Casa Loma Orch. - Talk Of The Town, 1942

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The Casa Loma Orchestra was an American swing band active from 1927 to 1963. It did not tour after 1950 but continued to record as a studio group.
The band was organized in 1927, in Detroit, by Jean Goldkette, a French born pianist, who had over 20 bands under his name by the mid-'20s . The one which is remembered today was his main unit which recorded for Victor during 1924-29; that is the one who included Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and Joe Venuti and the legendary cornetist Bix Beiderbecke . In 1927 Paul Whiteman hired away most of Goldkette's top jazz players (including Bix and Trumbauer) and -- from the remaining musicians plus a few new ones (including the saxophonist, Glen Gray) Jean Goldkette organized the Orange Blossoms. However, in 1928 during their stay in Toronto, Canada, Glen Gray took over the leadership and the band had adopted the Casa Loma name, by the time of its first recordings in 1929, when it was the house band at Casa Loma in Toronto, which was then operating as a hotel.

From 1929 until the rapid multiplication in the number of swing bands from 1935 on, the Casa Loma Orchestra was one of the top North American dance bands, featuring trombonist Pee Wee Hunt, trumpeter Frank L. Ryerson, trumpeter Sonny Dunham, clarinetist Clarence Hutchenrider, drummer Tony Briglia and singer Kenny Sargent. Arrangements were by Gene Gifford, who also composed much of the band's book, Salvador "Tutti" Camarata and Horace Henderson. Their mid-1930s appearances on the long run radio comedy-variety program,The Camel Caravan (introduced with their theme, "Smoke Rings") increased their popularity.
Hits included "Casa Loma Stomp," "No Name Jive" and "Maniac's Ball". Part of the reason for the band's decline is that other big bands included in their books hard-swinging numbers emulating the hot Casa Loma style. In the 1940s the band featured guitarist Herb Ellis, trumpeter Bobby Hackett and cornetist Red Nichols. Jazz historians are currently researching and writing articles and books about the orchestra.


Recording: Glen Gray's Casa Loma Orchestra & Vocal Trio- Talk Of The Town (Jerry Livingston, Al J. Neiburg and Marty Symes), Decca 1942

Thanks to YT friend: fromthesidelines, I can add this important detail about the recording. It's what he writes:
The "Casa Lomans" originally recorded this for Columbia in 1933- this was the "remake", recorded for Decca on January 15, 1942, with Kenny Sargent (again) delivering the vocal, with chorus.....
Categoria: Musica

Tag: Glen Gray Jean Goldkette American dance band jazz age swing era 78s nostalgy