The Drummers in
the Recordings of Frank Trumbauer and His Orchestra and of Bix
Beiderbecke and
His Gang, 1927-1929: An Anomaly and a Hypothesis.
By Albert Haim
Introduction.
In the
present article, I
provide documentation about the drummers playing in all the sessions
for the
period 1927-1929 and advance a hypothesis to account for the absence of
George
Marsh, the regular Whiteman drummer, in the recordings made from July
1928 to
April 1929 by Bix and Tram while they
were members of the Whiteman orchestra.
1. The Goldkette and New Yorkers
Period: 1927
Chauncey
Morehouse.
The date
February 4, 1927
represents a milestone in the history of jazz recordings. It was the
first
recording session of Frank Trumbauer and His Orchestra: the immortal
“Singin’
the Blues” was recorded on that day with Bix Beiderbecke on cornet,
Miff Mole
on trombone, Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet, Frank Trumbauer on C-melody
saxophone,
Paul Mertz on piano, Eddie Lang on guitar, and Chauncey Morehouse on
drums. At
the time, all of the musicians who participated in the recording
–except Eddie
Lang and Miff Mole- were members of the larger Jean Goldkette
orchestra. Eddie
Lang, although not a member of the Goldkette orchestra, played in most
of the
Victor recordings of the orchestra while Bix was with Goldkette. Miff
Mole was
apparently a last minute replacement for Bill Rank, one of two
Goldkette
trombonists (the other was Spiegle Willcox) during the tenure of Bix
with the
band. Thus, the Frank Trumbauer orchestra was a “band within a band”
and, as
customary, the musicians in the smaller band were drawn from the larger
band.
The Frank Trumbauer Orchestra (with Bix) made ten recordings while Bix
and Tram
were with Goldkette. The drummer in
every recording was Chauncey Morehouse, the regular drummer in the
Goldkette
band.
Because of
financial
difficulties, the Jean Goldkette Orchestra disbanded on September 18,
1927.
Several of the Goldkette musicians –including Bix, Trumbauer, Don
Murray and
Chauncey Morehouse- joined Adrian Rollini’s New Yorkers. The
short-lived New
Yorkers made nine recordings (eight issued) under the names Frank
Trumbauer and
His Orchestra, Benny Meroff and His Orchestra, and Russell Gray and His
Orchestra. Chauncey Morehouse was the drummer in every recording by
these bands.
During his
days with
Rollini's New Yorkers, Bix organized two recording sessions with a
smaller
group that included himself on cornet, Bill Rank on trombone, Don
Murray on
clarinet, Frank Signorelli on piano, Adrian Rollini on bass saxophone
and
Chauncey Morehouse on drums, all members of the New Yorkers. The
smaller band
within the band made six –now legendary- recordings under the name of
Bix
Beiderbecke and His Gang and the New Orleans Lucky Seven.
Thus, from
February 4, 1927
until October 26, 1927 (included), Chauncey Morehouse, the drummer for
the Jean
Goldkette and the New Yorkers Orchestras, was present in every
recording of the Frank Trumbauer Orchestra and of Bix
Beiderbecke and His Gang.
2. The Paul Whiteman Period: 1928-1929.
At the end
of 1927, Bix and
Tram joined the Whiteman orchestra. Under their contract with “Pops,”
Bix and
Tram were allowed to record outside of the Whiteman band as long as
they used
Whiteman’s musicians. The Frank Trumbauer Orchestra and Bix Beiderbecke
and His
Gang recorded thirteen sides between January 9, 1928 and April 17, 1928
(included). The Tram and Bix outfits were small bands within the bigger
Whiteman band. Thus, all the musicians in the Trumbauer and Bix bands
were
regular members of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Hal McDonald was the
drummer in
all recordings made by the Frank
Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke bands while McDonald was a member of the
Whiteman
orchestra. Hal McDonald left Whiteman on April 24, 1928.
July 1928-
September 1929. George Marsh.
On April 25,
1928, McDonald
was replaced by George Marsh. From the time that Marsh joined Whiteman
until
September 1929 –a period during which Marsh was the only drummer in the
Whiteman orchestra- the Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke and His
Gang bands
made a total of 32 recordings. These recordings can be divided into two
groups.
