Photo Gallery – Jean Goldkette
Sheet Music of Goldkette “You Are Just A Vision”, Copyright 192 – S.B.
Music by Jean Goldkette, Ray Ludwig, Don Murray, and Charles Horvath, words by Howdy Quicksell. This song was never recorded by the Jean Goldkette orchestra.
Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra, 1924? 1925? S.B.
Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra, 1924, Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, MI – R.B
From left to right: Spiegle Willcox, trombone; Bill Rank, trombone; Steve Brown, tuba; Ray Lodwig, trumpet; Fuzzy Farrar, trumpet; Russ Morgan, director; Chauncey Morehouse, drums; Howdy Quicksell, bnjo; Doc Ryker, alto, baritone, clarinet; Lou Longo, piano; Jimmy Dorsey, clarinet, alto; Don Murray, clarinet, tenor, baritone.
Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra, late 1924 or early 1925, Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, MI – R.B
From left to right: Russ Morgan, director; Steve Brown, bass, tuba; Bill Rank, trombone; Spiegle Willcox, trombone; Howard Quicksell, banjo; Fuzzy Farrar, trumpet; Chauncey Morehouse, drums; Lou Longo, piano; Doc Ryker, alto, baritone, clarinet; Don Murray, clarinet, tenor, baritone; Ray Lodwig, trumpet; Jimmy Dorsey, clarinet, alto.
Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra, 1926, Southboro, MA – H.E.
On September 12, 1926, the musicians of the Jean Goldkette orchestra left Chicago by train for their eastern tour. The tour started in New England, with headquarters in the Hillcrest Inn, Southboro, Massachusetts. The orchestra travelled by bus to every engagement. The photo shows the band members sitting on top of the bus they used. They are from left to right: Bill Challis, Spiegle Willcox, Irving Riskin, Bix Beiderbecke, Don Murray, Howdy Quicksell, Doc Ryker, Chauncey Morehouse, Fred Farrar, Ray Lodwig, and Bill Rank. Steve Brown is sitting on the hood, holding a gun. In his book “Waiting for Dizzy” (Oxford University Press, New York, 1990), Gene Lees writes about this photo.
Spiegle Willcox has a photo of the band on a wall in his home. The men are seated on the roof of a mini-bus on the side of which a banner proclaims: Jean Goldkette Orchestra New England tour J. A. Lyons Mgr. Wherever the band played during that New England tour, the place was packed with musicians, such was the band’s reputation – and Beiderbecke’s.
Addendum by Hans Eekhoff. What Steve Brown is holding is actually a cigarette lighter shaped as a gun; Spiegle had one too (present from Brown, who always was his roommate); he’s holding it in the picture taken the same day where the band is holding the banner across the road.
Part of the Goldkette Sax Section, ca 1926 – H.E.
Don Murray and Jimmy Dorsey fooling around. Enrico Borsetti tells me (e-mail message 01/07/01) that the photo was made for advertising Conn instruments. The photograph is included in a book with many orchestras advertising Conn instruments.
Announcement of Junior Prom with an Appearance by the Jean Goldkette Orchestra, 1927 – S.B.
On January 24, 1927, the Jean Goldkette orchestra opened at the Roseland Ballroom for their second engagement and a repeat of their phenomenal earlier success. Early in February, after completing their engagement, they returned to Detroit and the Graystone Ballroom, where they remained for several months. On April 13, 1927, the band was on the road again with stops in Dayton, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Terre Haute, Indiana; Bloomington, Indiana; and State College, Pennsylvania (the home of The Pennsylvania State University) on their way East. The engagement in State College was on April 29, 1927, in connection with Penn State’s Junior Prom. The announcement shows that the Jan Garber band was the second band for that particular engagement. I would like to add a personal note because Penn State is very close to my heart. My first position as a professor of chemistry was at Penn State; my older son started going to school in State College, and my younger son was born there. Hooray for the Nittany Lions!
Ad for Appearance of the Jean Goldkette Orchestra at Roseland – A.H.
