{"id":2132,"date":"2026-06-21T17:11:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T22:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/?p=2132"},"modified":"2026-06-21T17:11:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T22:11:52","slug":"the-missouri-jazz-band-fletcher-henderson-orch-roy-collins-dance-orchestra-nathan-glantz-orch-1925","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/2026\/06\/21\/the-missouri-jazz-band-fletcher-henderson-orch-roy-collins-dance-orchestra-nathan-glantz-orch-1925\/","title":{"rendered":"The Missouri Jazz Band (Fletcher Henderson Orch) &#038; Roy Collins Dance Orchestra (Nathan Glantz Orch) &#8211; 1925"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Oriole528AMcroryJPG.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1068\" height=\"1260\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Oriole528AMcroryJPG.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Oriole528AMcroryJPG-254x300.jpg 254w, https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Oriole528AMcroryJPG-868x1024.jpg 868w, https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Oriole528AMcroryJPG-768x906.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1068px) 100vw, 1068px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 31px;\">\n<td style=\"background-color: #f2ebeb; padding-left: 40px; height: 31px; width: 628px;\">&#8220;Then I&#8217;ll Be Happy&#8221;<br \/>\nMissouri Jazz Band; Gerald Nelson, vocal<br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">(Pseudonyms for Fletcher Henderson&#8217;s Orchestra &amp; Don Redman, vocal)<\/span><br \/>\nNovember 16, 1925\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Oriole 528 a mx 36297)<br \/>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-2132-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Missouri-Jazz-Band-Then-Ill-Be-Happy.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Missouri-Jazz-Band-Then-Ill-Be-Happy.mp3\">https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Missouri-Jazz-Band-Then-Ill-Be-Happy.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 13px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 13px; width: 628px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12px;\"><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 31px;\">\n<td style=\"background-color: #f2ebeb; padding-left: 40px; height: 31px; width: 628px;\">\u201cWho Loves You Now?\u201d<br \/>\nRoy Collins Dance Orchestra<br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">(Pseudonym for Nathaniel Glantz Orchestra)<\/span><br \/>\nSeptember 30, 1925\u00a0 \u00a0 (Oriole 528 b mx 36205)<br \/>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-2132-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Roy-Collins-Dance-Orchestra-Who-Loves-You-Now.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Roy-Collins-Dance-Orchestra-Who-Loves-You-Now.mp3\">https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Roy-Collins-Dance-Orchestra-Who-Loves-You-Now.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Here are two recordings with jazzy &#8220;hot dance&#8221; passages from a mid-1920s Oriole record.<\/p>\n<p>Oriole was a label manufactured by the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scranton_Button_Company\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Scranton Button Company<\/a> specifically for the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/McCrory_Stores\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">McCrory<\/a> dime store chain.\u00a0 \u00a0Oriole did not have its own recording studios, and, as was common practice with many small labels and chain store brand labels, relied on masters made available by other record labels.<\/p>\n<p>By the time this record was made and thereafter, Oriole sourced its material from masters recorded at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/es\/label\/572906-Independent-Recording-Laboratories?redirected=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Independent Record Laboratories<\/a>&#8216; studio at 55 West 16th Street in New York City for the Scranton Button Co. owned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/es\/label\/577104-Regal-Record-Company-Inc?redirected=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Regal Records<\/a>, along with other labels manufactured by Scranton Button and distributed by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/es\/label\/510849-Plaza-Music-Company?redirected=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Plaza Music Company<\/a>, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/es\/label\/161008-Banner?srsltid=AfmBOooPKZKT2C0HlneJHh6ecDqu7163q8LTUkQyCUt653NG7BSMJx7o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Banner<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/es\/label\/243649-Domino-2?redirected=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Domino<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Artist credits on Oriole were almost always recording pseudonyms &#8211; and the pseudonyms might or might not have been the same as those used on issues of the identical recording on other affiliated labels.<\/p>\n<p>The recording of &#8220;Then I&#8217;ll\u00a0 Be Happy&#8221; features two giants of the <a href=\"https:\/\/nmaahc.si.edu\/explore\/stories\/new-african-american-identity-harlem-renaissance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harlem Renaissance<\/a> music scene whose talents as arrangers helped define the sound of the later swing and big band eras: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fletcher_Henderson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fletcher Henderson&#8217;s<\/a> orchestra with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Don_Redman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Don Redman<\/a> providing the vocal.<\/p>\n<p>On Oriole, they were disguised under the pseudonyms of the Missouri Jazz Band and Gerald Nelson.\u00a0 On copies issued by Regal, Banner, and Domino, however, they were credited under their own names.\u00a0 Copies issued on the Slivertone label, sold through Sears, Roebuck &amp; Company&#8217;s catalogs and retail stores, were credited as Sid Terry&#8217;s Collegians with Ray Gilbert on vocal.<\/p>\n<p>The Missouri Jazz Band pseudonym was frequently used across Regal\/Plaza Music-affiliated labels for recordings by a variety of bandleaders, including Adrian Schubert, Lou Gold, Sam Lanin, Nathan Glantz, and many others.<\/p>\n<p>The Roy Collins Dance Orchestra pseudonym used for the recording of &#8220;Who Loves You Now?&#8221; on the flip side was also widely used across the different labels.\u00a0 According to Brian Rust&#8217;s <em>American Dance Band Discography<\/em>, the band on this recording is <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nathan_Glantz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nathan Glantz&#8217;s<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly enough, Rust lists this recording as having been made but indicates that it was &#8220;rejected&#8221; and unissued.\u00a0 \u00a0Obviously, that was not the case given the existence of this Oriole issue.<\/p>\n<p>I suspect, however, that Rust was not completely incorrect.\u00a0 In nearby listings, he indicates that his information was based on the record label&#8217;s own internal files.\u00a0 My hunch is that the recording was initially rejected for issue on the flagship Regal and Banner labels and noted as such in those files. But, I suspect, at some point later, someone went back and decided to pair the previously rejected master with &#8220;Then I&#8217;ll Be Happy&#8221; for release on Oriole.\u00a0 \u00a0I have not been able to find any reference to this recording appearing on any label besides Oriole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &#8220;Then I&#8217;ll Be Happy&#8221; Missouri Jazz Band; Gerald Nelson, vocal (Pseudonyms for Fletcher Henderson&#8217;s Orchestra &amp; Don Redman, vocal) November 16, 1925\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Oriole 528 a mx 36297) \u201cWho Loves You Now?\u201d Roy Collins Dance Orchestra (Pseudonym for Nathaniel &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/2026\/06\/21\/the-missouri-jazz-band-fletcher-henderson-orch-roy-collins-dance-orchestra-nathan-glantz-orch-1925\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":83,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14,64,63,62,65],"class_list":["post-2132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-1920s","tag-don-redman","tag-fletcher-henderson","tag-harlem-renaissance","tag-nathan-glantz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2132"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2143,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2132\/revisions\/2143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.early1900s.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}