ! Chicago's Sherman hotel. ' . Del Courtney (Turnpike Casino, Lincoln, Neb.; Jan. 31). Good weather, and easing: of .universlty:"exams. helped Courtney do okay 600 or so at 75c for. $410 take. -v ;' ^V>; ; : ; : Fenton Brothera (RKO Boston theatre, Jan.; 30-Feb. 2). In company-with five acts vaude Fentons did- satisfactory, but unexciting $6,500 in four days at scale ranging from 28c-33c-44.c-55c. George Hall (Auditbrium, Macon, Ga-;. Jan; 30). Fine $2,900 gross re-, suited from Hall's stop here. He packed in 3,200 at- $1 general, $1.50 and , 75c, tables and balcony. ! -' " ■ ■ ■; ' ''''. Sammy Kaye (Sunhybrook B;, Pottstdwh, Pa., Feb. 1). Kaye is liked in',' this area and it showed in the 2,487 he drew here at $1.10.' ; Vincent Lopes (20th-century Theatre. : Buffalo,. Jan. 30-Feb. 1). Lopez . group, accounted for okay 12,000 people in three days, drawing, about $4,500 at 40c top. House is a 3,000-seater.. - Johnny McGee (Cambridge, Md„ Armory, Jan. 29).. McGee' did nice , enough $540 gross at hop for which 180 of 360. admissions sold went for. $3 per. ' -.-;.:,■; ■. ' '; ' ' Jimmy Lnhceford. (Auditorium, Savannah, Ga., ' Jan. 30). At prices ranging from. 65c in advance and 75c and 99c at door Lurtceford took in around $1,250 from 2,000 stub buyers. Little less than half were sold in advance. . . . Red Nprvo (TOtem Pole B., Auburndale, Mass;; Jan.' 31-Feb. 1). % Norvo clicked solidly with. gross ; Of $2,410 in. two days', getting 1,650 hoppers Friday and 2,320 Saturday. Tap, $1.35 a couple. Boyd Raeburn (U. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Jan. $1). Interpo Ball, gave Raeburn nice gross of $963 with about 385' couples at $2.50 a pair. Some were on free list. Dick Rogers, Bea Wain, Mable Todd. (Lyric theatre, Bridgeport, Conn., Feb. 2). Trio did about average 4,985. people at 44c and 55c, running gross up to around $2,253. moments while the babble of diners flowed back and forth in Sardi's restaurant.. Then, he said, 'The only way the situation can be corrected is. for the. creative people to. get to- gether, to cooperate for decent con- ditions. We'll haye tb do away, with the businessmen, the promoters who exploit: the theatre for their own selfish interests, . I don't know how it should be done. Maybe as a national, theatre. Maybe fn some other form. But : it will hf.ve to be done ulti- mately, if honest investors are. to have a fair chance for their money.'. Serlin isn't envious of any other producers 'who have hits. 'The more hits there are the better for every- one,' he says. 4 I don't' think. a new cOmedy hit would hurt business at Life With Father.' If anything, it would help. I'd like to see 70 or more theatres running in New York, as there Were years ago.' He doiihts If he would go to many of them, but he would like to see ihem open; ,' 'In Theatre for Fun' ; 'There are lots of plays I have no desire to see,' he explains. 'And there are lots of others I see. and .enjoy, biit wouldn't want to produce! I have no interest in doing a play merely for the possible .profit. I'm in the theatre for fun, Hot just for : money. ; So • I want to do only Certain kinds of plays, ones with a particular quality; Therefore it will be harder for me than for most producers to find suit- able plays. I doubt if im be able to get the plays I- want in the normal way. Probably I'll have to find the proper material and have someone adapt it for me, as. I did with 'Life With Father;' Right now I have the Nijinsky play, whibh rm: waiting for Clifford Odets to do, and 'Dutch Vet,' which is not ready, either. 'But I'm: in no hurry. *Life With Father* is a full-time occupation. It's still holding up here In New York, and' seems good for many more months in Chicago. The Boston com- pany will apparently last another three Or four weeks there, after which we'll take it to Philadelphia. But this thing is only starting; With the exception Of two Weeks at differ- ent times in Baltimore, the show has played, only three cities. It not only has any number of. return engage- ments in Baltimore and Boston, but it has the entire rest of the eountry to play. I have nO idea how long it will, run in New York and Chicago. That's anybody's guess.' Brushes Off Pic Sale People keep. asking . Serlin about selling the picture rights to the play. 'I have no interest in selling now,' he remarks. 'One film executive couldn't seem to understand it when I refused even to discuss an offer. He kept wanting to know why. I merely said, 'Why should I?' 'There are other by-products, of the play, though. For instance, we haven't sold any radio rights, but we* worked up the idea Of a 'Famous American Fathers' program.. We couldn't 'produce it ourselves, so we turned it over to a regular radio pro- ducing office, and Howard Lindsay has been starring in the series. And maybe.;. I shouldn't talk .about this, because it's still supposed to be a secret, but I hear there's a. deal on for some big company to. sponsor it; on a national network.' Shuberts Unhappy? .; : Serlin isn't worried about his feud with the Shuberts over his booking of 'Father' in independent houses in NeW York and' brt the road. . 'It's worked out very well at the Empire here/ he says: quietly, .'and we've made money on theatre operation as well as : on the show at the Black- stone in [ Chicago and the : Repertory in Boston:; We? have the Walnut, which I ; regard as the best house in Philadelphia, and I ahi confident that we'll be able to get house's in other tpWns. If not v . we'll see whether the local managements Want to stick, along With the. Shuberts arid theret>y lose a Sure smash hit.. or whether, they'll put pressure on the UBO to jive us fair, terms at their houses.' . The- producer paused a moment and smiled slightly at that point be- fore Observing:' 'By the way, the Shu- berts haven't had a Very good season with their theatre Operation so far during 1940-41. Except for musicals; they've had' hardly any " profitable shows in their New York houses.