Variety (December 1943)

42 ORCHESTRA GROSSES Wednesday, December '22, 1948 Bands Way Off But Savitt-Sinatra Hot 48y 2 G, Phitty; Garber 21G, Cleve. (Estimates for This Week) D'Artega, Omaha (Orpheum; 3,0u0; 20-65)—With 'Something About Sol- dier' (Col). Modest enough $11,500 or hear, but best grosser in ordi- nary lineup this week. Charlie Barnet, Pittsburgh (Stan- ley; 3,800: 30-75)—With 'Cross of Lor- raine' (M-G). Looks like one of WB deluxer's poorest weeks in years. Barnet will be lucky to get $12,300, session before Xmas pinning his ears back;*.'; - '. - Ted Flo Rito, Providence (Metro- politan; 3,200; 36r59)—Plus 'Trans- atlantic Tunnel' (GB). Fairly _good $6,300 in 3-day weekend'tuhTT:. r JT~ Glert Gray, New York (Strand; 2,- 756; 35-$1.10)—With 'Northern Pur- suit' (WB), and Willie Howard, oth- ers, On stage' (4th wk). Mild $30,000 but holds through to New Year's. Woody Herman, New York (Par- amount; 3,664; "35-$"i:i0)—With 'No Time for Love' (Par) (3d wkt), and Marion: Hutton, others, on stage. Sixth week for Herman and. Hutton. Good $42,000 for final week, Jan Garber, Cleveland (Palace; 3.- 700; 35-85)—With 'Crime School' (WB) (reissue): Only bill to hold up in a week of floppos, and has enough push in name value to garner satis- factory $21,000. Jimmie' Lunceford, Boston (RKO Boston; 3,200; 44-99)—Plus Mills Brothers, others, on stage, arid 'Rook- ies Burma' (RKO), Caught in sea- sorial slump to draw $22,000, film not figuring here. Jan Savitt, Philadelphia (Earle; 2,- 768; 65-85)—With Frank Sinatra, others, on stage, and 'Mystery Broad- cast' (Rep). May break house rec- ord here at tilted scale, with rousing $48,500 in prospect despite offish biz all over town at other houses. Obvi- ously the big magnet is Sinatra. ■ Raymond Scott, New York (Cap itpl; 4,820; 35-$1.10)—With 'Girl Crazy' (M-G) and Al Dexter, Bea Wain, Jackie Miles, on stage (3d wk) Robust $40,000, but doesn't hold fur- ther. v +.»»♦»»»♦♦»♦♦♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ »» \ Band Bookings ♦ ♦4♦♦♦♦♦ ♦ « i « ♦♦M Earl Mines, Dec. 27> South Street Casinoi Orlando, Fla,; 28, Club Wind- sor, Fort Lauderdale, Fla!; 29, Harlem Square Club, Miama; 30, Elite theatre, Winterhaven, Fla.; Jan, 3, City Aud.. Macon, Ga.; 4, Aud., Atlanta; 5, Municipal Aud., Birming- ham; 8-10, Brookley Field, Mobile,, Ala.' ■'■'.;'. V ' * V: ; '";':?.: ' V ' -'' : ; Count Basie, Jan. 3, Danceland, Montreal; 4, Aud., Ottawa; 5, Armory, Kingston, Ont, Can.; 6, Municipal Arena," TororitoTT- Aud".. 'Kitchener, Ont.; 8, Sports Arena, Rochester; 9, Aud., Buffalo; 10, Mosque, Harris- burg, Pa.; 11, Strand B., Baltimore; 12, Colonnades, Washington, D,C. Vaughn Monroe, Dec. 24-26, Lyric th e a tre, Bridgeport, Conn.; 28, 29, Masonic Temple, Scranton; 30, Geo. F. Pavillion, Johnson City, N, Y. Hal Mcln'tyre, Jan. 1, Longacre B„ Topeka, Kan.; 2, Pla-Mor B., Kan- sas City; 4, Surf B„ Clear Lake, la.; 5, Prom B;, St. Paul; 7, week Oriental theatre, Chicago; 14, week, Riverside theatre. '""„. ; ;■■ .':.;. ••;'.';.'■ ■:. Georgie Aiild, Dec. 31-Jan. 9, Ray- mor B., Boston. Duke Ellington, Dec. 26, Aud., Kansas City; 27, Municipal Aud., Kansas City; 31, four weeks, Stevens hotel, Chicago/ Louis Prima, Jan. 14, week, Stanley theatre, Pittsburgh; 21, Earle theatre, Philadelphia; 28, week, Howard the- are, Washington; Feb. 4-6, State the- atre, Hartford; 10, week, RKO Boston, Boston; 17, week, State the- atre, New York. 