SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
FALL, 2020
VOLUME NINE NUMBER ONE
BRIAN BLADE
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
SULLIVAN FORTNER
Don Redman
(1900-1964)
Artist Biography by Scott Yanow
The first great arranger in jazz history, Don Redman's innovations as a writer essentially invented the jazz-oriented big band with arrangements that developed yet left room for solo improvisations.
After graduating from college at the age of 20 with a music degree, Redman played for a year with Billy Paige's Broadway Syncopators and then met up with Fletcher Henderson. Redman became Henderson's chief arranger (although Fletcher was often later on mistakenly given credit for the innovative charts) in addition to playing clarinet, alto, and (on at least one occasion) oboe. Redman, whose largely spoken vocals were charming, recorded the first ever scat vocal on "My Papa Doesn't Two Time" in early 1924, predating Louis Armstrong. Although his early arrangements were futuristic, they could be a bit stiff, and it was not until Armstrong joined Henderson's orchestra that Redman (learning from the brilliant cornetist) began to really swing in his writing; "Sugar Foot Stomp" and "The Stampede" are two of his many classic charts.
It was a shock to Fletcher Henderson when Redman was persuaded in 1927 by Jean Goldkette to direct McKinney's Cotton Pickers. Redman soon turned the previously unknown group into a strong competitor of Henderson's, composing such future standards as "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You" and "Cherry." He sang more, emphasized his alto over his more primitive sounding clarinet (guesting on some famous recordings with Louis Armstrong's Savoy Ballroom Five in 1928), and made a strong series of memorable records. In 1931, Redman put together his own big band which lasted (if not prospered) up until 1941. After that, he freelanced as an arranger for the remainder of the swing era, led an all-star orchestra in 1946 that became the first band to visit postwar Europe, and eventually became Pearl Bailey's musical director. Although he recorded a few sessions in the late '50s, Don Redman's main significance is for his influential work of the 1920s and '30s.
https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/donredman?width=1920
Don Redman
Don Redman is considered the first jazz composer/arranger by many. He was also the first musician with both the inspiration and academic knowledge for this style of music. In short, he invented jazz writing for the big band, not only writing separate parts for reed and brass “choirs”, leaving room for hot solos, but putting sections in opposition which solved the problems of the new style, thus showing everyone else how to do it.
His brother led a band in Cumberland, Maryland and his father was a noted music teacher and had performed in a brass band. His mother was a singer. Don began playing the trumpet at the age of three, joined his first band at 6 and by the age of 12 was proficient on all wind instruments including the oboe.
Don studied music at Storer's College in Harper's Ferry and conservatories in Boston & Chicago. He joined Billy Paige's Broadway Syncopators and traveled to New York with them in 1923. Redman's first recording sessions were in 1923, with Fletcher Henderson, he joined Henderson's band in 1924, as a reed player and staff arranger and stayed with the unit until 1927. During the early twenties Redman also recorded with many other jazz and blues greats including Clarence Williams and Bessie Smith.
In 1927, Don joined McKinney's Cotton Pickers in Detroit as the leader and musical director, remaining in that position for four years. This band at one point included such jazz legends as Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter and Fats Waller. Always in demand as an arranger, Redman recorded some sessions with Louis Armstrong in 1928.
Hoagy Carmichael was an admirer of the young Don Redman and legend has it that Redman gave Hoagy musical advice and may have written the introduction to “Stardust.” Don was one of the first to record it as an instrumental, the words to that classic weren't added by Mitchell Parrish until a few years later.
In 1931, Don formed his own band from the nucleus of the Cotton Pickers and musicians from Horace Henderson's band. They stayed together for nine years, performing regularly at Connie's Inn in Harlem. The band made numerable radio broadcasts and was the first to play a sponsored radio series for CHIPSO in 1932 as well as a film short in 1935. During this time Redman also arranged music during the Thirties for Paul Whiteman, Isham Jones, Ben Pollack and Bing Crosby.
Redman is credited with inventing the swing choir in which the band sang a paraphrase of the words to a counter melody. This was used in '37 in “Exactly Like You” and “Sunny Side of the Street.”
In 1940 after the band broke up, he did some free-lance arrangements, then reformed the band for a short time at the end of the year. The following year, he toured briefly with the Snookum Russell Band, then returned to New York City for more free-lance arranging including Jimmy Dorsey's “Deep Purple.” He put together another band in 1943 for residency at The Zanzibar in New York and soon after resumed full-time arranging for Count Basie, Harry James and NBC studio bands. In 1946, Redman put together another band for a European tour; the band broke after a couple of months though Redman stayed overseas until August of 1947.
Don Redman had a TV series for CBS in 1949. From 1951 he worked as the musical director for Pearl Bailey, though rarely played any instruments publicly. He had a small acting role as a policeman on Broadway in 54-55 with Pearl in House of Flowers. He recorded on alto, soprano and piano in 1958-59. He played piano for the Georgia Minstrels concert in June of '62 and soprano sax for the Sissle-Blake Grass Roots concert in September 1964. During his final years he worked on several extended compositions which have never been publicly performed.
Don Redman died in New York City on November 30, 1964.
Source: James Nadal
https://syncopatedtimes.com/don-redman-1900-1964/
Don Redman is one of the first great jazz arrangers and was a pivotal figure in the development of Swing and the Big Band style Jazz.
Redman was a childhood prodigy who played many instruments and began arranging music while still in high school. In 1920 he graduated from Storer College in West Virginia and joined Billy Paige’s Broadway Syncopators, where he played reed instruments and did some arranging.
In 1923 he met Fletcher Henderson and recorded with him on several dates.
When Henderson started his own orchestra in 1924 Redman joined as an arranger and reed player. He quit the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in 1927 and took a job with William McKinney’s Cotton Pickers as musical director. He also recorded and arranged for Louis Armstrong and his Savoy Ballroom Five in 1928.
He left McKinney’s Cotton Pickers in 1931 to form his own orchestra which he led until 1940, but also did arrangements for Paul Whiteman and Ben Pollack among others.
During the 1940s Redman worked for several big bands including Count Basie and Jimmy Dorsey while keeping busy with freelance arranging jobs. In the 1950s he was the musical director of Pearl Bailey’s band.
Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, 1925. Photo courtesy songbook1.wordpress.
