[ Jimmy Namaro Orch ], (40's)
b. April 14, 1915 or 1919, La Rosita, Mexico, d. 2003.
Instruments: Vibes, marimba, percussion, arranger, composer.
His family moved to Hamilton, Ontario, in 1921. He studied piano, and made his debut as a marimba player on radio station CHML Hamilton. During 1943-1959, Namaro was a member of The Happy Gang on CBC radio. He was bandleader or soloist on several other CBC programs. Namaro led Pop and light-Jazz groups in Toronto and New York, notably at the Polo Lounge and the Westover Hotel. Between 1947 to 1972, he recorded several records and was a popular performer on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In the late 1970s, he was living in San Diego, California. He was, at least in 1987, music director for Frankie Laine. Jimmy passed away in 2003.
Mr J. Litchfield has graciously submitted the above information on Jimmy Namaro, which was abstracted from Mr. Litchfield's own 'The Canadian Jazz Discography 1916-1980', published by the University of Toronto Press in 1982.

      [ Bert Niosi Orch ], (30's)
b. February 10, 1909, London, Ontario, Canada. d. August 3, 1987, in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Clarinet; Sax; Trumpet; Trombone; Flute; Composer; Arranger.
Studied with Prof. Pasquale Venuta, who also taught Guy, Carmen and Lebert Lombardo. When he was 12 years old, he was playing in a Chinese cafe. When he was 14 years old, he was touring with the Lombardo orchestra. But, Niosi never wanted to leave Canada, so he left Lombardo when Guy took his orchestra to the U.S. When he was 19, he formed his first orchestra to play the Port Stanley summer resorts, where he stayed until 1931. That same year, he also formed a 9 piece band which was booked into Toronto's Embassy Club. In 1932, he opened at the Palais Royal and remained resident there until 1950, becoming known as "Canada's King Of Swing". His brother, Johnny (died mid-'60's), played the drums in this band.

By the mid 50's he was a Musical Director (composer, arranger, and conductor) for the CBC's Toronto studios. During 1952-1959, hHe and his brother Joe, also appeared on the Happy Gang radio show. Besides working as a Music director on TV programs, Bert also led a band on occasion throughout these years, and he also played a date at the Palais Royale as late as 1979.

His (late) younger brother, Johnny, played drums; his brother Joe played Bass, and was in the Trump Davison band that went to England with Ray Noble in 1936, and toured there until 1938.

The BigBands Database Plus thanks Mr. J. Litchfield who graciously helped with the above information on Bert Niosi.

      [ (Hal Swain and) The New Princes Toronto Orch. ], (1920's)
Please also see "Dave Caplan's Toronto Orch."
In private correspondence, Mr. Jack Litchfield has mentioned
       "......(the New Princes Toronto Band) should have a separate entry from
       Dave Caplan. The personnels were more than half different, and the two
       bands recorded under different names - each under its own name. The
       leaders were different - Hal Swain and Dave Caplan.

Late in 1923, Sam Laschiver, the booker for Rector's Club in London, England, came to Canada to select a band to play at the club. He listened to many musicians in Montreal, Ottawa, and Hamilton, and finally decided that the men he wanted were in Toronto. None of the organized dance orchestras he heard suited him, so he asked Hal Swain, a Toronto saxophonist, to front the band and recruit the other musicians. Laschiver gave them the name "The Toronto Orchestra". They were Toronto's best young dance-band and Jazz musicians, "mostly youngsters, all as keen as mustard."

Hal Swain, the leader, could double on cornet. He had been living and playing in Toronto for years, as had Alfie Noakes, cornet, and Les Allen, sax and clarinet, who had taken voice lessons for seven years. The other recruits had been living and playing in Toronto for shorter periods Billy Hall, trombone and sax; Frank Walsh, piano and organ; Dave Caplan, banjo; Ran Garrison, sousaphone, trombone, and sax; and Ken Kenny, drums. Alfie Noakes and Dave Caplan had been playing in the main ballroom of Toronto's 'King Edward Hotel'. Alfie Noakes played "real Jazz", and must have been the best trumpet player in town.

Hal Swain assembled the band and announced that he had a one year contract for the band to appear in London. The orchestra members agreed, and they prepared to leave for England.

The members of the Toronto Orchestra entered a very busy period. They had to assemble a book of arrangements, rehearse, and have their tuxedos fitted.