'Virtue Remains Triumphant As Cay '90s Tunes Rebound* A - By. - BEATRICE KAY A Music Dopt. Featur* in th* 38th Anniversary Numbir ■'■J. ■'' '.■:: -ofvv,. v 'i.'- (Post-war Show BusinesB Edition) Bands at Hotel B. O.'s (Presented hertwith, as a weekly tabulation, is th* estimated cover charge business being done by name bands in various New York-hotels. Dinner btuineM (7-10 p.m.) not rated. Figures after name of hotel give room capacity and couer charge. Larger amount designates weekend and holiday price. Compilation is based on period from Monday to Saturday.) - . Week) Band • V Hotel Flnyed Ray Heatherton. .Biltmore (400; $1-$1.50) ..v... .... .. . ,27 Lanl Mclntire*.. Lexington (300; 75c-$1.50) ,.......... 97 Sonny Dunham...New Yorker (400i $1-$1.50)......... 1 Tommy Dorsey... Pennsylvania (500; $1-$1,50)........ 11 Leo Reisman.....Waldorf (550; 52) 11 Count Basie......Lincoln (275; ?1-$1.50) 6 Guy Lombardo ..Roosevelt (400; $1-$1.50)............ 11 Enric Madrlguera Commodore (400; $1-$1.50)......... 5. Abe Lyman...... Essex House (300; $1-$1,50)... .....',. 4 Past Week 1,125 1,675 1,975 3,375 2,350 1,700 2,050 950 1,000 Coven On Knte 37,300 174,000 1,975 36,500 33,250 , 10,100 25,825 7,025 4,900 J995 R.R. TIX STOLEN FROM AYRES, ANDREWS 3 Thief with a lot of nerve stole ap- proximately $995 worth of railroad tickets from Mitch Ayres and An- drews Sisters last week and within a couple of hours had cashed the batch in-at the Santa Fe branch office. Be- side the tickets, Ayres lost Several TuTOred^llaT'^tr-mhT-takeri-from" his trunk backstage at the Majestic, San Antonio.- In addition to the loss of, the cash represented by the train tickets, group lost the travel privileges the tickets provided. By the time the theft was discovered, the Santa Fe had resold them. This left the band and singers in the position of being without transportation, String of pasteboards covered their entire route back to Hollywood, where they're due about the first of the year to make another film for Uni- versal with the Andrews Sisters. Jan Savitt arrived in Pittsburgh last week for his Stanley theatre engagement minus a sax, violinist and 'cello player, and used Harry Singer and Bunny Droun, from Stanley house orch, and George Curry, of the Pittsburgh Symphony. announces the opening of NEW OFFICES at 1619 Broadway, New Yorfe XOlumbus 5-5382-3 Personal Direction WILLIAM H. MITTLER Bandleader Wins $500 Verdict in Libel Suit Against Mass, Daily Springfield, Mass., Dec. 21 •Abraham Goldman . alias Robert Goldman, Brooklyn bandleader who is known professionally as Bobbie Norris, got a $500 verdict from a U. S. district court jury here this week in his $50,000 libel suit against The Republican Publishing Com- pany. Goldman, a member of local 802, sued because The Daily News called him a 'draft dodger' in a story detailing his arrest by the FBI on August 21, 1942. "■_•:* Goldman, now located in Balti- more, Md., was arrested for failing to notify his Brooklyn draft board that he had moved to West Spring- field, where his.ljahd was playing at the Wayside, The complaint was dropped when it appeared that' he had notified his draft- board that he had moved between the time the in- dictment was issued arid the time he was picked up by an FBI agent. The