Variety (Oct 1928)

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Wednesday, October 10, 1928 MUSIC VARIETY 53 Paul Whiteman s Concert Perhaps a bit too self-conscious and Jazz-mlhde<l, the inception of Paul "Whiteman's third transconti- nental concert tour at Carnegie Hall Sunday night was Tione the less a momentous occasion, a note- worthy perforriiance.and a thrilling eyent. The hall was a sell-out. The 7,000-seat stubs .had been cleaned frprh the racks almost a week prior to the concert. Whiteman's return to concert, at with the "George Gershwin Con- certo in F for piano and orchestra (which Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphony presented last winter with the coniRoser at the piano), in addition to Ferdie Grpfe's new jazz fantasie, "Metrop- olis," as the particular features, made little difference seemingly that Whiteman had been playing around for PubHx in the picture houses at 75 cents. Proving what an institution Whiteman is. And as an institution the Wliite- man orchestra i.svissured of a suc- cessful season even though some of the features on . this particular program did hot quite hit'the mark. There were several things the matter with it. The Gershwin Con- certo in F, for all of Roy Bargy's digit dexterity at the pianoforte, wa:s brilliant only In-spots. As for Grofe's own "Metropolis," its maiden performance was distin- guished only by the composer-ar- ranger's brilliant orchestration work. . Ferdie Grofe has been the orchestral mainstay of the White man organization, and his colorlul arrangements have long since com- manded enviable attention. It was Grofe's contribution to the Gersh win . concerto which most . consist- ently impx-essed the .auditor, al- though the dominating theme strain, what there is of it, ap preaches the verve and the isparkle of the now- famous Gershwin "Rhapsodie in Blue." When Damrosch first presented the GeTshwin Concerto, in .F its scoring for a symphony orchestra did not show it off as cameo-like as does Grofe's orchestration for Whiteman's concert ensemble of ?.5 (augmented to 35 for the Xew York concert). Similarly, Grofe revealed himself, as a composer with his superb arrangcrhent of "Metropo- . lis." Grofe did a passively .satis factory job of the composition, al though not parring- his preceding "Mis.sissippi Suite," which had the natural advantage of an historic and folklore background. in "Metropolis" Grofe sought to Interpret the musical cacaphony of a buzzing city and at times did it quite well. At other times it missed its purpose completely. At al' times the orchestration dominate* the composition. Probably intended for subtle sar casm, the introduction is captioned "Yes, Jazz Is Savag*?," presenting a medley of the melody fox trots in chiaracteristic Wlvitemanesauc symphonic jazziatie, wliich made him and he made famous, They are "Whispering," "Japanese Sand- man," "Avalon," "Do You Ever Think of Me?" "Who?" (with vocal trio) and "Linger Awhile," which contrasted effectively with the bar baric tom-toms preceding tl rendition. The second group, of .songs "Sugar," "Gypsy" and "Tiger Ra had expo.sitions of rhythmic, fox trot ballad and torrid jazz. The Gershwin Concerto in three move mcnts ran 25 minutes with Roy Barpry as soloist. A fourth group of pop arrangements introduced Ch arles G ay lord • and -1 r i o fMr • th! vocal interlude of Walter Donald son's "Melody Out of the Sky Chester llazlett, saxophone soloist presi'nted his own "Valse Ijispira- tion," and "Melancholy Baby' closed the first- half. "Metropolis," nmning lo rninutes. eopened the second portion. Grofe developed this "Blue Fantasie in E flat" from two tliemes by Harry parris Cbf Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys) and Matt Melncck, ioUnist-arranger of Whiteman's orchestra. Leon Bix Belderbecke's. "In A Mist" for three pianos wa? an in- strumental interlude with the com- poser, Bargy and Leonard Hayton at the ivories. It was just .so-so. "The general enthusiasm which ran produced a volume response not al- together consistently proportionate with the general merits. Wilbur Hall, the Whiteman clown, made pumpee with a bicycle pump a Grofe • oddity entitled "Free Air"—variations based on noises from a garage. Hall was a welcome nterlude and encored with his fid- dle nonsen.se. ' Two popular request numbers, 'Chiquita,'' beautifully scored, and Ray Henderson's ."American