The Chicago Rhythm Kings was the name under which the recordings of several different
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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
ensembles were issued.
The earliest of these was a jazz octet consisting of vocalist
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 t ...
, cornetist
Muggsy Spanier
Francis Joseph "Muggsy" Spanier (November 9, 1901 – February 12, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist based in Chicago. He was a member of the Bucktown Five, pioneers of the "Chicago style" that straddled traditional Dixieland jazz and swi ...
, saxophonist
Frank Teschemacher, guitarist
Eddie Condon
Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang. He also owned a self-named night club in New York City.
Early ...
, clarinetist
Mezz Mezzrow, pianist
Joe Sullivan
}
Michael Joseph O'Sullivan (November 4, 1906 – October 13, 1971) was an American jazz pianist.
Sullivan was the ninth child of Irish immigrant parents. He studied classical piano for 12 years and at age 17, he began to play popular music in s ...
, drummer
Gene Krupa
Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman ...
, and bassist and tubist
Jim Lanigan. This group, who also recorded under the name the Jungle Kings, released a 1928 record for
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916.
History
1916–1929
Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...
as the Chicago Rhythm Kings performing
Benton Overstreet's "
There'll Be Some Changes Made
"There'll Be Some Changes Made" ("Changes") is a popular music, popular song by Benton Overstreet (composer) and Billy Higgins (vaudeville), Billy Higgins (lyricist). Published in 1921, the song has flourished in several genres, particularly ja ...
" and
Jack Palmer and
Spencer Williams
Spencer Williams (October 14, 1889 – July 14, 1965) was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs " Basin Street Blues", " I Ain't Got Nobody", " Royal Garden Blues", " I've Found a N ...
's "
I Found a New Baby".
Several members of this first Chicago Rhythm Kings band, including Condon, Sullivan, and Krupa, also played together in another recording group together, the
Rhythmakers.
The Rhythmakers made several recordings in 1932 in New York City for
which were later reissued on
Parlophone Records
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...
and
Polydor Records
Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...
under the pseudonym Chicago Rhythm Kings.
In 1936 Tom Berwick and His Ritz-Carlton Orchestra also used Chicago Rhythm King as a pseudonym for a record they made for
Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records is an American record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of children's music, blues, jazz and swing in the 1930s and 1940s. Bluebird was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebi ...
.
In 1940
Signature Records
Signature Records was a jazz record company and label founded in 1939 by Bob Thiele when he was 17 years old. Its roster included Coleman Hawkins, Earl Hines, Erroll Garner, and Lester Young.
At age 14, Thiele was a disc jockey for his own jazz ...
released an album with another Chicago Rhythm Kings band consisting of trumpeter
Marty Marsala, clarinetist and saxophonist
Rod Cless, guitarist Jack Goss, pianist
Art Hodes
Arthur W. Hodes (November 14, 1904 – March 4, 1993), was a Russian-born American jazz and blues pianist. He is regarded by many critics as the greatest white blues pianist.
Biography
Hodes was born in Nikolaev, in the Russian Empire (now Myk ...
, and string bassist Earl Murphy. That same year the drummer
George Wettling also released music with "George Wettling's Chicago Rhythm Kings" for
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
.
Currently
Bob Schulz and His Chicago Rhythm Kings have been active in performance and on record.
Bob Schulz discography
on AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*{{cite book, title=Pseudonyms on American Records, 1892-1942; A Guide to False Names and Label Errors, year=2005, isbn=9780967181998, publisher=Mainspring Press, author=Allan Sutton
American jazz ensembles