Song:There Ain't No Land Like Dixieland To Me
Album:Singin' The Blues
The most notable thing about this 1927 recording is that legendary cornetist Bix Beiderbecke played on it. The Broadway Bell-Hops were a name that bandleader Sam Lanin used anytime there was a record with a vocal on it. Lanin started out as a drummer but in the 20s he was more of an arranger and producer. He didn't play on any of these recordings. And he released music under so many different names it's impossible to keep track of it. The Broadway Bell-Hops started out in 1926 as a band featuring trumpeter Red Nichols recording for RCA Victor. There were vocals on the recordings featuring guys like Billy Jones, Arthur Fields and Irving Kaufman. From what I could tell, the Broadway Bell-Hops were not a vocal group. Lanin then recorded some songs with Frankie Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke. This was at a time when they were working for Paul Whiteman and Beiderbecke was not a happy camper. Trumbauer recorded for Okeh. Kaufman was the featured vocalist on these records so Lanin released them under the Broadway Bell-Hops name. They probably didn't want Okeh to know that Trumbauer and Beiderbecke recorded for RCA. Kaufman was a singer for hire who worked usually anonymously for Lanin and other bandleaders. Though he sometimes worked with jazz musicians, I would not describe him as a jazz singer. All four songs featuring Kaufman and Beiderbecke are on this budget CD. Other solos on this record are by Joe Venuti on violin, Don Murray on clarinet, Bill Rank on trombone and Trumbauer on sax. Venuti was a jazz legend. Murray died in a car accident in 1929 at age 25. Rank was a Trumbauer regular. Beiderbecke is really on his game here so these recordings are worth checking out. Here's a video for There Ain't No Land Like Dixieland To Me featuring Irving Kaufman and Bix Beiderbecke.
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