[ Willard Robison & the Deep River Boys ]
b. Sept. 18, 1894, Shellbina, MO, USA. d. June 24, 1968, New York, NY, USA.
One of the Jazz-oriented singing composers, such as (Hoagy Carmichael, the epitome of singing songwriters, and Clarence Williams (and perhaps J. Russell Robinson, who originally played with the ODJB). They were all bandleader-composers who sang their own tunes.

Much of his earliest works ( well over 100 ) echoed the sound and feelings of Negro spirituals, including such songs as "It's Never Too Late To Pray", "Truthful Parson Brown", "Religion In Rhythm", and "The Devil Is Afraid Of Music", this latter song is still performed as a 'popular' song today.

All through his career, Willard sang mostly semi-comical Blues songs, and songs that spoke of the daily life in the 1920's. and of the pastoral preachers and small towns of mid-America. His music is often described as laconic and occasionally as narcoleptic. Thought's of his country home was an ever-present ingredient for his songs. Fellow songwriter Alec Wilder has written of Robison's
        ".....concentration on the vast American landscape" and his ability to evoke
        not only this but also "the American small town, the American regional speech."

During the 1920s, Robison played his piano and also led a few Southwest 'territory bands' that occasionally included legendary Jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden. Later in the decade, as the leader of his own group. 'Willard Robison's Levee Loungers', and sometimes as 'Willard Robison and The Deep River Boys', he recorded several dozen sides in New York. Willard was also heard on several releases of 'Busse's Buzzards', a studio group led by bandleader Paul Whiteman's star trumpeter, Henry Busse). Whiteman encouraged Robison to go to New York, where, for seven years, he led his own 'Deep River Orchestra' on weekly radio shows.

Among Willard Robison's songs are:
   "A Cottage For Sale"   (1929 song. lyric: Larry Conley)
   "Guess I'll Go Back Home Again (This Summer)"    (Lyric: Ray Mayer)
   "Little High Chairman" (with Mayer)
   "Peaceful Valley", Paul Whiteman's first Theme Song.
   "'Taint So, Honey, 'Taint So"
   "An Old Deserted Farm"
   "The Devil is Afraid of Music"
   "Old Folks"   (1938. lyric: Dedette Lee Hill)
   "Deep Elm (You Tell 'Em I'm Blue)"
   "My Egotism is Hurtin' Me"
   "Lonely Acres" (theme song of Paul Tremaine's Orch.)
   "In a Little Waterfront Cafe"
   "Don't Smoke in Bed"   (a 1948 hit for singer Peggy Lee)
   "A Woman Alone With The Blues"
   "Run For The Roundhouse, Nellie" (lyric: Jack Palmer)
   "Born To The Bayou"
   "'Round My Old Deserted Farm'
   "Poor Loulie Jean'
Willard also composed longer orchestral works including "Six Studies In Modern Syncopation" and "Rural Revelations".

Among the many stars who recorded Robison's songs are singer/pianist 'Dardanelle', (né: Marcia Marie Mullen Hadley, 1917-1997) , Anita Ellis, Mildred Bailey, Barbara Lea, Peggy Lee (notably "Don't Smoke In Bed"), Daryl Sherman and Lee Wiley. Barbara Lea, in the liner notes of her 1976 Audiophile Records album "The Devil Is Afraid Of Music", wrote that in the
 "quintessential Robison writing . . . under a melody which is often sinuous
 and chromatic, the harmonies are conceived not vertically but horizontally. The
 effect is of a number of strands which flow along together, making a closely
 woven texture like the many currents of a river."

Another artist who found Robison's down-home lyricism appealing was Willard's old friend Jack Teagarden, who in 1962, recorded a full album of Willard Robison songs entitled "Think Well Of Me", (it was his second-to-last session). Just six years later, Robison died in New York.

