The Five Birmingham Babies: Copenhagen, Mamie, Hard Hearted Hannah, Deep Sea Blues, The Little Ramblers: I’m Satisfied Beside That Sweetie of Mine, Arkansas Blues, Goofus Five: Go Emmaline, Them Ramblin’ Blues, Golden Gate Orch.: Back Where the Daffodils Grow, California Ramblers: That Big Blonde Mama. Mixed into that list are Ellington: Choo Choo, Wolverines: Big Boy, The Georgians: I’m Sitting Pretty in a Pretty Little City, Henderson: Shanghai Shuffle.

Rambler subgroups populate this offering, mixed in with some contemporaries. This continues our exposure to the goofus and kazoo. Much has already been shared previously from the Ramblers and here some favorites are “I’m Satisfied” and “Daffodils”. This episode contains a hidden benefit, some of the era’s leading trumpet/cornet players are lined up: Bill Moore (5BB, G5, LR, CR, GGO), Bubber Miley, Bix, Frank Guarente (the Georgians), Armstrong. And fans of Rollini (bass sax, goofus, second kazoo) will appreciate his work with 5BB who debut in this episode. Adrian R, later an important vibes player, was also an accomplished singing kazoo player. Ellington’s composition Choo Choo was recorded by The Goofus Five. Otto Hardwick here is on saxophone with trumpeter Bubber Miley.

Rollini played a piano recital at the Waldorf Astoria at the age of four. As much as Ellington was on a trajectory to play Carnegie Hall, Rollini was not. Certainly not Carnegie Hall as his bass sax which defined the 20s went extinct in the swing era. So much of jazz was ephemeral. Every year in the 20’s seems like a year of reinvention of which Rollini was one of the masters, here in 1924 embracing comedy in jazz with the rise of the kazoo, the Mound City Blue Blowers and Cliff Edwards principally. While Redman on clarinet was funny and played the goofus mostly comedy was not a strong suit fir the rest of the Henderson band. With Rollini you have sidekicks who will embarrass you like Stan King, and Rollini provides stellar kazoo back up. Bill Moore does his own chatty tricks and rock star Bobby Davis tends to his romantic lead role.(In the Paul Desmond alto slot.) The whole band going comedy is not something Henderson or Redman did except as an exception. Compare the Steamboat 4 tearing up Mr. Jelly Lord iwith the maestro joining in. (Season 2 episode 35). The more popular Jazz records of 1924- every year is different- Ramblers, Wolverines and however small a sample the Duke and another small sample from Moten, Piron, Bechet with Clarence Williams and a lot of Henderson only some of which is jazzy. This was not predictable from 1923 with the dominance of Oliver and NORK.

Armstrong when added to the Henderson band fulfilled a long sought wish of Henderson’s. Others bands may have had better talent. Henderson couldn’t hire Rollini and Davis. Bill Moore was possibly preferable to Chambers as a personality. Irving Brodsky was possibly more interesting on piano for his surprising comedic piano takes. Stan King was equal to Kaiser Marshall. Ellington had star talent in Miley, Greer and Hardwick and he on piano at the helm. Ellington later had Carney as a Rollini deep sound. (Check out the Mills Bros as perfecting in a barbershop context the kazoo chops and basso of the Goofud 5.) Piron had Bocage on cornet and Tio, Jr. clarinet with Steve Lewis on piano.

Not a working group but the top recording ensemble of 1924 was Armstrong-Hardin-Bechet under the aegis of C. Williams. And the emphasis is on Hardin who set the bar for hot rhythm high enough so the two champions had the rare opportunity to show everything, which like her work with Oliver remain world records. She was the college trained intellect who gave piano pounding its rightful place as an essential ingredient of jazz, if rarely found. Other essentials are like the bass sax, the brass bass, the violin lead and the rhythm banjo. If preservation is sought Mezz Mezzrow with Bechet is a good indicator.

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