The band had only one public engagement before they left. On Thursday, February 21, 1924, Hal Swain and his 'All Star' Orchestra played a dance at the Alexandra Academy in Hamilton. The newspaper ad announced that "This orchestra has been engaged for a year to play in London, England, and this is its only Canadian appearance before sailing next week."

A week later, the members of the Toronto Orchestra left Toronto by train to board the RMS Montclare which was leaving Saint John, New Brunswick, bound for Liverpool. The orchestra rehearsed during the crossing, and played a ship's concert.

The orchestra had been engaged to play at Rector's Club in London, but when they arrived in Liverpool they learned that the club had closed. Hal Swain and the men decided to proceed, Rector's or no Rector's. The same day they arrived they played an audition that Sam Laschiver had hastily arranged for them with the New Princes Restaurant in Piccadilly, which was then enjoying the best of success. Before the end of the evening they had a new contract to play at the Restaurant, and there they stayed for two years. They were one of two resident orchestras, the other led by Alfred Gill, an British-born violinist who preferred to be known simply as "Alfredo". Each orchestra played in a separate alcove on opposite sides of the room. 'The New Princes Toronto Band', the first all-Canadian dance band to play in England, added an unusual transatlantic tone to the hits of the day.

From November 1924 to February 1926 the band recorded in London, and 54 sides were issued in Britain, on the Columbia label. Here's a photograph that has been attributed as the "Toronto Band" in their "working" clothes at the Columbia Recording Studios in London 1925. `Author Jack Litchfield has pointed out that
       "The band is the New Princes Toronto Band. The banjo player is Dave Caplan and
       the trombone player is Billy Hall. As the piano is elevated, this must be an
       acoustic recording studio, which means the date is 1924-1925."
It's quite probable that the Saxophone player shown is Hal Swain. On the record label, the orchestra is named 'New Princes Toronto Band'. Les Allen (reeds with the band) remembered that the early recordings were acoustical. "We had to stick our heads into the horns, as well as our instruments." Les also remembered that the recording company was constantly changing the appearance of the studio to try to get the best sound. This was mostly accomplished by moving the heavy drapes.

In May and August 1925 the 'New Princes Toronto Band' recorded for the Crystalate Company. Thirteen titles were issued on Imperial and Currys, (which were ten-inch records), and Oliver, Pigmy, and Mimosa (which were 5-inch records). As the orchestra was under contract with Columbia, the Crystalate records were issued under pseudonyms.

In September 1925, the band recorded four titles for the ten-inch Regal label, and again the records were issued under a pseudonym.

The personnel of the 'New Princes Toronto Band' was remarkably stable throughout its more-than-two-year span. Late in 1925, Les Allen returned to Toronto to visit his parents, and was temporarily replaced. Art Christmas was added to the saxophone section in February 1926, which increased the reed section from two to three.

Hal Swain left the orchestra in February 1926, evidently amid some hard feelings, and returned to Toronto for a visit. Harry Hoffman, who played alto sax and violin, was brought over from Toronto to replace him.

In March 1926, Dave Caplan, the banjoist, formally took over the band. It then obtained further engagements around London. During the summer of 1926, Caplan obtained a booking for the orchestra in Berlin on the strength of its Columbia records. But this led to a major personnel change. For various reasons, most of the original members were not interested in going to Germany. Two of the musicians decided to accompany Caplan, and the band arrived in Berlin in August 1926, billed as 'Dave Caplan's Toronto-Band from Canada'. The rest of the men decided to remain in England. Here's another photo of the Toronto Orchestra From Canada, showing the group with Art Christmas in the center of the photo. Note that in all these pictures, Art Christmas and Dave Caplan appear in the Center of the photo, sometimes with Christmas shown as "starring" (Caplan is to the right of Christmas in both pictures). (These three photos are reproduced here with the kind permission of Art Christmas' son, - Mr. Art Christmas.)
The BigBands Database Plus is indebted to Mr. J. Litchfield for the above entry on the 'New Princes Toronto Band'. His research is the definitive work on this orchestra. This is an excerpt of Mr. Litchfield's 45-page biography of Billy Hall, the trombonist with the NPTB. A five-page condensation of the biography has just been published by the Canadian Antique Phonograph Society in the March-April 2004 edition of its magazine, Antique Phonograph News. A summary is on the CAPS Web site at http://www.capsnews.org/apn2004-2.htm.