   [ Gene Rodemich Orch ]
The Gene Rodemich orchestra operated in the St Louis area during the 1920's.
Click on this Rodemich Link>- for further info. Also, see the Red McKenzie Mound City Blue Blowers' entry for info on how Red was 'discovered' and helped by Gene Rodemich and Isham Jones.

   [ Maurice Rocco & His Rockin' Rhythm ]
No information currently available on this "Jump" music band that was very active during the 1940s.

   [ Billie Rodgers Orch. ]
Theme Song: "Rodger's Corners" (Musicraft 15028)
né: Elizabeth Rodgers
Currently no information available.
One of the few women to play in a brass section, she played trumpet with Woody Herman from 1941 to 1943 before forming her band. It lasted less than a year. No recordings were made; however one aircheck exists.
Thanks to Mr. Robin Lenhart for this entry on Billie Rodgers.

   [ Buddy Rogers & his California Cavaliers ]
b: 1904 in Olathe, Kansas. d:
Theme Song: "My Buddy"
Hollywood actor and musician. Trombone and Trumpet mostly, but other instruments as well. Buddy Rogers, was billed as the only bandleader in America who could play every instrument in the orchestra.

Buddy was a musician before he was an actor. He managed to keep both careers going for awhile. He made his first film in 1925, the same year that his band was booked into New York's Pennsylvania Hotel. It had such sidemen as: Ray Biondi; Mike Doty; Ward Silloway; Johnny Mince; Corkey Cornelius, Andrew McKinney, George Macy, Tommy Reo, Mark Bennett, Ben Freeman, Barry Wood, and Gene Krupa. At one time, Buddy's band was billed as "The Newest Thing In Swing".

Among his female vocalists were Marvel Maxwell (who later changed her name to Marilyn Maxwell, and became a hollywood star), and Liz Tilton, Martha's talented kid sister. During the summer of 1941, Liz was wailing away with the Bob Crosby Dixieland band on Catalina Island (CA). In 1942, she joined the newly re-vamped Jan Garber orch. Rogers handled most of the male vocals himself. But one of his sidemen was Barry Woods, younger brother of another band-leader, Barney Rapp. Barry wanted very much to sing, but Buddy wouldm't give him the opportunity. So Barry up and quit, forming his own band in the process. Barry became so popular that his band was hired to do the Lucky Strike Hit Parade Radio Show.

In 1938 Rogers opened at The Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles after a road trip of the eastern United States and England. The May 18 opening brought a houseful of motion picture people, with a special party hosted by Mary Pickford, whom Rogers had recently married. During that same West Coast trip he also appeared at The Avalon Ballroom in Catalina. Eventually Rogers gave up the band to devote his time to motion pictures, and also to assist Miss Pickford in handling business interests in which they had invested.
Above notes courtesy of Mr. George Gordon. Marilyn Maxwell's photo is reproduced here by the courtesy of Ms. Bobby Jean Stumph, whose father, trumpeter Irvan Stumph, had helped Marilyn.

   [ Dick "Stinky" Rogers Orch ]
Dick was a 'kooky' type singer with one of Will Osborne's bands (he had several). When Osborne gave that band up, Dick took over as leader. Jerry Bittick's arrangements gave the band a nice swinging sound, but it was Dick's mugging that kept it going.

   [ "Shorty" Rogers Orch. ]
b. April 14, 1924, Great Barrington, MA
After Shorty finished his music studies, in New York City, he succeeded in getting a trumpet chair in the Will Bradley Orchestra, where he met Red Norvo and Shelly Manne.

During WW2, he served in the U.S. Army until 1945, when he was discharged and resumed his career. Joining the Woody Herman orchestra, he was given the chance to write some scores, mostly 'rebop'. He continued scoring with a definite 'bop' flavor when he joined the Stan Kenton Band, where he authored some work for sidemen Maynard Ferguson and Art Pepper.

In October of 1951, he made the first of many small group recordings under his own name, 'Modern Sounds'; using men such as Hampton Hawes and Jimmy Giuffre. He also recorded with his "own" big band, a band that he "borrowed" from Stan Kenton.