Tune" from . "Scandals," wound it up to the degree that the enthusiastic audience forced an encore by audi- ble demand of Gershwin's "Rhapso- die In Blue." The ovation exceeded five minutes in length. A,fter White- man's jocular proffer to tear up the .seats and stage a dance, he re- sponded to renewed requests for the . Gershwin rhapsodie, causing the exiting attendance to scramble baic.k to their seats. Whiteman's concert tour Is being liandled by F. C. Coppicus as be- fore. William Morris is Whiteman's thealtrical. tOur manager and James F; Gillespie, the personal rep- resentative. F. C, Haas, represent- ng Coppicus, travels with the troupe. The Whiteman persdnnel at the Carnegie concert, include a battery of 12 violins, brass team of eight, six reeds, two pianos, two bass (string an<3 tuba), two banjos, and the usual percussions and tympani. Regardless of critical captious- ness or the technical components, Whiteman is. always box-offlce, al- ways was and will continue so to be, as Whltieman is no longer ex pcrimental; he is standard. He is a staple at the paying gate ah Whiteman, for all of the concert hooey and hi-hat aura of the saint ed preciiicts of Carnegie, is too much the showman to concern him- self about such things, so long a.s he is creating di-scussion. Fact re mains, he is pioneering and always has been with a super-Jazz organi- zation, keeping in a class by him .self and a universal figure whose name synonymously suggests the ultra-modern In American music. After ail, Whiteman is primarily a rhythmic exponent. His orchestra is attuned to the jazz tempo. If this tempo is symphonized and glorified to approach symphony, it still is basically jazz, and It Is manifestly in error to judge Whiteman by anj' other standards. Some of the harsh professional opinion from the critical gentry is patently founded on strict standards of musical values. When Whiteman was still' an "experiment," when he was regarded as somewhat of freak among concert attractions the reactionary attitude was kind lier, more tolerant, less captious Perhaps the ■ present attitude is Whiteman's penalty of fame. He is as .standard in his field as are Sou.sa a.nd Goldmann in theirs. But with It all, as an attraction regardless of the Individual quality of the more ambitious works Whiteman is box-ofl?ice. The Sun- day .sell-out after playing so lo.ng at the Paramount, on Broadway, a 75c top proves that, Indisputably. Abel. Music Sales Spurt Applejack Killed Boy; Bootlegger Suec A Trenton, N. J., blind pig Opera tor Is being crimlhally proceieded again.st as the result of the death o Chris MIcMahon, 24-year-old .singer and drummer with Ben Bernie's or chestra; for selling the lad 20 apple jacks in succession which induced his death. : Troubled with a weak heart as h was, the applojack home brew fin ished him. Tho Bernle band wa playinur in the presentation houso at Trenton that week. Mi'Mnhon had ju.'^t joined P.f-rni as one of the Tliree Speed Bnys. Music biz'is up again. Songs are selling well generally. Two- picture theme numbers, "Jean- ine, I Dream , of Lilac Time," and "Angel Mia"' are the big leaders. Others ,holding up. are "Girl of My Dreams," "King for a Day." "Memories of France," "There's, a Rainbow Round My Shoulder," "Sonny Boy." "That's My Weakness Now," "Get Out and Get Un- der the Moon," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "Ten Little Miles From. Town," "Old Man Sunshine," "Ramc>na," "Roses of Yesterday," "Nea- politan Nights," "Sidewalks of. New York," "Forgetting You," "Out of The Da-wn." "New Moon" music and "Ah! .Sweet Mystery of Life." , fictor's Operatic Discs Falling Off in Sales ■\Mctor's red sea;l bu.slness, f. e. standard and operatic artists, has been considerably off. The concert nd opera people haven't been se'l.i- ing well at all oh the discs. Victor is concentrating,on reviv- ing that branch of its record bu.si- ness. Only one artist, Enrico Ca- ruso, has been holding up. This s the more remarkable considering the past proved conclusion that with the death of an opei'atic star, his or her records almost imme- diately lose their commercial value, unless for a brief period following the news of the dfemlse. The standard record business with all the companies has been oft; The .recorders have some con.sola- tion In that the loss of revenue from one source has been more than balanced through the in- creased sale.s