Jean Goldkette Orchestra

[Canard]

I pulled this record out of a box of 78s, I'd rather be the girl in your arms (Than the girl in your dreams) by the Jean Goldkette Orchestra. It was recorded on October 15, 1926. It is kind of dumb tune but it has some very cool playing from some very cool people.

Notables on this recording are:

Bix Beiderbecke (instrumentalist : cornet)
Eddie Lang (instrumentalist : guitar) -- the inventor of Jazz guitar
Joe Venuti (instrumentalist : violin)
Tommy Dorsey (instrumentalist : trombone)

(Both Jimmy Dorsey and Hoagy Carmichael were sometimes members of Goldkette's group.)

Goldkette, born in 1893, was the illegitimate son of a Danish circus performer--father unknown. He is reported to have been born in France, but he was probably born in Greece. He was educated in Russia. His family came to the US in 1911. He worked in the US as a classical pianist initially and then later in dance bands. He had one of the most successful dance orchestras of the 1920s. After financial struggles in the late 20s and on into the 30s, he returned to classical music.

Anyway the tune ... some very cool comping from Eddie Lang and nice violin work from Venuti.

 

[jp]

There are a lot of dumb songs from that era, especially the crooners. It was the Roaring Twenties after all. Admittedly, it's one of my favorite eras of American music just because it's so unabashedly celebratory and party, party music. It was the rock and roll of the time.

I have a few amazing LP and CD collections of the Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang recordings. So awesome! As many know, they were the inspiration for the Django Reinhardt/Stephane Grappelli pairing. It also seems like a lot of the musicians at the time played with each other at one point.

So cool that you have the 78 of this recording!

 

[Bernie]

Interesting historical archive and musical entertainment I find.

And first trans genre recording ?? (why does he sing 'the girl'... and not the man or the one or the boy ) ?

One good thing is that's it's not only the singer that one hears, and musicians get a bit of space too...

 

[Canard]

It was the Roaring Twenties after all. Admittedly, it's one of my favorite eras of American music just because it's so unabashedly celebratory and party, party music. It was the rock and roll of the time.

Yes. Here is one I pulled out the other day, two copies actually, from 1930 when the party was coming to an end.