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22-623: The band recorded and released the original version of the jazz and big band standard " Sunrise Serenade " in 1938 with Frankie Carle on piano. The band assembled in 1927 as the Orange Blossoms, one of several Detroit groups that came out of the Jean Goldkette office. The band adopted the name "Casa Loma" by the time of its first recordings in 1929, shortly after it played an eight-month engagement at Casa Loma in Toronto, which

44-705: A famous recording of it a few months later, arranged by Bill Finnegan , with " Moonlight Serenade " on the backside ( Bluebird 10214). Glenn Miller recorded the song on April 10, 1939 in New York. The personnel for "Sunrise Serenade": Bob Price, Legh Knowles, Dale McMickle, on trumpet; Glenn Miller, Al Mastren, Paul Tanner, on trombone; Wilbur Schwartz, on clarinet and alto saxophone; Hal McIntyre, on alto saxophone; Stanley Aronson, on alto and baritone saxophone; Tex Beneke, Al Klink, on tenor saxophone; Chummy MacGregor, on piano; Allen Reuss, on guitar; Rowland "Rolly" Bundock, on string bass; and Moe Purtill, on drums. The song

66-657: A huge success for Jolson. The artists signed by Kapp included Crosby, Cab Calloway , the Mills Brothers , the Boswell Sisters , and Mildred Bailey . Kapp sold Brunswick's British franchises to stockbroker Edward R. Lewis, who owned the English Decca Company. Two years later, when a deal to buy Columbia Records fell through, the pair instead started Decca Records. Crosby's deal with Brunswick had an escape clause that allowed him to follow Kapp to

88-505: A recording artist in the early 1930s, and, four decades later, Crosby still gave appreciation to Kapp for diversifying his song catalogue into various styles and genres, saying, "I thought he was crazy, but I just did what he told me." Kapp could not read or sing music, but to his talent he stressed the credo, "Where's the melody?" He was born in Chicago, Illinois to a Jewish family of immigrants from Russia . His father, Myer Kaplitzky,

110-683: The Essex House Hotel , that led to their increasing fame via radio broadcasts before and throughout the swing era of 1935–1946. In 1943, Eugenie Baird became "the first girl vocalist ever featured" with the Casa Loma Orchestra. In 2019, the Casa Loma Symphony Orchestra was incorporated and became the new orchestra in residence at Casa Loma in Toronto, led by Catriona Delaney and Paolo Busato and conducted by Maestro Paolo Busato, wholly inspired by

132-599: The Casa Loma Orchestra. Released July 28, 1943, the film featured Eugenie Baird , Pee Wee Hunt , and The Pied Pipers . It included the songs "Can't Get Stuff in Your Cuff," "That's My Affair" and "Little Man with the Hammer." The band also appeared in Jam Session (1944), where they played their famous "No Name Jive." The orchestra's 1937 recording "Girl of My Dreams" was presented in the 1987 film Angel Heart with

154-537: The Okeh's and many of the Brunswick's were out-and-out jazz (albeit very rehearsed) and remain highly collectible. In 1942, the orchestra made a Warner Bros. short film , Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra , that featured the songs "Hep and Happy," "Purple Moonlight," "Broom Street" and "Darktown Strutters Ball." Universal Studios produced a short subject, Smoke Rings ( video – via YouTube ), that featured

176-507: The band debuted on Okeh Records . The following year, they signed with Brunswick where they recorded until 1934. They briefly recorded for Victor in 1933 as "Glen Gray and his Orchestra", the Casa Loma name being under contract to Brunswick. In late 1934, they followed Jack Kapp to the newly formed Decca Records and stayed there well into the LP era when they signed with Capitol . Most of

198-681: The band featured guitarist Herb Ellis , trumpeter Bobby Hackett , pianist Nick Denucci and cornetist Red Nichols . By 1950, the Casa Loma band had ceased touring, Gray retired to Massachusetts, and the later recordings on Capitol (beginning with Casa Loma in Hi-Fi in 1956 and continuing through the Sounds of the Great Bands series) were done by studio musicians in Hollywood (with several of Gray's "alumni" occasionally featured). In October 1929,

220-403: The band operated as a collective group, as opposed to almost all other bands that had a "leader" for whom everyone worked, the band maintained a stable collection of personnel that varied little. Members who broke the rules could be summoned before the "board", have their contract bought out, and be ejected from the band. The band was led for the first few years by violinist Hank Biagini, although