During the late 1940's and the 1950's, the big band era was coming to an end. Still, many of the men in the Stan Kenton orchestra were well founded in the swing tradition. Some critics have said that the use of such men to play Shorty's newer 'Bop-based' music was truly a perfect blending of what was best in the two worlds.

Rogers' efforts did not stop with the 'rebop' genre. Ever on the lookout for new band styles and sounds, he was one of the first arrangers trying his hand at experimenting with 12 tone writing.

From 1960 through the 1980's, Rogers toured extensively in the U.K., and in the U.S.A.

Over the years, Shorty has continued to work many young musicians, both instructing and playing. In later years, he turned from the brassy, shrill sound of the trumpet to playing the warmer sounding Flugelhorn.

   [ B. A. Rolfe Orch. ]
b. Oct. 24, 1879, d. April 23, 1956
Currently No Information Available.
Here (courtesy of Mr. Peter Doyle) is a photograph of B. A. Rolfe, who was one of the danceband leaders of the 1920s - 1930s.

Among the names by which Rolfe's orchestra recorded are:
B.A. Rolfe and his Lucky Strike Orchestra
B. A. Rolfe & His Palais D'or Orchestra and others too.

  "Roses Remind Me Of You",(494 kb): Rec;d: 1926 .

  "One Alone", (553 kb): B. A. Rolfe & His Palais D'or Orchestra, playing this lovely tune in a rather upbeat foxtrot dance style. From the Broadway show: 'The Desert Song'. Composers; Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein 2ND, & Sigmund Romberg. (Red'd: Edison 51925-R )

  "Reaching For The Moon", (594 kb): B. A. Rolfe & His Palais D'or Orchestra. Rec'd: 1926. Composers: Benny Davis & Jesse Greer. (Careful. This is NOT the same "Reaching For The Moon" composed by Irving Berlin also in 1926.)

  "Bye Bye Blackbird", (507 kb): B. A. Rolfe & His Palais D'or Orchestra. vocalist plus chorus. Composers: Mort Dixon And Ray Henderson Rec'd: Edison 51757-L

  "Stars (Are The Windows Of Heaven)", (563 kb): B. A. Rolfe & His Palais D'or Orchestra. Composer:Tommy Malie And Jimmy Steiger. Rec'd: Edison 51872-R

   [ Adrian Rollini Orch. ]
b. June 28, 1904, New York, NY, USA. d. May 15, 1956, Homestead, FL, USA.
Instruments: Bass Sax; Vibes; Goofus; Hot Fountain Pen; Hot Comb, etc.
Overview
Here's an early photograph of Adrian Rollini, who was probably the finest, of only a few, bass Saxists playing all through the 1920s. And here are two better views of Adrian, and Adrian Again, at around the same time. Only later, in the early 1930's, did he switch over to the Xylophone (playing it with 4 mallets, much as Gary Burke did some 4 decades later). (As a personal note, his embouchure and the tone that he brought out of the bass sax are, once heard, never to be forgotten.) During his early years he played with a great many of America's finest Jazzmen, including Bix Beidebecke; Red Nichols; Frankie Trumbauer, Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti, The Louisiana Rhythm Kings, Miff Mole and many others. He was greatly admired by his peers such as Coleman Hawkins; Budd Johnson, and Harry Carney. As noted above, Adrian also toyed with many novelty instruments. He was a truly influential and very underrated jazzman.

Adrian was a child prodigy playing the piano. His brother Arthur (b. 2-13-1912 NYC) played the Tenor Clarinet, and from 1934 - '39 was with Benny Goodman's classic band. (And later with Will Bradley).