New Yorkers in the 1920s liked to get dressed up and go out dancing. Everybody was doing the Turkey Trot, the Fox Trot and a wild new dance called the Charleston. By 1924 Fletcher Henderson led the top dance band in residence in Manhattan. For seven years they played the Roseland Ballroom near Times Square. Henderson’s wife Leora recalled, "Around that time Paul Whiteman was called the 'King of Jazz,' so people began calling Fletcher 'The Colored King of Jazz.' Whiteman would be playing all those novelties and semi-classical numbers and Fletcher would turn right around and swing them."
Bandleader Fletcher Henderson. Photo courtesythemusicsover.wordpress.
Fletcher Henderson’s 11-piece orchestra at the Roseland was on the cutting edge. It was the first jazz orchestra of its size in New York to have the loose, improvised sound of a smaller jazz combo that dancers loved. Innovative arrangements by saxophonist Don Redman seamlessly blended formal written parts with improvised hot solos to achieve this effect. The wailing clarinet trio, one of Don Redman's favorite arranging devices, became a signature sound of the Henderson orchestra. And playing Don Redman’s arrangements, the orchestra became one of the first in which reed and brass sections played against each other, creating a call-and-response effect. All of Redman's innovations were widely imitated by other arrangers and composers, including Duke Ellington.
Don Redman Photo courtesy redhotjazz.
Don Redman’s charts gave birth to the concept of the big band reed section, and paved the way for the sound that defined the Swing Era—more than a decade later.
Riverwalk Jazz presents Fletcher Henderson and Don Redman: The Birth of the Big Band Reed Section with arrangements adapted by the Jim Cullum Jazz Band's clarinetist Ron Hockett from the classic 1920s' scores.
To evoke the distinctive trio sound of the reed section in Don Redman’s arrangements for Fletcher Henderson, clarinetists Allan Vaché and Kim Cusack join Jim Cullum and the Band.
Photo credit for Home Page: Musicians and dancers in Harlem, cir.1920s. Image courtesy eng.fju.edu.
Text based on Riverwalk Jazz script ©2010 by Margaret Moos Pick
https://www.ejazzlines.com/big-band-arrangements/by-arranger/don-redman-jazz-arrangements/
Redman, Don
(1900-1964)
The world of big band jazz would not be the same if it wasn't for the contributions of Don Redman. His arrangements would cement several of the cornerstones of the style as eventually codified by one of his greatest admirers, Duke Ellington.
A native of West Virginia, Redman was a child prodigy. He was honking out notes on trumpet as early as age 3, and by the time he was a teenager he was proficient enough on all woodwind instruments that he was working professionally. Studies at Storer College and the Boston Conservatory followed, eventually leading to his moving to New York in 1923 to join the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra.
As Henderson's chief arranger, Redman was responsible for crafting some of the band's most memorable and innovative charts. In addition to being harmonically ahead of their time, they also incorporated revolutionary rhythmic and structural concepts. Rhythmically, Redman incorporated aspects of the burgeoning style of the band's star soloist, trumpeter Louis Armstrong, into his soli sections, infusing the band with an intense sense of swing and excitement. Structurally, he would often pit the sax and brass sections against one another in call-and-response, an idea that would become a hallmark of the great swing bands of the 1930s.
After leaving Henderson in 1927, Redman worked as the musical director for McKinney's Cotton Pickers before finally forming his own orchestra in 1931. The band experienced some surprise popular success, recording a Vitaphone short film for Warner Bros. in 1933 as well as providing the soundtrack for a Betty Boop cartoon the same year. Although he was forced to disband his group in 1940, Redman remained busy as an arranger for the bands of Count Basie, Jimmy Dorsey and Harry James, as well as serving as Pearl Bailey's musical director in the 1950s. He passed away in 1964, leaving behind an indelible legacy that continues to stand strong to this day.
https://www.jazz.org/blog/how-high-the-moon-don-redmans-jazz-legacy-in-7-recordings/
How High the Moon: Don Redman's Jazz Legacy in 7 Recordings
News | July, 17th 2017
By Loren Schoenberg
Just because Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb and Steve Jobs conceived of the iPhone doesn’t stop anyone from appreciating the other miraculous contributions they made throughout the course of their lives. For some reason, composer/arranger/saxophonist Don Redman’s reputation lies almost solely on the pioneering music he wrote for Fletcher Henderson’s New York-based band in the mid-1920s, rarely taking into account his steady growth as an artist in subsequent decades.
Jazz was a predominant flavor in the popular music of the 1920s, and West Virginia native Redman found creative ways of integrating it artistically into the dance music that Henderson’s outfit played nightly. When Louis Armstrong joined the band in 1924, it didn't take long for Redman to adapt the trumpeter’s thrillingly new ways of phrasing into his own arrangements. Within just a few years, Redman’s innovations spread their influence far and wide, and he continued to grow exponentially as an orchestrator of great skill.
This is his "Whiteman Stomp"—commissioned and recorded by Paul Whiteman for his large jazz orchestra in 1927—played here by the Henderson band. Listen for the incredible amount of instrumental combinations Redman creates. No wonder Duke Ellington was such an admirer of his! And let’s not overlook the virtuosity of the ensemble, including young tenor titan Coleman Hawkins.
Redman left Henderson to become the musical director of the legendary McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, a Detroit unit that was one of the best outfits of the late 1920s. He then formed his own big band in 1931. These were the years before white America woke up to what has became known as the “Swing Era,” but Redman’s band made many brilliant recordings and played all the major venues available to African-American entertainment. Radio broadcasts played a large role in spreading a band’s reputation across the county, and theme songs were the signature sound that let listeners know which band was playing. Redman’s "Chant of the Weed," with its mysterious harmonies and moody vibrations, fulfilled that purpose to a T. Unlike the majority of their peers, however, Redman’s ensemble also appeared on film. The following 1933 Vitaphone “band short,” as they were known, was shown in movie theaters before the feature film. It’s the equivalent of what we know today as music videos.
After the opening strains of “Chant of the Weed,” you can see Redman lead the band, sing in his engagingly intimate style, and sample his star soloists (trombonist Dicky Wells, clarinetist Ed Inge, and trumpeter Sidney De Paris), as well as a dance team, the band’s ballad vocalist, and others. Above all, listen to his superb orchestrations and the virtuosity of the band.