The first 23 –made between July 5, 1928 and April 30, 1929- did not
include
Marsh. The next 9 –recorded between May 15, 1929 and September 8, 1929,
all
with the Frank Trumbauer Orchestra- included Marsh. During the rest of
1929
Trumbauer and his orchestra made 11 additional recordings, all with
George
Marsh. Examination of this data shows that Marsh never recorded
with Bix and
His Gang nor with Trumbauer’s orchestra while Bix was a member
of the
Trumbauer band. This represents an
anomaly. Ordinarily, a band within a band used musicians from the
bigger band.
In fact, the Frank Trumbauer orchestra and Bix bands used, with the
exception
of the drummers, exclusively Whiteman instrumentalists in their
recordings.
In order to find a plausible explanation for these observations it is necessary to examine in detail the identity of the drummers and the circumstances associated with the recording sessions beginning on July 5, 1928 and ending on April 30, 1929, the last recording session of Bix with Trumbauer’s orchestra. The documentation for the identity of the drummers is taken from Philip Evans and Larry Kiner “Tram, The Frank Trumbauer Story” and from Richard Sudhalter in the liner notes for the Mosaic CD set MD7-211. The two sources provide the same information for the Trumbauer sessions. The Mosaic liner notes were the source of information for the recordings of Bix and His Gang.
July 5,
1928 to April 30, 1929.
Chicago, July 5, 1928.
Frank Trumbauer and His
Orchestra.
Drummer:
Harry Gale. Bix present.
Chicago, July 7, 1928.
Bix Beiderbecke and His Gang.
Note that Harry Gale was not a member of the Whiteman
orchestra.
New York, September 20,
1928. Frank Trumbauer and His
Orchestra.
Drummer: Lennie
Hayton. Bix present.
New York, September 21,
1928. Bix Beiderbecke and His
Gang.
Drummer:
Lennie Hayton. Bix present.
New
York, Oct. 5, 1928. Frank Trumbauer and His
Orchestra.
Unknown
drummer [name illegible in Trumbauer’s ledgers]. Bix present.
New York, March 8, 1929.
Frank Trumbauer and His
Orchestra.
Drummer:
Stan King. Bix present.
New York, April 17, 1929.
Frank Trumbauer and His
Orchestra.
Drummer:
Stan King. Bix present.
New York, April 30, 1929.
Frank Trumbauer and His
Orchestra.
Drummer:
Stan King. Bix present.
May 15, 1929
to September 16, 1929.
New
York, May
15, 1929. Frank Trumbauer and His Orchestra.
Drummer
George Marsh. Bix absent.
May 21, 1929. Frank Trumbauer and His
Orchestra.
Drummer
George Marsh. Bix absent.
May 22, 1929. Frank Trumbauer and His
Orchestra.
Drummer
George Marsh. Bix absent.
Bix left the Whiteman band on September 16, 1929.
Between September 18, 1929 and the end of 1930, Frank Trumbauer had 10
recording sessions, all with George Marsh.
Examination
of the above
data documents our assertion that Marsh
never recorded with Bix and His Gang or with Frank Trumbauer’s
orchestra while
Bix was part of the Trumbauer orchestra. However, once Bix stopped
recording with Trumbauer’s orchestra (April 30, 1929, last recording
session of
Bix with Tram), Trumbauer used George Marsh as his drummer
-beginning on May 15, 1929 and continuing
throughout 1929 (and also 1930) - in every recording session.
Why did the
Whiteman
drummer –George Marsh- not play in the July 5, 1928 through April 30,
1929
sessions -when Bix was present- but played with Trumbauer’s band during
the
rest of 1929 (and in 1930) -when Bix was absent? Unfortunately, there
is no
documentation that allows us to answer this question categorically.
However, a
reasonable hypothesis can be advanced by examining in some detail the
circumstances surrounding these recording sessions. We will begin the
discussion with the September 20, 1928 session and leave the July 5 and
7, 1928
recording sessions in Chicago for later discussion because they provide
some
fascinating insight into the inner aspects of what went on in some of
the
recording sessions and because they may provide the key to some of the
puzzling
observations made above.
New York,
September 20 (Trumbauer’s orchestra) and 21 (Bix and His Gang), 1928
Sessions.
New York,
October 5, 1928 Session.
Sudhalter
tells us (Mosaic
liners), “The identity of the drummer is lost to history. Suffice it to
say that
his banging and clattering is even more jarring than that of the
September
[1928] Gang sessions [the drummer was Lennie Hayton].
Yet Hayton is clearly the pianist on this date – and the
drummer’s name, as scrawled in Trumbauer’s ledgers, is illegible. It
all adds
up to musical ruination.” Thus, we have a second instance in which a
drummer of
limited ability is used instead of George Marsh, the regular Whiteman
drum man.