Both brothers played with the California Ramblers, who were managed by the sometime vocalist/banjoist Ed Kirkeby (né: Wallace Theodore Kirkeby, b. Oct. 10, 1891, Brooklyn, NY, d. June 12, 1978 Mineola, Long Island, NY - who later became manager for Fats Waller). It was Kirkeby who suggested the Bass Sax to Rollini. The Ramblers were the most prolifically recorded dance band of the 1921 to 1937 era, playing under their own name as well as under many pseudonyms. Such later stars as the Dorsey Bros; Glenn Miller, and vocalists Vernon Dalhart and Smith Bellew, along countless others, appeared with the Ramblers, in person and on recordings. The last couple of sessions cut by the Ramblers used the Tommy Dorsey and Charlie Barnet bands.

Adrian's first 'Pro' job was probably this five year stint with the California Ramblers, after which, he joined Fred Elizalde's orchestra in London, England, playing with them in 1927-'29. He free-lanced all through the 1920s into the early 1930s.

He 'cut' many records under his own name during the 1930s to 1940s. His 1933 band "Adrian Rollini and His Orch." had such sidemen as his brother Arthur; Bunny Berigan; Jack Teagarden; Bud Freeman; and Charlie Barnet. In 1935, Adrian opened 'Adrian's Tap Room' in New York's Hotel President. (Eddie Condon was one of his regulars.) He often led his own small groups for some long stay Hotel gigs. In 1935, 'Adrian and His Tap Room Gang' included Wingy Manone, while his 1938 Quintet featured Bobby Hackett and Buddy Rich on drums.(The Quintet sessions were on Swedish 'TAX'. His 1933-'34 orch. was on Sunbeam.)

But by the mid-1930s, ca. 1935, he essentially gave up playing Jazz and formed his own trio and other small groups playing Pop songs of the day. In his declining years, ca. early 1950s, he owned and operated an Inn in Florida.

   [ Luigi Romanelli Orch ]
Please see the Canadian Bands Link for information. Or just 'click' HERE

   [ David Rose Orch. ]
b. June 15, 1910, London, Eng., d. August 23, 1990, Burbank, CA, USA.
David's family arrived in the U.S. when he was just age 4. When he was just age 16, he left the Chicago College of Music to join the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra. Three years later, his career as a studio musician began when he obtained a position as pianist/composer/arranger for NBC Radio. In 1936, he scored the arangement for the Benny Goodman orchestra's recording of "It's Been So Long". In 1938, he moved to Hollywood and the Mutual Broadcasting System, where he formed his own orchestra which was featured in the program 'California Melodies'. In 1938, David married Martha Raye. It was his band that backed her recording of "Melancholy Mood". The marriage was later dissolved. In 1941, he met and married Judy Garland, becoming the first of 5 husbands of that troubled star. Rose also served as musical director (from 1941 - 1945) on the Bob Hope Radio Show.

In WW2, Rose served in the U.S.Army. Among his other duties, he was also the composer/conductor for the Army Air Force musical 'Winged Victory'. The show was filmed in 1944.

In 1943, Rose had hugely successful hit record with own compostiion "Holiday for Strings", followed one year later with another big hit "Poinciana" (Song of the Tree). Rose was a regular on Red Skelton's radio show, in the late 1940's, moving with Red into the Television era. Later, Rose went on to write scores and themes for well over 20 television series.

Rose was awarded an 'EMMY' for his work on such television shows as 'Bonanza'; 'Little House on The Prairie', and three much-acclained Fred Astaire Specials, starting with 'An Evening With Fred Astaire' in 1959.

He began working in movies in 1941 and is credited with scoring 36 films through to the 1960's, including:
1951 "Texas Carnival'
1951 "Rich, Young and Pretty'
1952 "Everything I have is Yours'
1959 "Operation Petticoat'
1960 "Please Don't Eat The Daisies'
1965 "Never Too Late'

Among his other well known songs are:
1944 "So In Love", lyric by Leo Robin. (From film 'Wonder Man' starring Danny Kaye) Rose received an Oscar nomination for this song.
1957 "Calypso Melody"
1959 "My Happiness", Rose accompanied singer Connie Francis.
1962 "The Stripper", a world-wide humorous, satirical hit.