Another barometer of the band’s popularity was its appearance in the Betty Boop cartoon series, which was incredibly popular in the early 30s. Although the band is only visible for a moment, they play all of the music, including Redman’s songs.
Given his legendary status, other bands wanted to play Redman’s music. This is Count Basie in 1940 playing a brilliant arrangement of "The Five O’Clock Whistle," with Lester Young front and center.
Shortly after the end of World War II, Europeans and Scandinavians, already huge fans of American jazz for over a decade, hungered to see and hear their favorite bands in person. The group that Redman brought over in 1946 introduced the new sounds of Parker and Gillespie as well as the band’s more traditional fare to great acclaim. The star soloist was tenor saxophonist Don Byas; other outstanding players included pianist Billy Taylor, trumpeter "Peanuts" Holland, and trombonist and vibraphonist Tyree Glenn. Here are two Byas features from that tour: "How High The Moon" and "Laura."
After his great success overseas, Redman settled down to a comfortable life of commercial arranging and served as Pearl Bailey’s musical director through much of the 1950s. He died in New York City in 1964 at the age of 64.
Redman's last notable recording date was made in 1957, with a top-notch New York band that was very likely backing Bailey on one of her appearances. Coleman Hawkins, Redman’s old buddy from the Henderson days, was brought in as a featured soloist. These recordings have remained unjustly neglected, making it all the more important to share them now as Redman joins Jazz at Lincoln Center's Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.
Loren Schoenberg is Founding Director and Senior Scholar of The National Jazz Museum in Harlem. He has been a faculty member at The Juilliard School, the New School, the Manhattan School of Music, William Paterson University, Long Island University and The Hartt School. Mr. Schoenberg has been published widely (including the New York Times), and his book, The NPR Guide to Jazz , was released in 2003.
Image courtesy Detroit Public Library.
http://www.wvmusichalloffame.com/hof_redman.html
Listen to “Chant of the Weed”
Don Redman
1900-1964,
Piedmont, Mineral County, W.V.
The first great arranger in jazz history, Don Redman’s innovations as a writer essentially invented the jazz-oriented big band with tight, innovative arrangements that also left room for solo improvisations. Redman is considered one of the major composers and arrangers in jazz history. Also a fine alto sax player, and expressive singer, he was a child prodigy who learned to play most orchestral instruments. Redman graduated from Storer College, a black college in Harpers Ferry, with a music degree in 1920 at the age of 20, and studied further at Boston and Detroit conservatories.
After graduating, Redman played for a year with Billy Paige’s Broadway Syncopators before meeting up with bandleader Fletcher Henderson. At the time, Henderson was developing a style that earned him the reputation as a founder of the big band swing tradition. For the next three years, Redman was Henderson’s chief arranger (although Fletcher was often credited for the innovative charts) in addition to playing clarinet, alto, and (on at least one occasion) oboe. For the next three pivotal years, Redman was the band’s main arranger. He also played sax on recording sessions by Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Ethel Waters and many others.
Redman, whose largely spoken vocals were charming, recorded the first ever scat vocal on “My Papa Doesn’t Two Time” in early 1924, predating Louis Armstrong. His arrangements further evolved after Armstrong joined Henderson’s orchestra and included “Sugar Foot Stomp” and “The Stampede.” In 1928, Redman joined Armstrong’s “Savoy Ballroom Five” and played on a number of his classic recordings including the Armstrong-Redman vocal duet “Tight Like This.”
Around 1927 he became the musical director of McKinney’s Cotton Pickers. Redman turned the regional group into a competitor of Henderson’s, composing such future standards as “Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You” and “Cherry.” Throughout the 1930s, Redman led his own big band. His theme song – “Chant of the Weed” – was another Redman composition that entered the jazz repertoire. Meanwhile, he was writing for top white bands such as Paul Whiteman, Ben Pollack and Isham Jones.
During the 1940s, Redman freelanced as a composer-arranger for many radio shows and for Count Basie, Cab Calloway and Jimmy Dorsey. After that, he freelanced as an arranger for the remainder of the swing era, led an all-star orchestra in 1946 that became the first band to visit postwar Europe, and eventually became Pearl Bailey’s musical director.
https://www.jazz-on-film.com/donredman.html
Celluloid Improvisations
INTRODUCTION
The first half of the 1930s saw Warner Bros. release no fewer than six one-reel Vitaphone band shorts that featured some of the better black Swing bands of the period. Eubie Blake, Elmer Snowden, Cab Calloway, Jimmie Lunceford, Noble Sissle, Claude Hopkins and the Mills Blue Rhythm Band all found themselves starring in these films. Here we consider the band short that spotlights Don Redman’s 1934 orchestra. As jazz musician and historian Dan Weinstein points out, this film might be the best representation of the band's role in revues presented at such venues as Connie's Inn. If the film falls just short of being a classic in the genre --- the actual jazz content is somewhat limited --- it nevertheless proves to be very worthy of detailed discussion.
A great deal has been written about Don Redman, one of the most important figures in the development of Swing, and it is not my intention to cover his career in detail. However, a brief biography will help put Redman and his band’s performance in proper perspective.
Don Redman was a talented reed player who had the ability to construct solos that are well-balanced and inventive; that is, they tell a musical story. He is not a major solo voice on the alto sax or clarinet, however, and it is not surprising that he turns over much of the solo work in this film to others in the band. As a singer, Redman had a high-pitched, somewhat pinched voice. He often employed phrases that combined singing and rhythmic speech to present the lyrics. Although opinions may vary, I find his vocal performances to be charming. As an arranger, Don Redman ranked among the best during the early years of the big band era, and he is responsible for developing many of the conventions used by hundreds of arrangers who followed in his footsteps.
Don Redman, born in 1900, began his musical training at age three, and by the time he turned twelve he was proficient on all wind instruments. Ultimately he choose reeds over brass, focusing on alto sax and clarinet. In 1923 Redman joined the Fletcher Henderson orchestra which at that time played music that was neither distinguished nor particularly swinging. Redman soon began writing arrangements for the band, and he brought a number of concepts to those arrangements that would become hallmarks of all Swing writing.
Although probably not the first, Redman excelled at creating melodic lines, improvisations on the melody, and then scoring these for the reeds or brass. In addition, Redman played the sections against each other, often employing a call-and-response pattern culled from earlier African American music. These techniques are often credited to Fletcher Henderson who indeed built a career using them; it was Redman, however, who largely introduced them to Henderson.