by popular vocalists and light salon instrumental re cordings. Dance disks are on an even plane but radio has brought about a startling boom In vocal records something never before encoun- tered. This was what led to the now universal rule that all popu- lar dance numbers bo canned with vocal choru.ses. The sole exciep- tions are the out-and-out instru mental numbers of lighter .sym phonic works or freak jazz com position.s. Only Guarantees Victor is sxperimonting their concert artists by assigning them better class popular numbers. Richard Crooks is being brought back with "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" and "Song of Songs." Tito Schipa, opera, is doing "Angela Mia," picture theme song. Reinald Wairrehrath IS handling "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" and a similarly light concert num- ber, and even John McCormack has done contemporary Tin Pan Alley ballads, on occasion for similar sales' reasons. Victor has been haying additional difficulty with the usual artistic temperament by the artists who, for their artistry, are not averse to the material return.s. When the royalty checks have been found dwindling of late there has been considerable ado from that source and attendant carelessness by the operatic and concert recorders as to whethe'r or not their stuff sells since - little.-more than their con- tractually guaranteed income has been forthcoming. The average guarantees have been a round $20,- 000 annually to the name songsters, and their annual gross sales on a royalty computation has just about made the guaranteed sum. Inside Stuff-Music Jclson On Screen and Disc Al. Jolson on ilu' srroen and disi* st'ems ontiroly difforont-.«iMii-(-'#'. On the screen Joltion is a box ofilce riot; on the phonograph disi- \\" \\:is a money flop for .the Tuakor, Brunswick, until recently. It's probably tho difference between tho story, heard and si on, with song, and the purely mechanical disc record. Yet whereas the Warner Brothers will run up millions in profit with the Joison talking pictures, so far Brunswick, with. Jolson's disi-s. has been $200;000 in the red, but augers well with the new "Singihg. Fool" recorded selections. Jolson's "Jazz Singer" can not fail to record a gro.s.s of ;f2,000,000 for the Warners even with the limited number of wired theatres at present, while $3,000,000 is predicted for Jolson's "Singing Fool." Thotse grosses may be more than doubled in time, as the number of wired houses in- crease, for each of the Jolson talkers is not limited by jVop. appeal of the songs, while they have the Jol.-^on. personality and ."inging. Weil's Theme for U. Film Tlieme sojig tov Univor-sal's "Melody of Love" talker is. heart." Miiton Weil Music Co. of Chicago will relea.se it. •-,Mv Swv-ei- Yiddish Composers . Molly Picon's new musical, "The Circus Gii'l," at the 2d Av.'nui' thie- atre, opened la.st week within the usual prescribed period :of two we(>ks' rehearsal. That's .all it takes to mount a Yiddi.sh musical, opening cold at their u.soal stands. One week is devoted to book rehearsing and another to songs and dances. Joseph Rum.^hinsky, the Sigmund Romberg of thi? Yiddish Iheatre, is again the oompo.ser, and has his 19-year-old son, Murray, in the or- chestra pit playing the piano. . I'he youth fashioned one of Ihe. sliow tunes and is i-egarded as a comer for Broadway composition. His father was and still is slinilarly regarded. One pr two of his tunes being .pub- lished by the Times Square music men, but the oO-year-old compo.ser Is too wrapped up in the VIddi.sh stage, -\\;here he Is king of his little sphere,, to be cohceined with the trials arid tribulations of busting in on Broadway. Bad for Symphonys Deluxe picture houses have nearly killed the symphony "'"iheslras In the ea.st. Tlie deficits hit the. backers such a wallop la.^'t season that three or four more amalgamations are being arranged for this winter. Another Herbert Wiedoeft Variety's correspondent in ■ Davenport, la., sent in a stoi-y hist week mentioning a .saxophone player named Herbert Wiedoeft had been reported by a local recruiting .station as-joining the United States Airtiy and a.ssigned to the 14th Cavahy Band at Fort Des Moines. Story men- tiohed this Wiedoeft as having appciai-ed with -Zev Confrey, Coon- Sanders and Ringling Circus. Herbert Wiedoeft, the well known bandsman who headed, his own orchestra on the P.