His other compositions included "Our Waltz", "Dance of the Spanish Onion", and a collection of 32 piano solos entitled "Music for Moderns", plus 50 other albums.

Along with his Television; film, and recording work, Rose appeared as guest conductor with several symphony orchestras. The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, first played his "Concerto for Flute and Orchestra" which was later offered by the renowned Boston Pops Orchestra.

   [ Edmundo Ros Orch. ]
b. Dec. 7, 1910, Caracas, Venezuela, d.
Drums
Please see our British Bands Database for much more information on Edmundo Ros.
His orchestra alway had a good percussive rhythm section. (Doubtlessly due to Edmundo's own training on the Drums.) Add to this a dance band instrumentation of no frills block scoring for brass and reeds, and you wind up with a very solid, danceable sound. Edmundo's band scanned a period of 30 years, and was popular in England and America. "Everybody Loves Saturday Night" was just one of his big hits.

   [ Arthur Roseberry & his Kit Cat Club Dance Band ]
While little known outside of England, Arthur, never-the-less, had several good bands. The first one that I know of was his job at London's Kit Kat Club, in the late 1920's.

Music Corp. of America's London office had noticed Arthur's orchestra and booked it to double at the Dolphin Square Restaurant. Arthur had drilled the band to perfection and, in 1938, MCA was able to book them into the Paradise Club. The English music magazine, Melody Makers, observed that the band was "steadily becoming known as one of the best swing bands in town". A subsequent review mentions that "Roseberry had trained virtually unknown musicians to a point where only Ambrose and Jack Harris had superior bands." In one of those curious twists of fate, the Paradise Club closed in 1939, and Roseberry was forced to disband. I don't think that he had another band after that, to Arthur's and his public's regret.

   [ Milt Rosenstock Orch.]
Currently No Information available.
Milt conducted orchestras in the Broadway 'pits' for the musical productioms and also for recordings using "pick-up" bands. He was most active circa 1947.

   [ Harry Roy Orch. ]
An English Orchestra operating in the 1930's. Please see the Harry Roy, entry in the British Bands Database.

   [ Stan Rubin and his Tigertown Five ]
b. ca. 1934, New Rochelle, NY, USA.
Stan, Princeton '55, organized a Dixieland music group called the Tigertown Five during his freshman year in Princeton University. From that time on, the band had many college bookings throughout the East coast, including the Universities of Cornell; Pennsylvania; Dartmouth (Winter Carnival), and Vermont's Kakewalk.

Stan won national acclaim when he appeared on Paul Whiteman's radio and television programs. In addition, many disc jockey's have featured the band on their shows.

The band was an international success when they toured Europe during the early 1960's. They played their way over to Paris on the Dutch steamship, S.S. Groote Beer. They created a sensation playing on Paris's Boulevard Saint Germain, during the evening celebration of Bastille Day. Among the great French nitespots at which they played were the Vieux Columbier, the Academie du Vin and the famous Harry's New York Bar.

Renting a car and motoring down to the French Rivera, they were booked into Maxim's, the Riviera's largest night club. Elsa Maxwell heard them there and invited the boys to play at one of her gay parties. The Tigertown Five played on the porch of the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, where Elsa's famous guests often included actress Claudette Colbert (who died in 1995 in her home on the caribbean island of Barbados); Prince Bernadotte of Sweden (later assassinated in Israel); Lady Ashley; actress Hedy Lamar, and King Aly Khan's two sons.

From Cannes, the group went to Italy, appearing at Sorrento, and at the world renowned Excelsior Palace in Lido Beach, Venice. Indicative of their success, they next played at the Tabaris, in Lausanne, Switzerland, where they followed bands such as Stan Kenton and Dizzy Gillespie.