In 1927, at the urging of white bandleader and impresario Jean Goldkette, Redman joined McKinney’s Cotton Pickers as musical director. Four years later he formed his own band, composed of some of the finest musicians available on the Harlem scene. The band worked at Connie’s Inn, recorded for Brunswick, ARC, Victor and others. Redman toured throughout the 1930s, finally disbanding in 1940, although he would gather musicians for recordings and live performances for many years to come. In 1946 he took the first American jazz band overseas to a still shell-shocked Europe. The band was composed of Swing Era veterans, and it it played advanced arrangements by Tadd Dameron along with those by leader Redman.
For the remainder of his career Redman focused on freelance arranging and leading groups of studio musicians on occasional recordings. Redman passed away in 1964, age 64.
Don Redman and his Orchestra
The band that appears in this short subject was a strong aggregation of veteran jazz musicians. Sidney DeParis, the chief trumpet soloist, was a fine improviser, and in his sense of rhythmic freedom reflects the influence of Henry “Red” Allen, one of the important trend setters of the decade. Future Ellingtonian Quentin Jackson had recently joined the trombone section, although the trombone solos usually went to Benny Morton.
One might expect a four-person reed section, in addition to leader Redman. However, by this time Jerry Blake, who had anchored the section on baritone, had left for Europe to join Willie Lewis. He had not been replaced, and no baritone sax can be heard on the soundtrack. In any case, only three reeds, in addition to leader Redman (who does not appear with his alto sax on screen) are seen on in the film.
The rhythm section is strong, including the underrated Don Kirkpatrick on piano who is quite active in the background throughout the short. A great deal of the drive that the band achieves can be attributed to the fine drumming of Manzie Johnson, who was active in the music for over 40 years.
The personnel, as seen on screen, is as follows:
Don Redman and his Orchestra (Don Redman, alto sax, vocal and leader; trumpets, left-to-right: Shirley Clay, Lanston Curl, Sidney DeParis; trombones, left-to-right: Eugene “Gene” Simon, Benny Morton, Quentin “Butter” Jackson; reeds, left-to-right: Rupert Cole, alto sax; Robert Carroll, tenor sax; Ed Inge, alto sax and clarinet; Don Kirkpatrick, piano; Talcott Reeves, guitar; Bob Ysaguirre, string bass; Manzie Johnson, drums)
Often referred to in the press as the “Colored Bing Crosby,” Harlan Lattimore’s presence on the jazz scene was a relatively brief five or six years. His short-lived career belies a greater impact on the music since Lattimore was one of the first black singers to primarily perform ballads, largely eschewing up-tempo rhythm numbers. Lattimore was a precursor to Billy Eckstine, Arthur Prysock and Nat Cole, and his rich baritone sound was popular with black and white audiences alike.
Lattimore was born in Cincinnati in 1908, and he began performing professionally on radio in the late 1920s. Early in the next decade he began recording with Don Redman, as well as appearing with the band in public. His appealing, low-key musical approach allowed him to also record with the white bands of Isham Jones and Victor Young. Lattimore remained with Don Redman until the spring of 1937, when he left the music scene. Some contemporary reports suggest that Lattimore had a substance abuse problem, but this has not been verified. In November 1949 Redman produced a concert at Carnegie Hall that was intended as a comeback for Lattimore, although it apparently failed.
Harlan Lattimore left the music business and died thirty years later in 1980.
Even to major Swing Era enthusiasts, “Red and Struggie” is one of the more obscure comedy/vocal/dance acts of the period. “Red,” the taller of the two performers, was born Reginald Tibbs; “Struggie” was born Walter Struggs. And, as we will see, there were many iterations of the act, and it is unlikely that the original “Red” appears in this film!
Red and Struggie started performing together the late 1920s or early 1930s, with their first publicized exposure a stage revue titled BROWN BUDDIES. The two portrayed privates “Red and Struggy” in a show that starred Bill Robinson, Adelaide Hall, Putney Dandridge and Ada Brown. Reviewing an out-of-town tryout at the Nixon Theater in Pittsburgh (October 1930), a writer for the Pittsburgh Courier noted that Red and Struggie “put over a ‘crazy’ dance act that proved an hilarious sensation....” The troupe the moved to Manhattan and opened at the Liberty Theater on 52nd Street on October 7, 1930. The show ran until January 1931.
When the revue closed on 52nd Street, it moved uptown to the Lafayette Theater in Harlem where Red and Struggie continued to garner positive comment. A reviewer for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted, “What the audience liked best last night were the crazy antics of two inspired black imbeciles named Red and Struggy. It must have been Red who was the bigger and nuttier of the two. He had new movements to exhibit, demented doings entirely original and devastating.” All of the acts in the show were backed by Pike Davis and his Brown Buddies Band, under the direction of Charles Cook.
It appears that in September 1931, Struggs (Struggie) found a new partner in Arthur Bryson, and they performed together at the Alhambra Theater in Harlem. Billed as as “Arthur Bryson and Struggie,” the duo was together only briefly as Red and Struggie (possibly Tibbs returning as Red) were booked at the Lafayette in a program called JAZZ JAMBOREE. The two returned to the Lafayette in September 1932, and in December of the year played the Lafayette with Don Redman and his Orchestra. However, a press report in the New York Age confirms that “Red” is neither the original, Reginald Tibbs, nor Arthur Bryson.
Red and Struggie, with the second, post-Bryson, “Red,” continued to tour, working with Luis Russell and his Orchestra at the Apollo Theater in March 1934. The Chicago Defender, dated August 11, 1934, finds them back with the Don Redman orchestra at Chicago’s Regal Theater. Either before or after the Chicago engagement the duo made the Vitaphone short subject with Redman. In November they were back at the Apollo in a program headlined by Benny Carter’s fine band.
In December 1934, Reginald Tibbs ... the original “Red” of the team ... died from a heart attack. However, it is unlikely that he had been reunited with Struggie either at this time, or six months earlier when the short subject was made.
The team of Red and Struggie was transformed into Struggy and Johnson (March 1936), and later Strugs and Struggie; Strugs was actually Willie (Duke) Bryant, late of the Shades of Rhythm, and no relation to the Harlem bandleader. Nothing further is heard of this unique duo after early 1936.
