The Jazz Repertory Company will present ‘Jazz in New York: The 1930s’, with Kerry Shale as presenter, and Vimala Rowe performing the songs of Billie Holiday, at Cadogan Hall, on Sunday 29 September at 6:30pm.
Richard Pite writes: On Sunday 29th September The Jazz Repertory Company’s fine array of classic jazz specialists and the superb singer Vimala Rowe will be recreating all the musical excitement of a spectacular night out in New York in the 1930s.
Our presenter Kerry Shale presents a guided tour of the city’s nightclubs, recording studios and radio stations when jazz and swing were at their peak of popularity.
Our first stop is 52nd Street and the Onyx Club where John Kirby’s Onyx Club Boys are resident. This hot little band has just struck gold with their latest hit Rehearsin’ For A Nervous Breakdown.
From here it’s a short cab ride to the CBS radio studios to catch Artie Shaw’s Gramercy Five broadcasting hits such as Special Delivery Stomp on the Radio Hall of Fame. Artie’s hot clarinet is backed by the swinging harpsichord of Johnny Guarnieri and Al Hendrickson’s electric guitar.
One of Manhattan’s most renowned nighteries is Café Society in Greenwich Village. Here we’ll find the magnificent Billie Holiday with Teddy Wilson and his orchestra and Lester Young guesting on tenor sax.
Photo credit Charlotte Baladi
Louis Armstrong, the biggest jazz star of the era is in the studios of WNEW Radio in mid-town recording good ol’ good ones like Tiger Rag and I Got Rhythm for the very popular Make-Believe Ballroom show. Louis is appearing with Jack Teagarden, Fats Waller, Bud Freeman and a cooking rhythm section with Cliff Leeman on drums.
No visit to the Jazz hot spots of New York would be complete without a cocktail or two at the Cotton Club where Duke Ellington brought his jungle rhythms to Harlem.
For something completely different we head to the RCA Victor Studios in the Rockefeller Centre where the amiably eccentric Raymond Scott and his Quintette are laying down some future million sellers like The Penguin and Powerhouse. You might not know his name but you’ll have heard his music on countless Warner Brothers cartoons as he sold all his music to them much to the benefit of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
We wind up the evening in West 44th Street at the swank Yacht Club with the “Cheerful Little Earful” Fats Waller entertaining the elite whilst they eat.
We hope you can join us on our journey back nearly ninety years to a time when some of the greatest names in jazz history were available for less than a buck (or for free if you stayed at home and listened on the radio). For one night the Jazz Repertory Company will be recreating a moment when jazz was the soundtrack to the most exciting city in the world.
PERFORMERS
Kerry Shale presenter
Vimala Rowe vocals
Enrico Tomasso trumpet/vocals
Ian Bateman trombone
Michael McQuaid saxophones/clarinet
Matthias Seuffert saxophones/clarinet
Nick Dawson piano/vocals
Martin Litton piano
Thomas “Spats” Langham guitar
David Chamberlain double bass/guitar
Richard Pite drums
(*) Richard Pite is Director of the Jazz Repertory Company. PP features are part of marketing packages.