The Jean Goldkette made a tour of the Eastern United States – Massachusetts and New York- in the Fall of 1926. The band opened on October 6, 1926. Beginning on October 12, the Jean Goldkette and Fletcher Henderson bands alternated. The ad in the image is from the October 10, 1926, issue of the New York Times. The ad announces the October 13 appearance of the two bands and describes the show as “The Battle of Music.”
Goldkette Reunion in the Early 1940s – H.E.
Back row, left to right: unknown (Lou Longo?), Chauncey Morehouse, Doc Ryker. Front row, left to right: Fuzzy Farrar, Jimmy Dorsey, Jean Goldkette, and Spiegle Willcox. All played and recorded with Bix.
Hillcrest Inn, Southboro, MA – D.L.
In September 1926, the members of the Jean Goldkette Orchestra left Detroit for their eastern tour. They arrived at the Hillcrest Inn, Southboro, MA, on September 21, 1926, where they set up headquarters for the New England tour. David writes, ” A photograph of the band in front of the inn has been published in many books, including Bix, Man and Legend by Richard Sudhalter (a Boston native) and Phil Evans. This building still exists as an apartment located at 12 East Main Street. At their headquarters, the band’s newly hired young arranger, Bill Challis, met with the band and presented them with some of their most innovative and “hot” arrangements. Challis recalls how he and Frank Trumbauer, Bix’s comrade in arms on C-Melody saxophone, took long walks in the evening along the water near Hillcrest, plotting the band’s new sound, in the book Waiting For Dizzy by Gene Lees, under the chapter “Bix and Bill”. Additionally, a recent novel about Bix, 1929 by Frederick Turner, contains a brief, fictional account of the tour, including a scene at the Hillcrest Inn.” The photo shows the building in 2003.
The Keller Sisters and Lynch, 1926 – R.S.
This photograph comes from the sheet music of I’m Forever Dreaming of You.” The Keller Sisters and Lynch recorded two sides with Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra when Bix was a member of the orchestra. “Sunday” was recorded on October 15, 1926, and “Proud of A Baby Like You” on January 28, 1927. I thank Randy for providing the scan.
Advertisement for Goldkette Concert of May 23 – E.B
A copy of this ad was given by Spiegle Willcox to Enrico Borsetti. When asked if this concert was presented in 1926 or 1927, Richard Sudhalter correctly pointed out:
Has to be 1927. May 23, 1926, fell on a Sunday- the day after Bix and Tram opened at Hudson Lake. On May 23, 1927, the Goldkette Orchestra did a morning record date for Victor (“In My Merry Oldsmobile”)in Camden, NJ, then drove to Hershey, Pennsylvania (not too far away), where they played that concert. Spiegle doubtless had the poster because it was his last day with the band.
Enrico Borsetti writes:
For the casual Bix fan looking at the Goldkette poster for the first first time, I would like to send this info on personnel pictured: On top-Quicksell, Riskin, Sheasby, Lodwig, Ryker Middle-Morehouse, Bix, Brown, Rank, Spiegle, Murray On the left hand of silhouette-Farrar On the right hand of silhouette-Trumbauer.
Ad for Opening of the New Yorkers – A.H.
When the Jean Goldkette folded in the Fall of 1927, Bix, Tram and several other Goldkette musicians joined Adrian Rollini in a new band called “The New Yorkers.” The band opened at the New Yorker, formerly the Paul Whiteman’s, and before that, the Cinderella Ballroom, on September 22, 1927. The ad in the image is from the September 20, 1927 issue of the New York Times. Note that the New Yorkers are given last billing. In the “Around New York” column by Abel in the Variety issue of September 21, 1927, the following item was included: “Cafe Openings. The former Paul Whiteman (now the New yorker) opens Sept. 22. In the “Nite Club Season Starts” column of the September 28, 1927 issue of Variety, the following item was included, “The New Yorker (formerly paul Whiteman’s) hopped off Thursday with Frank Fay, Deno and Rochelle and an all-star dance band as the features.
