Casa Loma Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The future members of the band first came together in 1927 as the Orange Blossoms, one of several Detroit-area groups that came out of the Jean Goldkette
Jean Goldkette
John Jean Goldkette was a jazz pianist and bandleader born in Patras, Greece. Goldkette spent his childhood in Greece and Russia, and emigrated to the United States in 1911....
office. The band had adopted the Casa Loma name by the time of its first recordings in 1929, shortly after it played an eight-month engagement at Casa Loma
Casa Loma
Casa Loma is a Gothic Revival style house in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that is now a museum and landmark. It was originally a residence for financier Sir Henry Mill Pellatt. Casa Loma was constructed over a three-year period from 1911–1914. The architect of the mansion was E. J...
Hotel in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. The band never actually played the Casa Loma under that name, still appearing as the Orange Blossoms at that time.
In 1930, the Casa Loma Orchestra was officially incorporated in New York as a corporation with the members all stockholders and board members. The band members were hired on the grounds of "musical and congenial" competence and followed strict conduct and financial rules. Members who broke the rules could be summoned before the "board", have their contract bought out and be ejected from the band.
The band was fronted for the first few years by violinist Hank Biagini, although the eventual leader, saxophonist Glen Gray
Glen Gray
Glen Gray Knoblauch, better known as Glen Gray, was a jazz saxophonist and leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra....
(1900-1963) was from the very beginning "first among equals." The complex arrangements called for talented musicians such as trombonist Pee Wee Hunt
Pee Wee Hunt
Pee Wee Hunt , born Walter Gerhardt Hunt, was a jazz trombonist, vocalist and band leader....
, trumpeter Frank L. Ryerson
Frank L. Ryerson
Frank L. Ryerson was an American trumpeter, composer, arranger and educator.Ryerson played trumpet with such big bands as Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, Jimmy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Vaughn Monroe and Mal Hallett. He appeared on several recordings with big bands beginning in 1927 into the...
, trumpeter Sonny Dunham
Sonny Dunham
Elmer "Sonny" Dunham was an American trumpet player and bandleader.Born in Brockton, Massachusetts, the son of Elmer and Ethel Dunham, he attended local schools and took lessons on the valve trombone at the age of 7. He changed to the slide trombone at age 11, and was playing in local bands by...
, clarinetist Clarence Hutchenrider
Clarence Hutchenrider
Clarence Hutchenrider was an American jazz clarinetist born in Waco, Texas. He was a member of the Casa Loma Orchestra led by Glen Gray. Clarence was married a short time to model Barbara Lewis-Bradford. Clarence had a daughter Judith Moorefield Hutchenrider-Henderson, born May 19, 1941 in San...
, drummer Tony Briglia and singer Kenny Sargent
Kenny Sargent
Kenny Sargent was an American saxophone player, singer and disc jockey.Sargent was the Casa Loma Orchestra's primary vocalist. He also played the saxophone with the band. He left the orchestra band in 1943 to begin a career as a disc jockey...
. Arrangements were by Gene Gifford
Gene Gifford
H. Eugene "Gene" Gifford was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and arranger.Gifford was raised in Memphis, Tennessee, and played banjo in high school; following this he played in territory bands, including Watson's Bell Hops and the bands of Bob Foster and Lloyd Williams...
, who also composed much of the band's book, Spud Murphy
Spud Murphy
Lyle Stephanovic, better known as Spud Murphy was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, and arranger....
, Larry Wagner, Salvador "Tutti" Camarata
Tutti Camarata
Salvador "Tutti" Camarata was a composer, arranger and trumpeter.-Early life and career:Born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Camarata studied music at Juilliard School in New York - a student of Bernard Wagenaar, Joseph Littau, Cesare Sodero, and Jan Meyerowitz...
and Horace Henderson
Horace Henderson
Horace W. Henderson Born in Cuthbert, Georgia , younger brother of Fletcher Henderson, was an American jazz pianist, organist, arranger, and bandleader....
. Gifford's arrangements were credited in large part to giving the band its sound, but even he fell victim to the band's strict rules, being bought out in 1935 due to alcohol-related infractions.
Manager Cork O'Keefe was made a Vice President in the corporation and arranged bookings in venues such as Glen Island Casino, which they helped popularize, and the Essex House Hotel
Jumeirah Essex House
The Jumeirah Essex House, commonly known as the Essex House, is a luxury hotel located on 160 Central Park South in Manhattan. Built in 1931 as the Park Tower Hotel, it is situated across the street from the southern border of Central Park and is convenient to both the stylish shops on Fifth Avenue...
, that lead to their radio appearances.
Radio
Their mid-1930s appearances on the long-run radio comedy-variety program, the Camel CaravanCamel Caravan
Camel Caravan was a musical variety radio program, sponsored by Camel cigarettes, that aired on NBC Radio and CBS Radio from 1933 to 1954...
(introduced with their theme, "Smoke Rings") increased their popularity. Interestingly enough, Gray chose not to conduct the band in the early years, playing in the saxophone section while violinist Mel Jenssen acted as conductor. In 1937, the band overwhelmingly voted in favor of Glen leading the orchestra, and Gray finally accepted the job.
Hits included "Casa Loma Stomp," "No Name Jive" and "Maniac's Ball". Part of the reason for the band's decline is that other big bands included in their books hard-swinging numbers emulating the hot Casa Loma style. In the late 1930s Gray took top billing, and by the mid-1940s (as the other original players left) Gray would come to own the band and the Casa Loma name. For a time, during this period, the band featured guitarist Herb Ellis
Herb Ellis
Mitchell Herbert "Herb" Ellis was an American jazz guitarist. Perhaps best known for his 1950s membership in the trio of pianist Oscar Peterson, Ellis was also a staple of west-coast studio recording sessions, and was described by critic Scott Yanow as "an excellent bop-based guitarist with a...
, trumpeter Bobby Hackett
Bobby Hackett
Robert Leo "Bobby" Hackett was an US jazz musician who played trumpet, cornet and guitar with the bands of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman in the late thirties and early forties.-Biography:...
, pianist Nick Denucci and cornetist Red Nichols
Red Nichols
Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
. By 1950, the Casa Loma band had ceased touring, Gray retired to Massachusetts, and the later recordings on Capitol (beginning with Casa Loma in Hi-Fi in 1956 and continuing through the Sounds of the Great Bands series) were done by studio musicians in Hollywood (with several of Gray's "alumni" occasionally featured). Jazz historian George A. Borgman wrote a book about Glen Gray and the orchestra.
Recordings
In October 1929, the band debuted on Okeh RecordsOkeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
. The following year, they signed with Brunswick
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
where they recorded until 1934. They briefly recorded for Victor in 1933 as "Glen Gray and his Orchestra", the Casa Loma name being under contract to Brunswick. In late 1934, they followed Jack Kapp
Jack Kapp
Jack Kapp was a record company executive with Brunswick Records who founded Decca Records in 1934. After his death, his brother Dave Kapp took over American Decca. Dave Kapp later founded Kapp Records, based in New York....
to the newly formed Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
and stayed there well into the LP era when they signed with Capitol
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
. Most of the Okeh's and many of the Brunswick's were out-and-out jazz (albeit very rehearsed) and remain highly collectible.
Sources
- The Mississippi RagThe Mississippi RagThe Mississippi Rag was an internationally influential monthly newspaper about traditional jazz and ragtime music published by Leslie Johnson since 1973....
, "Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra." George A. Borgman, October 2006, pages 1–10.