Great Players That 1930 sound

[PatrickDA]

I don't know about 'Great Player' but this is a neat solo (between 1.06 and 1.40, just before Nat Gonella's solo) in a style we never hear today. I cannot work out who the player is - any ideas or comments on the style.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuVI0txBUro

 

[rhysonsax]

I don't know who the soloist on the recording was.

I used to think that this sort of stuff was terribly corny but I quite enjoy it now.

You would probably only hear something comparable in a tribute style band these days. As you're in Dorset you are probably in reach of the good old Swanage Jazz Festival. I used to enjoy sneaking out of the mainstream/modern tent to go and hear (the late) Keith Nicholls with a band of his like this in the trad tent:

View: https://youtu.be/_nMw9j66mc4


Or there is the Pasadena Roof Orchestra:

View: https://youtu.be/oYT0_D4QZd0


Rhys

 

[lydian]

Could be Frank Kenyon or Mike Burberry. Rudy Wiedoeft was probably the most famous player of that style back then.

 

[PatrickDA]

Thanks for that. My step-father had a band just before WWII and I have loads of records from that era but not much info on band members. Mike Burberry is certainly a name I've heard. Could also be Ronnie Coulbertson.

 

[DavidUK]

...and then someone lowers the tone...

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8iDgMuLFyHQ

 

[lydian]

Thanks for that. My step-father had a band just before WWII and I have loads of records from that era but not much info on band members. Mike Burberry is certainly a name I've heard. Could also be Ronnie Coulbertson.

That's great. My dad also had a huge collection of 78s from that era. My trad jazz combo plays this sort of thing all the time. I play bass sax in that group, ala Adrian Rollini. For inspiration, I listen to a lot of Bix and a few modern groups like Tuba Skinny. I try to play authentic solos, but never quite mastered that exaggerated swing feel or lightning fast tonguing. I figure nobody in the audience will know the difference if I put a bit of a modern spin on it.

@DavidUK , I also do my best Boots Randolph impression on tenor when my sax quartet plays Yakety Sax, which was in our set just last week. It's good to be able to play lots of styles so you can fit into any situation.

 

[Colin the Bear]

English dance bands aren't strictly jazz. There's a group on face book for English Dance band enthusiasts.
Might it be a melody C in the example?
Tuba Skinny are very New Orleans style and Trad is quite different again. Minefield.
Billy Cotton's big band was on telly quite a lot in my youth. I seem to remember he couldn't do his bottom belly button up. Wakey wakey. His son Bill Cotton was a tv executive I seem to remember and a quick google revealed a family link to Fearne Cotton. Small world.

 

[thomsax]

in a style we never hear today.

Maybe this style to play saxophone went out of fashion when the music industry changed in the early 30's? The big dance halls took in the big band jazz. The recording technique became better. More music was consumed via radio. The major saxophone manufactors had new models of saxes in mid 30's. The Afro-American tradition conquered North America and most parts of Europe ...... This is just my own thoughts.

English dance bands aren't strictly jazz

I think it goes for Rock & Roll -, Blues bands as well. And that is not a bad thing.

 

[Colin the Bear]

If you like this style of playing, check out another big name from the British Dance Band era. Ambrose.
This one from 1931 was a big hit in my youth.

View: https://youtu.be/GDIpkz6DOi8

 

[Colin the Bear]

And once heard who could forget Henry Hall? Marvelous Bass sax melody

View: https://youtu.be/dZANKFxrcKU

 

[Colin the Bear]

Jack Payne and his Orchestra were big too. I seem to remember Peter Skelton doing a version of this in the 1970's

View: https://youtu.be/veDSIOY6fbI

 

[Colin the Bear]

That one was a Ray Noble composition. Another big name in the 30's golden era. Al Bowlly sang in the Ray Noble band.
One of my favourites.

View: https://youtu.be/Y7zMnj7r4SA

 

[nigeld]

And let's not forget Victor Sylvester

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzMjWREX69E

 

[Targa]

Delete.
A moment's senility set in, had a lie down now.

 

[thomsax]

I like to listen to this (old) type of music. My friends use to say that I just want to play music that was popular in the 50's, 60's and early 70's.

 

[PatrickDA]

Let's not forget Harry Roy and Roy Fox and most especially Nat Gonella

 

[Colin the Bear]

Victor Sylvester. Strict tempo ballroom dance. Another sub genre.

 

[turf3]

Yes, the strict-tempo guys can be a hoot. I was in one dance band and we had this gig for a serious ballroom dancing club (like, the real real thing including the ladies in the fancy outfits, and the deal where doing the Latin styles they whip their heads from side to side, etc.) - and after about two numbers this little old man came up to the bandstand, mad as hell because we were not playing dance styles at their EXACT specified tempos (I mean, if the US Ballroom Dance Association or whoever says a waltz is 126, it damn well better fall between 125 and 127!). After that the bandleader always had a list of MM markings and a metronome on the stand for those kinds of gigs. I don't know how we got through that first one - I think the drummer had an electronic nome (not common in those days) and the leader had him click off each tune.

 

[lydian]

And once heard who could forget Henry Hall? Marvelous Bass sax melody

View: https://youtu.be/dZANKFxrcKU

Love it. My group plays a very nice arrangement of this.

 

[jbtsax]

Thanks for providing information about "big bands" from an earlier era in the UK. I had not heard of any of them before today. The more I learn---the less I know. 🙂