“Would Ja”
The Buffalodians
(Columbia 723-D mx 142553) August 20, 1926
“She’s Still My Baby”
The Buffalodians
(Columbia 723-D mx 142554) August 20, 1926
From the Edward Mitchell collection, here are two sides from the final recording session of a jazzy band based out of Buffalo, New York.
On “Would Ja,” an incredibly catchy tune, one can hear two brief “scat” vocals by the band’s pianist, the yet-to-be-famous Harold Arlen, then known as Harold Arluck.
According to this brief article, courtesy of The Syncopated Times, the band also performed under the names The Yankee Six and The Yankee Ten. Be advised, however, that according to discographer Brian Rust, the name Yankee Ten was also used as a recording pseudonym for recordings by various band leaders such as Fred Rich, Lou Gold and others.
The only Yankee Ten recordings I can find listed that were, in fact, made by the Buffalodians/Yankee Six are “Baby Face” and “How Many Times.” Those two recordings were issued on various dime store and small independent labels. Some are credited to The Yankee Ten, others to the Yankee Six, and others to pseudonyms such as Six Black Dominos, Master Melody Makers, Lou Connor’s Dance Orchestra, and others.
I recall seeing in Eddie’s collection records by either the Yankee Six or Yankee Ten. Once I come across them again, I will definitely check to see if they were among those recorded by this band.
I enjoy coming across recordings by obscure, local bands. According to one source, in 1924 alone, there were over 900 professional jazz and dance bands in the United States. That number, of course, was constantly changing as bands came into and out of existence. Some of these bands were local to a particular city. Others were so-called “territory bands” that traveled regionally – which, for the musicians, was an often grueling existence requiring them to travel hundreds of miles a day on the era’s still-primitive highways between “one-night stand” type engagements.
Only a tiny fraction of these bands had the opportunity to make records. A few were able to make at least one or two recordings thanks to the major labels’ periodic field trips with their portable recording equipment to various regions of the country. And the quality of the regional bands captured by such field recordings is often amazing. But, for most of them, the only reminders of their existence are old newspaper and trade publication mentions and, on occasion, local radio station program schedules.
One can only imagine what truly outstanding performances must have taken place – enjoyed by the fortunate few who were among whatever audience was on hand before immediately and forever vanishing into the ether.