It should be noted that IMDB cites the presence of Red and Struggie in the 1936 Vitaphone short RED NICHOLS AND HIS WORLD FAMOUS PENNIES. This is not Red and Struggie, however, but rather the better known team Cook and Brown.
Other Sideline Extras
There are five “acting” roles in the film. Two are patrons of Don Redman’s new night club, and the other three show up during the dramatizations that accompanies the song “Ill Wind.”
The woman who leaves the club with Leonard Ruffin at the conclusion of the short is not credited in the production files, but ironically she is the best known of the actors in the short. Edna Mae Harris appeared in more than a dozen black cast and Hollywood features, a handful of Broadway productions, and three SOUNDIES. In addition, Harris was featured in a handful of Broadway plays, including GREEN PASTURES, one of the best known black cast stage productions of the 1930s. Harris portrayed the role of Zeba in both the original 1930 production and the 1935 revival of the play. She also portrayed the same role in the 1936 Hollywood production of GREEN PASTURES produced by MGM.
Walter Struggs
During the second segment of the Ill Wind “song story,” Struggie (Walter Struggs) is seen as a man who is down on his luck. The wind blows a coat, hat and cane his way. In the coat's pocket is some money, allowing him to have a meal at The Elite Cafe!
Doe Doe Green and Wilhemina Grey
Earlier in the “Ill Wind” segment, a man (identified as “Mr. Hardy”) receives a note from his girlfriend Georgina, curtly stating "I don't love you any more." Georgina's friend, who has delivered the note, is attracted to Mr. Hardy, and after a teasing movement that brings to mind Mae West, invites the man to the dance with her. The vamp is played by Wilhemina Grey, a performer who was active from at least the early 1930s. Grey appeared in HARLEM SCANDALS, an Irving Mills productions, presented in January 1932. Two years later she was a member of the Apollo Theater chorus line.
An article in the Pittsburgh Courier dated October 23, 1937, notes, “Wilhemina Gray [sic], former chorine, who just recently became a sensation [sic] as a hip swinger along the illuminated land [I suppose this means Broadway], and Taps Miller, the lad who put the Suzi in Suzi-Q, have come to the paring [sic] of the ways, and now Taps rides his Ford alone."
While Grey’s activities in the late 1930s are unknown, she is noted in a press account as attending a Tuesday night “theatrical presentation” at Clark Monroe’s club in Harlem; also in attendance were Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge and Count Basie. Gray was on the road in early 1941, appearing in Charleston, West Virginia; Columbia, Ohio; and Buffalo, New York. The following year she was back in Manhattan, appearing in a dance act as Tondelayo, although it is not know how long she performed under this name. It is possible that she is the “Tondelayo” who co-stars in the 1946 black cast feature SEPIA CINDERELLA, but this has not been verified. In 1947 Grey contributed the song “Barnyard Boogie” to Louis Jordan’s band book, and the following year appears on record with the vocal harmony group The 5 Kings. Nothing is heard of Ms. Grey beyond this point in time.
Doe Doe Green
Mr. Hardy, the jilted lover, is played by Doe Doe Green, an unknown name to contemporary audiences, but a performer who appeared on stage and film for at least twenty years. Doe Doe Green began his career as a rodeo clown, and later toured as a comedian on the TOBA (Theater Owners Booking Association, also known as Tough On Black Asses) circuit. Green appears in the trades as early as 1914, cited as “the funniest guy in the business” in an ad for a program at the Pekin Theater in Montgomery, Alabama. Two years later he was on tour in the Irvin C. Miller revue MR. RAGTIME. He was with another Miller Show, BROADWAY GOSSIPS, in 1920, again playing a comic role. In 1922 the Lafayette Theater in Harlem featured a Gertrude Saunder’s revue, HURRY ON, billed as “the sexiest show in town,” with Green as a supporting player.
The only recording by Green that has come to my attention was recorded in 1927.
Green also appeared in ENEMIES OF THE LAW (Regal Talking Pictures, 1931), which is apparently a lost film.
Doe Doe Green began a Broadway career in 1922, and he appeared in eight stage presentations, along with many nightclub revues throughout the 1930s. In 1937 Green was featured in a WPA presentation titled HORSE PLAY, presented at the Lafayette Theater. Doe Doe Green’s last noted appearance was on Broadway in a 1943 drama titled THE PATRIOTS. Green passed away the following year.
Leonard Ruffin is the most obscure of the actors in this film. This is his only film credit, and he made only one Broadway appearance, performing as a dancing waiter in the 1925 stage play TELL ME MORE. In 1926 he teamed with dancer Willie Covan, and they appeared together in a number of revues, over a period of six months, performing an act that they called “The Poetry of Motion.”
We next hear of Ruffin in 1932, when he appeared at Harlem’s Lafayette Theater in a traveling version of the COTTON CLUB PARADE starring Cab Calloway and his Orchestra. Nothing further is heard of Ruffin after his performance in this short subject.
Production
Over the years various writers have mistakenly assumed that there were more than one short featuring Don Redman and his Orchestra. The noted jazz researcher Theo Zwicky once referred to the the film as “Take-A-Chance Club,” and that worked its way into print. Likewise, discographer Walter Bruyninckx cited the film title as “Sweepstakes.” While we would welcome multiple titles with the Redman band, there is only one, the Warner Bros./Vitaphone one-reeler under discussion here.
The film was produced on the East Coast, at the Vitaphone studios in Brooklyn. Both recording and sideline photography took place in August 1934, and it is unlikely that more than two or three days were needed to produce the film. Editing came next, with the film finally released in either late December 1934 or January 1935; IMDB cites a release date of December 29, 1934.
The sets for this short subject are well mounted, including one of the nightclub opened by sweepstakes winner Redman. Behind the bandstand are enlarged playing cards and lottery tickets, and a huge circular lottery device that rotates at various times during the stage presentation. In addition, there is an apartment interior, and an exterior set outside of the Elite Restaurant. Director Joseph Henebery keeps the acting moving in a story that includes two band numbers, a comic variety presentation and a vocal that is dramatized on screen. The short concludes with a “surprise ending” that would have delighted many in the audience.
While the film is available on DVD in the Warner Bros. set “Vitaphone Cavalcade of Musical Comedy,” it can also be viewed on YouTube here.