Upon their return to the U.S., the group continued playing the College circuit, touring in banjoist Dick Shalberg's 1941 Chevrolet. The Tigertown Five also played in the Elbow Beach Surf Club in Bermuda and at the Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey. Stan's big band is currently (1997) home based in New York City, where they play many of the city's leading venues.

Original Tigertown Five:
         Bill Spilka- Trombone
         Norm Osheroff - trumpet
         Rich Herbrook - drums
         Tom Morley
         Dick Shallberg - guitar
         Ed White - bass (added later)

Among the songs recorded by the Tigertown Five were:
        "Tin Roof Blues"
        "The Dixieland One Step"
        "Yes Sir, That's My Baby"
        "Royal Garden Blues"
        "Panama"
        "Mississippi Mud"
        "Tiger Rag"
        "That's A-Plenty"
        "The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise"
        "Basin Street Blues"
        "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me"
        "St. James Infirmary Blues"
        "San"
        "After You're Gone"
        "Margie"

   [ Rubinoff and his Magic Violin ]
b. Sept. 13, 1897, Grodno, Russia. [now Hrodna, Belarus], d. Oct. 6, 1986
né: David Rubinoff
Currently no information available.
Here's a photograph of Rubinoff, on the left, with Will Rogers in the center, and singer Ruth Etting on the right. Besides a very successful theater, clubs and radio career, Rubinoff also appeared in four Hollywood films (each time playing himself):
        'Morning, Noon and Night' (1933)
        'Parade of the Wooden Soldiers' (1933)
        'Thanks a Million' (1935)
        'You Can't Have Everything' (1937)

   [ Ernie Rudy Band ]
b. 1912, d. Dec. 1997
né: Ernie Rudisill
Drummer-bandleader Ernie Rudy was born in Altoona, PA in 1912. He joined the fledgling Sammy Kaye band in the early 1930s. He was featured in the band's comedy routines as "Cecil" The Daffy Drummer, and remained with Kaye until 1952 when he and ten of Kaye's sidemen suddenly left Kaye to form the 'Ernie Rudy Band', as a result of Kaye's having decided to accept fewer engagements. It was quite a shock to Kaye and at the time a newsworthy item in the trades. The new band was a close copy of the early Kaye band and included some of Kaye's longtime personnel; Charley Wilson, saxophone; Butch Oblak, trumpet & valve trombone and arranger Frank ("Pump") Haendle in addition to Rudy's son, Ernie Jr., on drums. At first the band was a cooperative venture and was able to secure some enviable bookings, - much to Kaye's displeasure. They produced one album for the LION label (MGM) and some singles for DERBY. Within a few years the cooperative dissolved and Rudy retained the name. He kept the band together for over five years and on an intermittent basis after that for a total of almost ten years. As the band business continued to dwindle he eventually disbanded and moved successfully into auto sales until his eventual retirement. He died in Palm Springs in December 1997.
Mr. Jack Daney, one of the sidemen in the Ernie Rudy Orch., graciously supplied the above information.

   [ Warney Ruhl Orch. ]
Overview
Post WW 11, this band was based in the Chicago area. They toured the entire Mid-West and played at such venues as the Rice Hotel (Houston, TX); the Cleveland Hotel (Cleveland, OH, in Jan. 48 and other times); and the Club Casino in Quincy, Illinois. During the 1960's, Ruhl switched his base of operations to Detroit where I saw the band a few times. He later died in Detroit, probably in the 70's. From time to time, the band was heard on various Radio broadcasts.
(Thanks to Doug Booth for this information on Wharney Ruhl.)

Ms. Pamela Walker, Dale van Doren's daughter, recalls her experiences as a child when she and her family traveled with the Warney Ruhl Band.
"I remember traveling in our house trailers throughout the midwest to various jobs and being in the ballrooms during the afternoon rehearsals with my Mom. We often spent an entire summer in a resort, and the one that made the most lasting impression was in Lake Geneva, WI, at the Riviera Ballroom. We eventually settled in that area so that I could go to school."