New York,
March 8, April 17 and April 30, 1929 sessions.
New York,
May 15, 1929 to September 8, 1930 sessions.
As mentioned previously, the last
recording session
of Bix with Trumbauer’s orchestra took place on April 30, 1929.
Something
interesting happens in the first recording session [May 15, 1929]
following
Bix’s departure from the Trumbauer band –but still a member of the
Whiteman
band: George Marsh, the Whiteman drummer since April 1928, is now
playing drums
and continues playing for all recordings of Frank Trumbauer and His
Orchestra
in the remaining of 1929 (and in all of 1930).
Chicago,
July 5 and 7, 1928 Sessions.
Was
George Marsh Not A Jazz Drummer?
Let us
examine the assertion by Roy Bargy that George
Marsh was not a "jazz drummer.” First, wouldn’t Marsh be a better
drummer
than Lennie Hayton (described by Sudhalter in the Mosaic liners as
“pounding
away happily – if without noticeable finesse- on the drums”) and the
unknown
drummer ("his banging and clattering is even more jarring" than that
of Lennie Hayton)? After all, Paul Whiteman was extremely demanding
when it
came to the quality of the musicians in his band. Perhaps Marsh was
wanting as
a “jazz drummer,” but he certainly must have been technically highly
competent.
Second, note that by the middle of 1928, Trumbauer was recording mostly
popular
tunes with a limited jazz content. Third, Marsh played with the
Virginians and
Busse’s Buzzards - hot bands within the Whiteman band- and in such
Whiteman
jazzy recordings as “You Took Advantage of Me,” “’Tain’t So, Honey,
‘Tain’t
So,” “That’s My Weakness Now,” and “China Boy.” Moreover, in several of
the Tram
sessions after Bix left, Marsh plays in such jazzy tunes as ”What A
Day!” and
“Alabamy Snow” on May 15, 1929; “Shivery Stomp” on May 22, 1929; “Turn
On the
Heat,” “Manhattan Rag” and “Sunnyside Up” on October 10, 1929. Furthermore,
in his article about the New Yorkers in Europe (Storyville # 145, March
1991),
Harold S. Kaye writes, “But Dave [Tough] was not a technical drummer in
the
sense of Vic Berton, George Marsh, Chauncey Morehouse, or Stan King.”
It is
noteworthy that Bix played or recorded with everyone of the drummers in
the
list, except George Marsh. Thus, the notion that Marsh was not used by
Trumbauer nor by Bix from July 1928 to April 30, 1929 because he had
shortcomings as a “jazz drummer” seems to have little factual support.
Richard
Sudhalter writes (private communication, January 4, 2004), "It's obvious, however,
that for some reason Bix preferred not to have
Marsh among his sidemen. Was it because he "wasn't a hot drummer"?
Are we to understand that he wasn't, but that Bix regarded Bargy,
Hayton, or
Hal McDonald as acceptable "hot" players. Doesn't make a lot of
sense."
No Marsh
When Bix Was Present: A Hypothesis.
Frank Trumbauer and His Orchestra and Bix Beiderbecke and His Gang were bands within the Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman bands. As is customary in these instances, the musicians in the smaller bands were subsets of the musicians in the bigger bands. This generalization applies to the Trumbauer and Bix bands with one major exception. George Marsh, the drummer of the Paul Whiteman orchestra, was never used by Bix when he recorded as Bix and His Gang and by Trumbauer when he recorded as the Frank Trumbauer orchestra while Bix was a member of the orchestra. However, once Bix stopped recording with Tram, Marsh was the drummer in all Trumbauer recordings through 1930. This observation led me to suggest a falling-out between Bix and Marsh when Bix asked his long-time buddy Harry Gale to play with him in the July 1928 Chicago recording sessions of Frank Trumbauer and His Orchestra and of Bix Beiderbecke and His Gang: ordinarily, Marsh, the regular drummer with Whiteman, would have been the drummer of choice. The suggestion by Roy Bargy that George Marsh did not participate with Bix and Trumbauer in their small band recordings because “George was not a jazz drummer” does not seem to have any basis on fact. Not only was George Marsh a technically competent drummer, but he could provide some good hot drumming.
Acknowledgement. I am
grateful to Richard M. Sudhalter for illuminating discussions of the
subject
matter in the present article and for his kind permission to quote him.