bandleader, who was "doubling .at_a—war_plant_job_here,_said—that the story made, him nervous and caused him such embarrassment at the plant that he bad to give up the job. He said that he had visited psychiatrists in ah . attempt to ,c.u.re, the condition and that a pain in the knee, shaking and sleeplessness were other results of the story. Goldman Is classified 4-F. ♦ Asterisk* indicate a supporting floor shoWv. New Yorker and Biltmore have ice shows. Waldorf has the Hartmans, Annamary. Dickey. Los Angeles Freddy Martin (Ambassador; 900; $1-$1.50). It was the week before Christmas and all over town people were flu-bound and covers faw down . to 3,400. p— :— -.—— • , joe Relchman (Biltmore; 900; $1-$1.50). None was spared, not even this spot -Call It 3,500. ;;'•;. ' '.C.^.A;'--'':^;''-^:' ^IJ' 1 ^:'^ ■;'/•-■.'' :y,--: Chicago ! . : - Griff Williams (Empire Room, Palmer House; 750; $3-$3.50 min.). Christ- mas slump felt here, but Williams pulled in very~"good 8,200. V»\ >.;;. '^Timmy Joy (New 'WaTnuTHoonv'Bismarck hotel- 4C5r$1.50:$2.5T)-m1Sr)r■ One of few spots where business has fallen off. Around 3,800 tabs. :';•■/ Johnny Lonf (Panther Room, Sherman hotel; 950; $1.50-$2.50 min.). Long proving big draw here, keeping figure in neighborhood of excellent 8,000. Nell Bondshu (Mayfair Room, Blackstone hotel; 400; $2.50 min.). Renee De Marco helped Bondshu fill room to capacity 3,600. Eddie Oliver (Marine Room, Edgewater Beach hotel; 1,100; 50c and 75o cover charge, plus $1.25 min.). Parties aided Oliver in packin' in another big 8,000. ' :,:,.:;. , ' •'',' ,''.:'; '.■.'■•v -'^ ■;>'.:'• ;■■.,■-"■'■ ' ^. :r -f -- W Location Jobs, Not in Hotels X'i-'r. ;.'"-.• (Los Angeles) v'_ Teddy Powell (Palladium B, Hollywood, third week). L. A. Examiner Christmas benefit accounted for 9,300 of the week's 25,500 total. Rain, flu and pre-holiday distractions cooled off this hot spot for the young 'uns. Fiankie Masters (Trianon B, Southgate, third week). Held up well con- sidering the time of year and, other impedimenta and should crack 6,200. Phil Harris (Slapsy Maxie's N, Los Angeles, seventh week). Still run- nlng strong and will better 4,500 tabs. -' " 1 > V . (Chicago) Lou Brees* (Chez Pares; 650; $3-$3.50 min ). Joe E. Lewis and Brees» have 'em putting tables on the dance floor. Capacity 5,800. " Del Courtney (Blackhawk; 500; $1-$2.50 min.). Business off du» to holt- days, but Courtney got good 4,500. • ; : '. ' / 1st of 'Back Room' Jazz Concerts Tins Season Clicks at N.Y. Town Halt GEORGE OLSEN and Orch (15) Aiagon Ballroom, Chicago In point, of y.e»ts..George, Olsen has been a bandleader for a long time, but rarely in his career has he had as good a band as the present one. He has completely changed his style to a sweet setup that dishes out well- modulated orchestra stylings without being too mickey-mousy or schmalt- zy. 1 Reeds dominate, giving the band a deep,- -smooth- tone, but-4he~band can also kick the heck out of the jump stuff with equal ease. : Three violins, four sax, four brass and three rhythm constitute the in- strumentation, and 1 , in Marshall Gill and Judith Blair, Olsen has a pair of vocalists that can cut almost any- thing. Olsen uses excellent judgirient injjrogrammihg also. Instead of con- stantly plugging the tunes: heard so much nowadays he mixes in excel- lently orchestrated numbers