The Music
(1) Yeah, Man - The music begins behind the opening credits, and we immediate know that we are hearing a great Harlem band in full swing. “Yeah Man” had been recorded one year earlier by Fletcher Henderson in an arrangement by his brother Horace, and there may have been a handful of viewers who recognized the song. (The tune, in roughly the same Horace Henderson arrangement, would be recorded by Fletcher’s band one month after the production of the short, under the title “Hotter Than ‘ell.” It would feature a majestic trumpet solo by Henry “Red” Allen.)
The performance in this film, on the other hand, features an arrangement by Don Redman, which is just as strong as Henderson’s. The music under the opening titles introduces what little melody there is to the song, but also let’s us know, via a newspaper mockup, that Don Redman has won the sweepstakes and has opened a club called the “Take-A-Chance Club.” Quote the article in the film:
“’Are you happy?’ asks reporter. “YEAH MAN,” says Don.
Benny Morton
Ed Inge
Redman’s talking vocal comments on both Inge and Morton’s solos, although not by name. After suggesting that the “musical crown” might be given to Morton, Sidney DeParis stands up and states, “Wait there just a minute, Don, let me blow out on this horn.” DeParis’s solo shows the tremendous influence that Louis Armstrong had on all trumpet players of this generation, although the solo also has some of Red Allen’s rhythmic freedom, which a lot of musicians were aware of at that time. Inge solos behind the call-and- response between brass and reeds, with Robert Carroll taking the release. Carroll, a fine improviser, seems to be uncomfortable with the tempo, and with just eight bars his solo ends before it has really started. Special mention should be made of Don Kirkpatrick’s impressive support on piano on this number, and throughout the rest of the short.
(2) Ill Wind - At the conclusion of “Yeah Man,” Don is congratulated by Leonard Ruffin. Ruffin’s date, Edna Mae Harris, points out that a lot of people had lost their money on the sweepstakes. Then, in a comment that has never made a great deal of sense to me, other than to introduce the next song, Don says, “Well you know what they say, it’s an ill wind blows nobody good.”
The band begins the song with a rather bombastic introduction, and now we see the letter to “Mr. Hardy” from his girlfriend Georgina. The melody is played by muted trumpets, with clarinet noodling along in the background. This does not sound at all like Ed Inge, and it could very well be Redman, who was a fine clarinet player. We see the band briefly, then back to the story with Struggie recovering the coat, and getting to dine on found money. Toward the end of this segment Harlan Lattimore begins his soundtrack vocal, with members of the band echoing in the background and we return to the club where we finally get to see Lattimore on screen.
Sidney DeParis
Robert Carroll
At this point the song logically, and musically, seems to end. But instead we move into an out of tempo, symphonic ending which allows Redman to show off another aspect of his talent as a writer and arranger, and the band’s ability to play this sort of “stage show revue” ending.
(3) Nagasaki - This song, written in 1928 by Mort Dixon and Harry Warren, is a novelty piece that tells of the city where “fellas chew tobaccy, and the women wicky-wacky-woo." While the song is usually presented as comic novelty piece --- such is the case here --- it nevertheless has attractive changes, and it was adopted and recorded by hundreds of jazz musicians, including Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman, Django Reinhardt, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller and Oscar Peterson. Redman recorded the title for Brunswick, although this is a different arrangement, possibly put together by Redman for Red and Struggie.
The comic duo enters to the moderate tempo of this arrangement. I cannot, for the life of me, describe their attire, so a picture is included, with Red to the left, Struggie to the right. Their vocal is not much in terms of their voices per se, although they have good “jazz chops,” and I find their performance to be charming and very entertaining. They dance to the last chorus .... again, a simple but effective approach .... with alto sax Rupert Cole heard during the release. Struggie’s rubber faced mugging may be offensive to some today, but in 1934 it would have been accepted as being just a part of this type of comic variety routine.
(4) Tall Man - Usually referred to as “Why Should I Be Tall?,” this tune, by Redman and lyricist Milton Drake, was probably written for this film; at the very least it fits the plot of the film like a glove.
After Red and Struggie leave the stage, Don wanders over to sit with Edna May Harris, who admires his huge diamond ring. Don gives the ring to her, as Ruffin, clearly miffed by Don’s behavior, comments, “Hey shorty, you’re doing pretty well for yourself, aren’t ya?” Cue the music, and Don’s talking vocal that extolls the virtues of his shorter stature: “I get everything that a tall man gets, so why should I be tall?” During the second chorus, however, Harris removes the ring and places it on Ruffin hand; they leave the club together. But Redman has the last laugh. He reaches into his pockets and pulls out a fist full of similar diamond rings, each priced at ten cents. Fade to ending credit.
EVALUATION
In retrospect, after the passage of many decades, many might experience mild disappointment with this short, wishing for four solid jazz performances. But this is not the case, in large part because, especially in a nightclub setting, a band would not play a series of up- tempo jazz pieces. Even when playing for dancers, the band would be expected to vary the tempo. In any revue, jazz pieces would be alternated with vocals, dance/variety acts, features for the leaders, and so forth. And that is exactly what we see and hear in this short.
As historian Dan Weinstein notes, “the band's tremendous execution speaks to Redman's great influence in the music.” The band’s performance of the fine Redman arrangements, the strong statements by the band’s soloists, and the entertaining vocals by Lattimore and Redman ... along with the variety act by Red and Struggie .... make this a superior band short. A classic? Perhaps not, but certainly one that holds our attention and never fails to delight more than eighty years after its production.
Thank to jazz historians Dan Weinstein and Marv Goldberg for their input for this article.
© Mark Cantor and the Celluloid Improvisations Music Film Archive. The contents of this website may not be used without prior permission.
http://archives.nypl.org/scm/21129
The New York Public Library
Archives & Manuscripts
Donald "Don" Matthew Redman
Born July 29, 1900-Piedmont, West Virginia
Died November 30, 1964- New York City
His brother led a band in Cumberland, Maryland and his father was a noted music teacher and had performed in a brass band. His mother was a singer. Don began playing the trumpet at the age of three, joined his first band at 6 and by the age of 12 was proficient on all wind instruments including the oboe.
