[ The Lud Gluskin Orchestra ]
b. Dec. 16, 1898, New York, New York, USA, d. Oct. 13, 1989, Palm Springs, California, USA
né: Ludwig Elias Gluskin
Please also see our Lud Gluskin entry on the Big Bands Database Here. 'The Playboys', led by Fred Zierer, arrived in Paris from Detroit in July, 1927, to fulfill a contract at a local night club. The band consisted of Eddie Ritten (trumpet); Bernard Gragg (alto); Merrow Bodge (tenor); Reuel Kenyon (piano); "Doc" Sayor (bass); Ted Gobel -son of the founder of 'Gobel Beer' (drums); and was headed by Fred Zierer on violin. The job fell through and Ritten promoted a date at the Pathe' Studios, Boulevard des Italiens, in order to maintain the group in food and lodging.

During this period, Gluskin (described by many as one of the finest pit drummers ever) was playing the show at The Casino de Paris. Featured on stage were international stars Harry Pilcer, Maurice Chevalier and The Dolly Sisters. Gluskin obtained the coveted dance band job at Le Perroquet, a chic night club atop The Casino. He recalled the 'All-American' sound of the Playboys whom he had booked for the remainder of the summer at Hotel Excelsior, Lido-Venice, Italy, and brought them back to Paris as the nucleus of the new band. Gragg and Sayor opted to return to the States, and were replaced by Gene Prendergast (chosen over Jimmy Dorsey) and Arthur Pavoni, bassist with 'The Garde Republicaine Band'. Added were Faustin Jeanjean, trumpet and arranger; the legendary Leo Vauchant-Arnaud (subsequently with Fred Waring for several years, then as arranger for MGM; and later seen as conductor/arranger of the Jerry Lewis Telethon band) and trombonist, cellist and arranger; and Maurice Cizerson, reeds and flute.

The band became the hottest property in Paris. In the morning they played at the Paris Paramount Studios, dubbing French sound tracks on American films. In the afternoon, the matinee and then the evening performance at The Casino. After a 45 minute intermission, the band continued at Le Perroquet until the early morning hours.

Following an engagement at The Lido, the band had a successful summer opening at The Casino-Bellevue in Biarritz. In the fall of 1928, it returned to Paris with several substitutions, to start a new round of recording activity. On April 4, 1928, the band recorded "Miss Annabelle Lee" which has Prendergast's only vocal on record and probably was the first recorded scat vocal in France.

Shortly after recording "Gonna Get a Girl", Vauchant-Arnaud joined Jack Hylton, in Blackpool, and was replaced by the former trombonist with 'The Original Dixieland Jazz Band', Emile Christian. Kreklow returned home with the banjo-playing buddy, John Castellucci, and their replacements were Jack O'Brien and Howard Kennedy (the latter had been honeymooning on the Riviera).

The band was booked into Barberina-Ambassadors (adjoining night clubs) in Berlin, starting in December of 1928 and continuing through March of 1929. This was the first of many successful engagements in Germany. Gluskin recorded for a total of five different companies during his engagements in Berlin, among them the obscure Artiphon label on which the ten-inch recording of 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love', was made. During the first quarter of 1929, Gluskin recorded over 110 tunes.

Listen now to 'Lud Gluskin et son Jazz' playing George Gershwin's wonderful melody "Crazy Rhythm". (Rec'd: Ho 4-2962, in 1929 The trumpet solo is by Eddie Ritten). At the time of recording "Crazy Rhythm", Spencer Clark was playing regularly with the Julian Fuhs band, and joined the Gluskin group permanently in April of 1929. He participated in this and several other recording dates as relief from his routine commercial job. Gluskin was causing a sensation at The Ambassadors and with the addition of Clark and pianist/arranger Paulie Freed, the band was at its peak. The recording of "Milenburg Joys" is an example of what the Americans in the band could do with a "head" arrangement. Of their three recordings of this tune, one is a "jam" number, and features solos by Ritten, Prendergast, Christian, Clark and Freed. The band had completed their required six sides well ahead of time and, with a few minutes of studio time remaining, decided to improvise on what turned out to be a masterpiece of Chicago-style jazz.

At this point, the band was alternating between Hotel Picardy, Le Touquet, France; the best Parisian engagements; and gigs on the French Riviera. It returned to Berlin at the Haus Germania, after Gluskin dropped leaflets from an airplane (possibly the first utilization of this type of advertising in Europe), calling attention to his upcoming engagement.

There is no evidence of any recording activity during 1931. Effects of the 1929 Stock Market crash were being felt in Europe, but the band remained generally active. However, German bookings were out, as foreigners were not allowed to take their earnings out of that country. Gluskin was forced to reduce his dance band to Alex Renard, trumpet; Prendergast and two other reeds; Brogiotti, violin; Don Baird, guitar; Freed, piano; bass; drums; and - occasionally - Georges Sellers on accordion. The group was always augmented for recording sessions.

There were apparently only two recording sessions in 1933, and while there were considerable offers from England, work permits were difficult to obtain. With Hitler coming into power, this completely cut off the German bookings as Gluskin was of the same religious faith as Benny (Goodman) and Artie (Shaw), and it was made known to the band it would no longer be welcome in Nazi Deutschland.

In February of 1934, Gluskin and Prendergast sailed home, and their subsequent successes proved this was the right move. The band had been the inspiration and source for many of the Continental musicians in their eagerness to learn and play "Hot Jazz" and its contribution along these lines cannot be discounted.