The Mound City Blue Blowers were an American novelty

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * Ensemble (album), ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the ...

, formed in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, United States. It was co-founded by

Red McKenzie William 'Red' McKenzie (October 14, 1899 – February 7, 1948) was an American jazz vocalist and musician who played a comb as an instrument. He played the comb-and-paper by placing paper, sometimes strips from the ''Evening World'', over the ti ...

and

Jack Bland Jack Bland (May 8, 1899 – August 1968) was an American jazz banjoist and guitarist. Born in Sedalia, Missouri, Sedalia, Missouri, Bland co-founded the Mound City Blue Blowers with Red McKenzie in 1924 in St. Louis. Their first hit record was "A ...

and performed from 1923 to 1936. First assembled in 1923, the group's original members were Red McKenzie playing comb and tissue paper, Dick Slevin on

kazoo The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifie ...

, and Jack Bland on banjo. The band also included, in lieu of a drum kit, a traveler's suitcase played with foot and whisk brooms by

Josh Billings Josh Billings was the pen name of 19th-century American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw (April 21, 1818October 14, 1885). He was a famous humor writer and lecturer in the United States during the latter half of the 19th century. He is often compa ...

. Their debut recording, the 1924 release "Arkansas Blues" b/w "Blue Blues", was a hit in the Midwest. They recorded twelve tunes in 1924 and 1925;

Frankie Trumbauer Orie Frank Trumbauer (May 30, 1901 – June 11, 1956) was an American jazz saxophonist of the 1920s and 1930s. His main instrument was the C-melody saxophone, a now-uncommon instrument between an alto and tenor saxophone in size and pitch. He a ...

and Eddie Lang played on some of the tracks.Yanow After 1925, McKenzie recorded under his own name as a vocalist, but returned to the Mound City name in 1929 for several sessions with jazz stars including

Jack Teagarden Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an American jazz trombonist and singer. According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 19 ...

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

, Glenn Miller, and

Pee Wee Russell Charles Ellsworth "Pee Wee" Russell (March 27, 1906 – February 15, 1969), was an American jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but he eventually focused solely on clarinet. With a highly individualistic and sp ...

. In 1931, the group recorded with McKenzie, Hawkins, Muggsy Spanier, and

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peop ...

. The last recordings to bear the Mound City name, 25 songs from 1935–1936, included appearances from Nappy Lamare,

Spooky Dickenson Spooky or Spookey may refer to: something that will cause creepiness or uncanniness. Arts and entertainment Music Musicians *Spooky (house music duo) * Spookey (UK band), a 1970s soul band based in Manchester * DJ Spooky, musician and producer * ...

, Billy Wilson,

Bunny Berigan Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism, and ended with his early demise at the ...

Yank Lawson John Rhea "Yank" Lawson (May 3, 1911 – February 18, 1995) was an American jazz trumpeter known for Dixieland and swing music. Born John Lausen in 1911, from 1933 to 1935 he worked in Ben Pollack's orchestra and after that became a founding ...

, and Eddie Miller. In 1929–1931, the group also made at least two short performance films: ''The Opry House'' (1929) and ''Nine O'Clock Folks'' (1931), which included "

I Ain't Got Nobody "I Ain't Got Nobody" (sometimes referred to as "I'm So Sad and Lonely" or "I Ain't Got Nobody Much") is a popular song copyrighted in 1915. Roger A. Graham (1885–1938) wrote the lyrics, Spencer Williams composed it, and Roger Graham Music Pub ...

", "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", "My Gal Sal", and "St. Louis Blues".

Notes

References

* Scott Yanow, Mound City Blue Blowersat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

* Eddie Condon, ''We Called It Music. A Generation Of Jazz'', Henry Holt, 1947,

External links

Mound City Blue Blowers
at the Red Hot Jazz Archive * * {{Authority control American jazz ensembles from Missouri Vocalion Records artists Brunswick Records artists Musical groups established in 1923 1923 establishments in Missouri Musical groups disestablished in 1936 1936 disestablishments in the United States