like 'Sil- ver Wings in the Moonlight,' 'Don't Sweetheart Me,' 'The. Dreamer,' 'Sweet Kentucky Babe,' 'You Discov- er You're in New York,' and others. Band is going over so well with the Aragon clientele that the Karzas firm has .signed Olsen for a long return engagement. Morg. Helen Ward, formerly with Hal Mclntyre's band, succeeds Judy Will- iams as vocalist with Harry James. By DON WALSH Town Hall (N. Y.) went T>ack room* again Saturday afternoon (18) when Eddie Condon brought a troupe of talented Jazz musicians In for the first of this season's four 5:30 p.m. concerts. In featured spots wero th« veteran Negro pianist, James P. Johnson, who paid a musi- cal tributs to Fats Waller, and song- stress Leo Wiley _In .thre« Gershwin songs. —As -at-previous-concerts -under- the- aegis of Ernis Anderson, jazz lov- ing ad agency exec, informality was the order of th« day, with Condon kidding tho performers, program, aucSisRC&'ar.S'-hisreelf,-as well as. *n. ambitious, stalking photographer who, the m.o. announced, was on the staff of a new picture magazine called 'Squint.' Master Sergt. Joe Biishkin from the 'Winged Victory' orch; musician 3d cl. Max Kaminsky, from the Artie Shaw Navy band; Georga Wettling, Bob Casey, Lou McGarrity, Pet Wee Russell and Condon opened the pro- gram with. 'Ballin' the Jack,' 'Love Around the Corner' and ..'Found, s; New Baby' don* in the approved small band style and featuring solos by one and all—except the guitar. McGarrity, forriier'''Goodman trom- bonist, mort or less took charge of this phase and it was regretted that he didn't stay around long enough to take part in the-free-for.-all fi- nale which bogged down in spots.. Three of the boys from Cafe Society Uptown were on hand—Benny Mor- ton, Edmund Hall and Sidney Catlett —and no one could find any fault with the way they perf omed, Catlett's smooth, -sprightly -drumming and Morton's powerful 'Night and Day' and 'Comin' Virginia' trombone solos were special applause winners. Bush- kin also kicked in with some dex- trous and-inventivs keyboard work backed by string bass and drums. Bobby Hackett was not in form for his spotlight shot, but perked up a little when backing up Miss Wiley and in.kiss-off jamboree. Johnson, with Wettling drumming, camt on after a record date which served to warm his nimbi* Angers up to con- cert pitch. His Waller medley was done straightaway and th* preced- ing announcement by Condon was handled th* Sam* way, with no dra- matics, , ;/';•; > '"• " •' ".'.'; Miss Wiley dressed up th* stage a little bit—th* boys were in sports togs for the most part (Kaminsky, Bushkin and th* Cafe Society delegation ex- cepted)—and her treatment of 'Got a Crush On You,' 'Someone to Watch' and 'Sweet and Lowdown' clicked all the way. Gate was only fair, but audience -was-a—well ..behaved-on*.; Nobody—- swooned and thar* was no stomping in the aisles or attempts to mount the stag*. Th* concerts are a good take- in for those who know and appre- ciate, .good, jazz. and. can .stand: th* ;. $1.65-$1.10 nut for privilege of lis- tening to it in concert surroundings. If It's in It'x An Important Turn'! JAN RUBINI World Famous VIOLINIST AND CONDUCTOR •Toot returned from entertaining oar flKlitln* hoy* la tlie South Faelflo. Now at Salt Lake Cltri Blr, Nevada: Spokane, Wash. Pec. 27, Palomar Theatre, Seattlei then Canada,