Sultan Recording Company, headquartered in Detroit, was a short-lived label started c. 1946 by Morton Sultan (1921 - 1983).
Its gimmick was "Double-header hits," meaning that two different artists shared each

78 rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

. As far as is known only three jazz artists recorded for Sultan: Red Saunders,

Eddie Wiggins Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle *Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Linu ...

and Alphonso "Sonny" Thompson.Pruter, Robert & Campbell, Robert L. "The Sultan Label"
/ref> The only other known Sultan recording is of songs in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and Yiddish, recorded in Detroit by a synagogue cantor in 1946.

Releases

Series 2500

Its three jazz 78s were recorded in Chicago in June 1946: *2501 - Side A: "Orientale" (Wiggins) -

Sextette - Musicians: Eddie Wiggins (as -2; ob -1);

Gene Russell William Eugene Russell (December 2, 1932 – May 5, 1981), known as Gene Russell, was an American pop, jazz, and soul keyboardist who played acoustic and Fender Rhodes.Nastos, Michael GAllmusic Biography: "Gene Russell."allmusic.com. Retrieved Oct ...

(p);

Red Cody Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

(vib);

Frank Gassi Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

(eg);

Jack Fonda Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, i ...

(b);

Steve Varela ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve A ...

(d). *2501 - Side B: "Red, the Be Bop Guy" ("Red" Saunders and His Band, which included an unannounced guest appearance by

Buster Bennett James Joseph "Buster" Bennett (March 19, 1914 – July 3, 1980) was an American blues saxophonist and blues shouter. His nickname was "Leap Frog". At various times in his career, he played the soprano saxophone, the alto, and the tenor. He ...

) - Musicians: Red Saunders (d, voc, ldr);

George "Sonny" Cohn George Thomas Cohn (March 14, 1925 – November 7, 2006), known professionally as Sonny Cohn, was an American jazz trumpeter whose career spanned over six decades. After working for fifteen years with Red Saunders (1945–1960), Cohn went on ...

(tp); Joseph "Buster" Bennett (voc, as -1);

Nat Jones Nat Jones (born July 24, 1976) is an American artist working primarily in comic books and film. Jones is best known for his work on Frank Frazetta's ''Death Dealer (comics), Death Dealer''. Bibliography Artist *''Crypt of Dawn'' (1996) *''The C ...

(as);

Leon Washington Leon Dewitt Washington Sr. (born August 29, 1982) is a former American football running back and return specialist. He currently serves as a coach for the New York Jets. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL ...

(ts);

Porter Derrico Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a ...

(p);

Mickey Sims Robert Anderson "Mickey" Sims (March 5, 1955 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – June 7, 2006 in Parma, Ohio) was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth roun ...

(b). *2502 - Side A: "South Side Boogie" (Thompson) - "Sonny" Thompson, Prince of the Ivories. *2502 - Side B: "Onyx Jump" (Wiggins) - Eddie Wiggins Sextette. *2503 - Side A: "Vi, Tell Me Why" (Dean-Saunders) - "Red" Saunders and His Band. *2503 - Side B: "Sonny's Boogie" (Thompson) - "Sonny" Thompson, Prince of the Ivories.

Series 1000

* 1000 - Side A: "Hatikvah"; Side B: "Ich fur Aheim" -

Cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

Hyman Adler of Congregation B'nai David in Detroit. "

Hatikvah Hatikvah ( he, הַתִּקְוָה, haTīqvā, ; ) is the national anthem of the State of Israel. Part of 19th-century Jewish poetry, the theme of the Romantic composition reflects the 2,000-year-old desire of the Jewish people to return t ...

", sung in Hebrew, would, in two years' time, become the national anthem of Israel, while "Ich fur Aheim" was a Yiddish popular song.

Critical reviews

The two

Sonny Thompson Sonny Thompson (probably August 23, 1916 – August 11, 1989), born Alfonso Thompson or Hezzie Tompson, was an American R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Biography There is some uncertainty over Thompson's origins, as ...

sides were reviewed by ''

Metronome A metronome, from ancient Greek μέτρον (''métron'', "measure") and νομός (nomós, "custom", "melody") is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a regular interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats pe ...

'' in its September 1946 issue: "This is the pianist who came into the Café Society Uptown two months ago. It's said he's potentially great, but since both these sides are just so much fast flashy boogie woogie, with a meaningless pseudo-classical departure, we'll reserve our raves." Reviewing Saunders' "Red, the Be Bop Guy", ''Metronome'' said, "Saunders' little Chicago band does a vocal novelty that sounds more like typical jump music than be bop. It's a medium-tempo blues with a good beat and some tricky alto by Nat Jones. The same Mr. Jones, who played clarinet for the Duke for a while some three years ago, plays a sweet solo on 'Vi,' but the band and performance are out of kilter and perhaps a trifle off center." The October 1946 issue of ''Metronome'', referring to the Eddie Wiggins sides: "This little band from Chicago, which opened at New York's Aquarium last month, jumps healthily in 'Onyx,' with good solos by alto and vibes and some spirited riffing. Nothing sensational here, but very good for an unknown band of which you expected nothing. 'Orientale' shifts the alto man to oboe for a performance that sounds alarmingly like its title and is a weird mixture of exotic sound effects and jump piano. It gets better as it goes along and turns out to be a fast blues, then back comes that oboe."

References

{{Authority control American record labels

Releases

Series 2500

Series 1000

Critical reviews

See also

References