St Louis Blues - Adrian Rollini 1937

St Louis Blues - Rollini Adrian 1937

Richard Himber had one of the top "sweet" dancebands of the 1930s. Previously, he was first violinist for Rudy Vallee's Connecticut Yankees, and it was Vallee who encouraged and financed (a gift, not a loan) Himber's first orchestra. Himber's orchestra usually played in the most prestigious hotels and ballrooms and had access to the topflight musicians of his era - for recordings, if not for routine, nightly performances. Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Bunny Berigan, Blue Barron, and other future bandleading notables are among the sidemen.
In this film Mr Himber is filmed in three clips from 1937. In the last clip the famous Adrian Rollini (on xylophone) trio is featured together with the quartet of violinist Wladimir Selinsky.
Adrian Rollini (1904-1954) was a child prodigy on piano; at age four he played a recital at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (34th sreet and 5th Avenue) in New York. He led his own band at age 14 and began playing with the California Ramblers in the early 1920s. The California Ramblers were one of the most recorded bands of the 1920s. The band also featured Red Nichols, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. The California Ramblers played popular tunes of the day with a Jazz influence. While in that band Rollini developed his distinctive style of bass saxophone playing. He played in Red Nichols' Five Pennies and appeared on many of Red's recording sessions. He also worked with Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra and recorded with Cliff Edwards and Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang. In 1934 he put together some recording sessions that featured Jack Teagarden, Bunny Berigan and Benny Goodman.
Wladimir Selinsky was born in Russia in 1910. A child prodigy violinist, he emigrated to the United States in 1925 at the age of 15. During his early years in the United States, he worked as a concert master and assistant conductor on Broadway. He also performed in various orchestras conducted by Bruno Walter, Leopold Stokowski, and Pierre Monteux.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• classic
• jazz
• adrian
• rollini
• on
• vibraphone