"My father, Dale Van Doren (10/18/1916 - 12/17/1982), also played in the Harold Stevens Band before the Warney Ruhl Band, but I don't recall in which years. I began kindergarden in Indianapolis, IN, in 1946 -I don't know if Dad was with W. Ruhl full time then, maybe just when the band traveled back to the area. We moved the following year to the Lake Geneva, Elkhorn, and Delevan, WI, area and during those years he was with a local (Elkhorn) band called the Bud Wilbur Orchestra. They played at the Riviera, Lake Geneva, Lake Lawn Lodge, Delevan Lake, and Sterlingworth Hotel. He also played with a group led by Rick Travis and Vern Castle. Vern married Rick's sister, Jan, and she was the female singer. Dad played at the Milwaukee Athletic Club and various other "away" places including some Illinois clubs during those later years but mostly at Lake Lawn. It was here that Gary Burghoff (Radar O'Reilly in the M.A.S.H. show) joined the band for a summer. It was the summer before Gary left for N.Y.(probably 1957 or 58) to pursue an acting career. He impressed my parents and they kept in touch throughout the years writing and visiting wherever Gary was and when Gary would come home to visit his parents."
"The sidemen in the Ruhl band that I personally remember are:
Dale Van Doren. He did vocals, played a wild clarinet and tenor sax. He owned both those instruments and later borrowed an alto sax which he also played. He soloed often and I have some recordings.
Ed (Luke) Lucas - bass
Dale Jones - trumpet, married vocalist AddaMae Lang
Fex Mueller - Sax
Bobby Bork - ?
AddaMay Lang - vocals
Vinah Ruhl - Piano (Mrs. Warney Ruhl.)
The BigBands Database is indebted to Mrs. James Walker (née: Pamela van Doren, Dale van Doren's daughter), who so kindly supplied this information on the Warney Ruhl Orchestra and her father.

   [ Henry Russell and His Romancers ]
Overview
Henry Russell worked as a vocalist for Horace Heidt. Heidt financed Russell's band. The band made 13 recordings for Vocalion from mid-1939 through mid-1940. Discographies do not list band members but indicate it is possible that members of Heidt's own band were used on the recordings. The first two records were labeled as 'Henry Russell & His Mystic Music'; the remainder are by 'Henry Russell & His Romancers'.
Henry Russell entry through the kind courtesy of Mr. Robin Lenhart.

   [ Jack Russell Orch ]
Theme song "Into My Heart"
Jack received his band training while serving as a sideman in the "The Kentuckians". His first band, started in 1929 in Waukegan, Illinois, was booked into into the Valencia Ballroom in September 1929, and then went on to play such locations as The Drake Hotel, the Granada Cafe, and the Vanity Fair. All in all, the band was destined to have a 10 year existence before Russell would disband.

Strictly a local Chicago and environs orchestra, the band was a feature at the 1933 World's Fair where it played on the same bill with Texas Guinan. Russell then played the Congress Hotel, The Canton Tea Gardens, the Merry Garden Ballroom, and then The Morrison Hotel Terrace Gardens, all in Chicago.

They went into the Grand Beach Hotel, Grand Beach, Michigan, in the summer of 1934. Then back to Chicago and into the Melody Mill Ballroom in 1935, where they were resident thru 1937.

The band was a very popular orchestra in Chicago, and over time, they were featured at both the famous Aragon and Trianon ballrooms, the Marine Dining Room of the Edgewater Beach Hotel, the Panther Room of the Sherman Hotel, the Boulevard Room of the Stevens Hotel, and were even once booked into the Radison Hotel in St. Paul, MN.

Russell terminated his bandleading career in 1938 to become a talent agent.