Don studied music at Storer's College in Harper's Ferry and conservatories in Boston & Chicago. He joined Billy Paige's Broadway Syncopators and traveled to New York with them in 1923. Redman's first recording sessions were in 1923, with Fletcher Henderson, a well respected New York bandleader. Redman joined Henderson's band in 1924, as a reed player and staff arranger and stayed with the unit until 1927. During the early twenties Redman also recorded with many other jazz and blues greats including Clarence Williams and Bessie Smith.
In 1927, Don joined McKinney's Cotton Pickers in Detroit as the leader and musical director, remaining in that position for four years. This band at one point included such jazz legends as Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter and Fats Waller. Always in demand as an arranger, Redman recorded some sessions with Louis Armstrong in 1928.
Hoagy Carmichael was an admirer of the young Don Redman and legend has it that Redman gave Hoagy musical advice and may have written the introduction to "Stardust." Don was one of the first to record it as an instrumental, the words to that classic weren't added by Mitchell Parrish until a few years later.
In 1931, Don formed his own band from the nucleus of the Cotton Pickers and musicians from Horace Henderson's band. They stayed together for nine years, performing regularly at Connie's Inn in Harlem. The band made numerable radio broadcasts and was the first to play a sponsored radio series for CHIPSO in 1932 as well as a film short in 1935. During this time Redman also arranged music during the Thirties for Paul Whiteman, Isham Jones, Ben Pollack and Bing Crosby.
Redman is credited with inventing the swing choir in which the band sang a paraphrase of the words to a counter melody. This was used in '37 in Exactly Like You and Sunny Side of the Street.
In 1940 after the band broke up, he did some free-lance arrangements, then reformed the band for a short time at the end of the year. The following year, he toured briefly with the Snookum Russell Band, then returned to New York City for more free-lance arranging including Jimmy Dorsey's Deep Purple. He put together another band in 1943 for residency at The Zanzibar in New York and soon after resumed full-time arranging for Count Basie, Harry James and NBC studio bands. In 1946, Redman put together another band for a European tour, the band broke after a couple of months though Redman stayed overseas until August of 1947.
Don Redman had a TV series for CBS in 1949. From 1951 he worked as the musical director for Pearl Bailey, though rarely played any instruments publicly. He had a small acting role as a policeman on Broadway in 54-55 with Pearl in House of Flowers. He recorded on alto, soprano and piano in 1958-59. He played piano for the Georgia Minstrels concert in June of '62 and soprano sax for the Sissle-Blake Grass Roots concert in September 1964. During his final years he worked on several extended compositions which have never been publicly performed.
Band Members
- The Don Redman Orchestra in 1931.
CDs in Print
- Don Redman's recordings on CD
Review
- Classics Records:Don Redman and His Orchestra (1931-33), (1933-36), &(1936-39)
- RCA Records: McKinney's Cotton Pickers
https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/02/don-redman-dead.html
DON REDMAN DEAD
Don Redman, band leader and composer, died Monday in the Columbia‐Presbyterian Medical Center. He was 64 years old and lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue.
Mr. Redman had been arranger for Pearl Bailey, the singer, and earlier had led his band in her revues.
He was born in Piedmont, W. Va., and was named Donald Matthew, which he abbreviated for professional use. A child prodigy, he played the trumpet at the age of 3 and became a band member at the age of 6.
When he was 11 years old, he entered Storer”s College, Harper's Ferry, W. Va; He mastered several musical instruments, then took advanced studies at the Boston Conservatory of Music.
Mr. Redman became a saxophonist and arranger for popular orchestras, and later organized his own band. It became a recording attraction and was heard on radio and television.
“He had conducted his band at Connie's Inn and the Apollo Theater in Harlem, at Loew's State and in Europe.
His works included: “Cherry,” “Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to
Surviving are his widow, the former Gladys Henderson, and a daughter, Mrs. Yvonne Whitehurst.
This article can be viewed in its original form.
Please send questions and feedback to archive_feedback@nytimes.com
Don Redman
Don Redman, from I Heard (1933)
Biography
Redman was born in Piedmont, Mineral County, West Virginia. His father was a music teacher, his mother was a singer. Don began playing the trumpet at the age of three, joined his first band at the age of six and by the age of 12 was proficient on all wind instruments ranging from trumpet to oboe as well as piano. He studied at Storer College in Harper's Ferry and at the Boston Conservatory, then joined Billy Page's Broadway Syncopaters in New York City. He was the uncle of saxophonist Dewey Redman, and thus great-uncle of saxophonist Joshua Redman and trumpeter Carlos Redman.[1]
Career
In 1923, Redman joined the Fletcher Henderson orchestra, mostly playing clarinet and saxophones.[2]
He began writing arrangements, and Redman did much to formulate the sound that was to become swing. A trademark of Redman's arrangements was the band playing harmony under written solos. He played brass and reed sections off each other in a call-response pattern, having one section punctuate the figures of another, and moved the melody around different orchestral sections and soloists. His use of this technique was sophisticated, highly innovative, and formed the basis of much big band jazz writing in the following decades.[citation needed]
In 1927 Jean Goldkette convinced Redman to join McKinney's Cotton Pickers as their musical director and leader. He was responsible for their great success and arranged over half of their music (splitting the arranging duties with John Nesbitt through 1931).
Don Redman and his Orchestra
Redman then formed his own band in 1931,[2] which got a residency at the famous Manhattan jazz club Connie's Inn. Redman signed with Brunswick Records and also did a series of radio broadcasts. Redman and his Orchestra also provided music for the animated short I Heard, part of the Betty Boop series produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount. Redman composed original music for the short, which was released on September 1, 1933. The Brunswick records Redman made between 1931–1934 were some of the most complex pre-swing hot jazz arrangements of popular tunes. Redman's band didn't rely on just a driving rhythm or great soloists, but it had an overall level of arranging sophistication that was seldom heard by other black bands of the period.[citation needed] The popular vocalist, Harlan Lattimore, provided about half of the vocals during this period. Redman himself was occasionally featured as vocalist, displaying a humorous, recitation-like vocal style on numbers such as "Doin' What I Please" and "I Gotcha."