-ifific Coast, died last April. He left a lO-ye.'n-^ohl son. with Theme Song in ".Hostess" . "Night Hostess,'' TMiil Dunning's night club-gambling casino' pUiy. has one of tho.se theme .songs. It Is called "Everybody's Buddy" after one of the leading rhar.uvtcrs .and is pl.-iyed and sung se-v'eral times during the action of the oonipdy drama. Collegiate Nite Club Course About the quickest way to hit the nite clubs is to go to.college, accord- ing to the large number of collegiate orchestras throughout the country. Latest is the Bob Finley orchestra, at the CastiUian Gai'dens on the Pclham road. New York. Besides FInley arc U youngstor.s, with the gi-oup called the Duke College orchestra. Duke college is .at Durli.am, N. C. A pamphlet says, the Finlry boys are rah rahs from: several colleges.- ■ . The. usual coll<>ge iiite '-lub. course appears to bO to go to coliof;(' until learning how to play an. instrument, then into an-orchestra and the resL Hagen's Cowboy Songs Milt Hagen, songwriter and playwright, l.s a guest at a western cattle ranch on his host's invitation after a suggestioH that a wealth of western and cowboy .songs abounds which, the ranch owner be- lieved, should dick with the public as strongly as the hill-l.rilly vogue did. Hagen has picked up some ditties althouRh faced with the proldem of denaturing the robustly bawdy lyric contents of the great majority. The typical cowboy song which relieves the monotony of a cow- puncher's exi.stence i.s usually aired while herding the cattle or sooMilng. a restless herd and in characteristic he-man from the wilden open spaces fashion, thfj-words are not exactly parlor language, allhou;;li llie doggerel airs have a homely .rhythmic appeal. Mrs. Spinelli's Decree New- Haven, Oct. 9. A divorce, change of name and alimony Was granted to Dorothy .'-^pinelli, crippled wife of Sal Spin- elli, local orchestra leader. Mrs. .Spinelll charged cruelty. Judge Booth threw out Spinelli's counter action. HERE AND THERE Title (,( the Kgyptiau SereiiiKh-rs | M. C. A.'S10 r,y the end of October, tlie Music i-i,y]t. of America will have 10 win tcr engagements in Ze'/^ Confrey opens fjther MCA bands ^ in Chi are ChicaKo wlK-n at the Opera Mail Order Firms Big Buyers of Pop Music Chicago, Oct. 9. Siiice opening general retail stores .Sears Roebuck Company and Mont- gomery Ward, the two largest mail order houses in the world, have be- come major buyers of popular sheet music. P.reviou.sly, their..niail.o^^^^ ness called for little pop stuff, .stick- ing almost exclusively to folk songs and classics bec.nuse of the rural trade. A CHOP HOUSE OF EXCEPTIONAL MERIT IB6-8 WEST 48TH STREET ■ Eaet •i Broadway ■ ,as been eh:.n«ed tn l-^ldie Kovn aud ] j,.^,;^,,.^.^. Blackhawk' eafe; lis KgypLian ^^■renad^■rs Kern 'Sjf,,^^, i.ombardo, Granada cafe: Ted ,i;mist in tins staff (... ^ ' Kdgcwater Beaeh; I'aul 'Utfit. Iac-1i f ivifntal! Fred Tfan-im. Soutli- i • Ihis" \\'i(=iner and hand new at .^uiiset Garden Ballroom, 1 )e-ri.iu.-e. O. Outfit broadcasts over WOWO. A.sh, Oriental; Fred iramm, South ! more hotel; Ray Miller, College • run; E.'iry Hoffman, Chez T'ierre; i Thelma Terry,- Golden I'umpkin, ;ind liuddy Fisher, Green Mill cafe Owl Trips Buddy Fisher Chica;go, Oct. 9. Swerving to avoid a live owl on the ' road, Buddy Fisher, orchestra leader, his wife and two children and two members of the orchestra were severely shaken and receivc(l minor injuries when their ear over- turned and somersaulted twice on the road between Sioux City and Davenport, Iowa, September 29. Although the car was wrecked, all members of the party wei-e }ible to continue to Chieago. 2 SUPPER SHOWS Louisville, (;e.t. !». ('roodi-ii-h Silvertowr. Cord (Jr- -rl [rostra- "f':Ir^<'r''ir'd"^ls=-WM■r■i^-en>.^ag«'"= ment at llie Kialto theatre here when the Hrown Hotel, whleh had employed them .'"or two weeks, re- fu.sed to allow lh<'m to leave iIm- hotel diu-ing the dinner hour. 'J'he lu.-iiiager (jf the ((••■•iic---l r;i said he had liiouulit tlie Iti-iHo li-'"' two-a-(Iii\ insieiid of iinee-.i (l;iy vaude. JOE ROBERTS PANTAGES CIRCUIT STOPS THE SHOW Witll Hi.s W Or.dOi-* li Pl.1>ir-g on His NEW SPECIAL' ''SILVER BELL" BANJO THE BACON BANJO CO. GROTON, COISN, Jesse Stafford AND HIS ORCHESTRA .=.Po r-m e r.ly^-=H e rb:^WJ ed.o e.f.tls^^ Now at Cinderella Roof Los Angeles, Calif. EXCLUSIVE B r a n 3 V/ i ck an d Vi. ii pi i on e Recordinof