   [ Luis Russell Orch ]
b. August 6, 1902 Careening Cay, (near Boca Del Toro), Panama
d. December 11, 1963, New York, NY, USA (Cancer)
Theme Song: "New Call of the Freaks"
In his native homeland of Panama, Luis was a multi-instrumentalist. He emigrated to New Orleans, LA, in 1919, where, as a pianist, he often found work in the local saloons and brothels. In the early 1920s, he led some small groups of his own, as well as playing with Albert Nicholas and others. In 1925, he went up to Chicago and played in the King Oliver band. In 1927, he started his own band which was resident in New York City, while often touring.

It was an interesting big band. At one time or another, it had Louis Armstrong on trumpet; 'Big' Sid Catlett on drums; Henry 'Red' Allen on trumpet and J.C. Higginbotham on trombone. At times, the quality of their performances was quite high indeed. Here's a photo of the Luis Russell Orchestra, (L-R) , Henry Red Allen, Greeley Walton, Paul Barbarin, Charlie Holmes, Luis Russell, Albert Nicholas, Will Johnson, Pops Foster, J.C. Higginbotham, Otis Johnson

In 1935, Armstrong took over the band. Luis did stay with the band but left in the early 1940's, and formed a new band of his own. After a few tours, he disbanded, but did continue to lead small groups for specific dates, even while he ran a business outside of music.

Luis was a good musician who did sincerely try to integrate the older New Orleans Dixieland style with the new Swing sound of the day, but did not make any great impact on the wider public. Never-the-less, it was one of the better bands of it's day.

   [ Rustic Revelers ]
Please see our entry for the The Hoosier Hotshots

   [ Walt Roesner and the Capitolians ]
Some sources have Walt Roesner playing trumpet in Art Hickman's Orchestra as early as 1914. In any event, Roesner was definitely playing his trumpet in Hickman's 1919 band that toured to New York City. The bandsmen included Art Hickman, drums and piano, Walt Roesner, trumpet, Fred Kaufman, trombone, Bert Ralton (who later led a very popular British orchestra), soprano and tenor saxes and clarinet, Clyde Doerr (who later led his own orchestra), alto and baritone saxes, oboe, and clarinet,, Steve Douglas, violin, , Frank Ellis, piano, Vic King, tenor banjo, Ben Black, plectrum banjo, Marc "Mo" Mojica, banjo-mandolin, and Bela Spiller, string bass.

In 1921 or 1922, Walt Roesner returned to San Francisco, where he played in, and arranged for, Paul Ash's symphonic jazz orchestra. In 1924, he left Ash's orchestra and free-lanced for two years, and then, starting in 1926, fronted his own symphonic jazz group, the Super-Soloists, for two years.

Around 1928, he was playing with his own band, 'The Capitolians', in New York's 'Capitol Theatre', and here's a film clip of the band.
;VIDEO: "I'm More Than Satisfied"   ( 13.48 MB ) 'The Capitolians' were a huge all-round "show band" featuring some musicians who would go on to greater fame. After the first chorus, some prominent members do their "special thing". Amongst them great names in early jazz:

First to solo is a very young Jimmy Dorsey on sax, followed by an equally young, -30 year old, Miff Mole playing his trombone. He's followed by an unknown violinist, and then Lou Calabrese has a moment playing his banjo. Then we see Jimmy Lytell playing "Serenade In Blue" on his clarinet, followed by (I think) Arthur Schutt, who gets up from his piano long enough to sing "Dinah" (that's Rube Bloom on the other piano). Behind Schutt, you can see Vic Berton (?) at the drums. "santopec", who supplied this film clip noted, " I love the drummer man at the rear of the band. He only has a timpano and a cymbal, where he makes the accents, so typically for 1920s recordings......... If you only listen to the music, and don't see the film you would believe the drummer man uses brushes to make the effect, but on the film you can see him tearing some paper or material to make the effect. Isn't that great? " an unknown violinist (possibly Edwin J. McEnelly ) and trumpeter Leo McConville round out the performance. The last bit of the medley is "I'm More Than Satisfied" (Film Clip: : santopec )