In 1933, his band made a Vitaphone short film for Warner Bros. (which is available as of 2006 on the DVD of the Busby Berkeley feature film Dames). Redman recorded for Brunswick through 1934. He then did a number of sides for ARC in 1936 (issued on their Vocalion, Perfect, Melotone, etc.) and in 1937, he pioneered a series of swing re-arrangements of old classic pop tunes for the Variety label. His use of a swinging vocal group (called "The Swing Choir") was very modern and even today, quite usual, with Redman's sophisticated counterpoint melodies. He signed with Bluebird in 1938 and recorded with them until 1940, when he disbanded.[citation needed]
When Redman disbanded his orchestra, he concentrated on freelance work writing arrangements. Some of his arrangements became hits for Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, and Harry James. He traveled to Europe in 1946 leading an all-star band that included Don Byas, Tyree Glenn, and Billy Taylor. He appeared on Uptown Jubilee on the CBS Television network for the 1949 season. In the 1950s he was music director for singer Pearl Bailey.
In the early 1960s he played piano for the Georgia Minstrels Concert and soprano sax with Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle's band.[citation needed]
He was named a member of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame on May 6, 2009.[3]
Death
Don Redman died in New York City on November 30, 1964, aged 64, from undisclosed causes.
Discography
As leader
As sideman
With Fletcher Henderson
- A Study in Frustration (Columbia, 1961)
- Wrappin' It Up (Membran, 2005)
- Sweet and Hot (Le Chant du Monde, 2007)
With McKinney's Cotton Pickers
- 1931–1933 (Classics, 1990)
- 1933–1936 (Classics, 1991)
- 1936–1939 (Classics, 1994)
References
- Yanow, Scott. "Doin' the New Lowdown". AllMusic. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
External links
- Don Redman profile, redhotjazz.com
- Profile, newstribune.info
https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2018/02/remembering-don-redman-1900-1964-first.html
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Remembering Don Redman: 1900-1964 - The First Master of Jazz Orchestration
https://www.jazzwax.com/2016/05/don-redman-all-stars-1957.html
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May 12, 2016
Don Redman All-Stars: 1957
Don
Redman today is a forgotten giant of the swing era. A saxophonist and
percussionist who played with Fletcher Henderson's band and McKinney's
Cotton Pickers in the 1920s, Redman's true genius rested in his
sophisticated big-band arrangements, starting in the late 1920s. By the
early 1930s, he was writing complex dance charts years before the music
press began calling the music "swing." Listening to his arrangements
from that period today, it's easy to hear how muscular, complex bands of
the 1940s led by Stan Kenton and Boyd Raeburn must have been influenced
by Redman's writing. For example, here's Redman's arrangement of his original Chant of the Weed, with sections sliding in and out—not with call-and-response motifs but intricate, self-contained architecture...
In the early 1940s, Redman broke up his band to devote more of his time to the more lucrative enterprise of arranging for African-American and white dance bands. In 1945, he wrote this nifty chart of Just an Old Manuscript for Count Basie...
In 1946, Redman formed a band that included tenor saxophonist Don Byas, trombonist Tyree Glenn and pianist Billy Taylor and went off to Europe on tour, becoming one of the first bands to visit Europe following World War II. Here's the band playing How High the Moon in Switzerland in '46 with a solo by Byas...
Several key members of the band left while the orchestra was in Europe, and when Redman returned to the States, he broke up what was left of it to focus again on arranging, including albums for singer Pearl Bailey. In 1952, he wrote this knockout arrangement for Basie just after Basie formed his so-called New Testament band. It's Jack and Jill, with Marshal Royal on clarinet in the reed section and a hip solo by Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Dig the stop-time measures and crazy run-down at the end...
In July 1957, Redman assembled a dynamite band and recorded a transcription album for Sesac in New York called Don Redman All-Stars. For those not in the know, a transcription recording was typically an oversized disc recorded exclusively for radio airplay. In this case, the transcription featured songs licensed by the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (Sesac), a performing-rights organization akin to ASCAP and BMI. All of the Redman songs here would have been licensed by Sesac, and the transcription was offered to radio stations for broadcast. Sesac would then earn airplay royalties on the songs.
Redman's
transcription was the first in a series that Sesac produced between
1957 and 1963 that included Duke Ellington, Elliot Lawrence, Don
Elliott, Will Bradley, Bobby Hackett, Cannonball Adderley, Count Basie,
Billy Taylor and Kai Winding. (A label today might want to feature them
all in a set called The Complete Sesac Sessions.)
So
who was in this '57 Redman transcription band? Take a deep breath:
Charlie Shavers, Joe Wilder, Al Mattaliano (tp); James Cleveland, Sonny
Russo, Bobby Byrne (tb); George Dorsey, Milt Yaner (as); Coleman
Hawkins, Al Cohn, Seldon Powell (ts); Danny Bank (bar); Hank Jones (p);
George Barnes (g); Al Hall (b); Osie Johnson (d) and Don Redman
(percussion, vibes, whistling, arranger/conductor).
Redman's originals here swing, and his arrangements are dazzling and relentlessly interesting. The solos are all tasteful, particularly the ones by Coleman Hawkins. Don Redman died in 1964.
JazzWax tracks: You're in luck. I found the Don Redman All-Stars transcription broken into two parts—volumes 1 and 2. You'll find the albums here and here as downloads. For more music in the same vein, dig Redman's Park Ave. Patter, from April 1957. You'll find it on Don Redman and His Orchestra: At the Swing Cats Ball (Fresh Sound). The CD include tracks from Vol. 1 of the previous session (go here).
JazzWax clips: Here's Chevy's Chase with solos by Hank Jones, George Barnes, Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Shavers. There also are flutes on the track, which are likely by Powell and Bank...
Here's Ain't Gonna Get Fooled Again, with a great solo by Hawkins...
And here's I Dream of Summer, with a swell solo by tenor saxophonist Al Cohn...
JazzWax note: Redman was the uncle of saxophonist Dewey Redman and great-uncle of saxophonist Joshua Redman and trumpeter Carlos Redman.
Don Redman Orchestra
Preview Clip: Don Redman & His Orchestra (1934
Don Redman and his Orchestra It's All Your Fault
Don Redman & Orchestra - Chant Of The Weed 1931
Try Getting A Good Night's Sleep Don Redman and
Don Redman and his Orchestra - No one Loves Me
July 29, 1900 Don Redman (The Little Giant of
Don Redman & His Orchestra with Red & Struggie
HFNHP Don Redman Jazz Heritage Awards