242-468: The band's book, Spud Murphy , Larry Wagner, Salvador "Tutti" Camarata and Horace Henderson . Gifford's arrangements were credited in large part to giving the band its sound, but even he fell victim to the band's strict rules, being bought out in 1935 due to alcohol-related infractions. The band's manager, Cork O'Keefe, was made a vice president in the corporation and arranged bookings in venues such as Glen Island casino , which they helped popularize, and

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264-428: The eventual leader, saxophonist Glen Gray (1900 – 1963) was from the beginning "first among equals." The complex arrangements called for talented musicians such as trombonist Pee Wee Hunt , guitarist S. Jack Blanchette, trumpeter Frank L. Ryerson , trumpeter Sonny Dunham , clarinetist Clarence Hutchenrider , drummer Tony Briglia and singer Kenny Sargent . Arrangements were by Gene Gifford , who also composed much of

286-516: The fictional title "Life Would Be Complete" by the fictional crooner Johnny Favorite, and elements of the tune were incorporated into the score. Sunrise Serenade " Sunrise Serenade " is a jazz song written by Frankie Carle with lyrics by Jack Lawrence . It was first recorded in 1939 by Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra with Carle on piano as Decca 2321. It soon became Carle's signature piece. Glenn Miller released

308-499: The history of this group. Their mid-1930s appearances on the long-run radio comedy-variety program, the Camel Caravan (introduced with their theme, "Smoke Rings") increased their popularity. Gray chose not to conduct the band in the early years, playing in the saxophone section while violinist Mel Jenssen acted as conductor. In 1937, the band overwhelmingly voted in favor of Glen leading the orchestra, and Gray finally accepted

330-413: The job. Hits included "Casa Loma Stomp," "No Name Jive" and "Maniac's Ball". Part of the reason for the band's decline is that other big bands included in their books hard-swinging numbers emulating the hot Casa Loma style. In the late 1930s Gray took top billing, and by the mid-1940s (as the other original players left) Gray would come to own the band and the Casa Loma name. For a time, during this period,

352-676: The market on country music for years. Record sales had plunged during the Depression, and Kapp decided that Decca discs would sell for 50 cents instead of the usual 75 cents to a dollar. When Brunswick shifted its back catalogue to a 25-cent subsidiary label in an effort to sink the fledgling company, Kapp further reduced the price to 35 cents per disc. Crucially, he also pursued the then-new jukebox market. In 1938, Decca began releasing record sleeves with cover artwork; other innovations such as liner notes and Broadway cast albums followed (although Jack Kapp pioneered this practice in 1933 by recording

374-553: The new company. Other artists followed, including the Mills Brothers, Boswell Sisters, Earl Hines, Ted Lewis , Isham Jones and the Dorsey Brothers . Kapp also signed new performers such as Chick Webb , Art Tatum , Jimmie Lunceford , Ethel Waters , and a year after the company's founding, Louis Armstrong . Dave Kapp was instrumental in building the company's extensive hillbilly catalogue, allowing Decca to corner

396-650: Was a distributor for Columbia Records in 1905 and the founder of the Imperial Talking Machine Shop in Chicago . Kapp worked at the store after high school, and was known for having memorized the catalog numbers of every record in the inventory as well as the addresses and phone numbers of his father's best customers. After marrying his childhood sweetheart Frieda Lutz in 1922, he opened the Kapp Record Store with his younger brother, Dave Kapp. In 1926, Kapp joined Brunswick Records and

418-420: Was also recorded by Hal Kemp and His Orchestra, Bobby Hackett & His Orchestra, Nat Gonella & His Georgians, Teddy Stauffer mit seinen Original Teddies, Lubo d'Orio mit seinem Orchester, David Rose and His Orchestra, Billy Liebert His Piano & Orchestra, Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys Orchestra, Chet Atkins , Ray Anthony, Ray Eberle , Billy Vaughn, and Roger Williams. "Sunrise Serenade"

440-416: Was being operated as a hotel at the time. The band never played at Casa Loma under that name, still appearing as the Orange Blossoms at that time. In 1930, the Casa Loma Orchestra was incorporated in New York with the members becoming owners, shareholders, and board members. The band members were hired on the grounds of "musical and congenial" competence and followed strict conduct and financial rules. Because

462-422: Was put in charge of their "race" label (Brunswick 7000 and Vocalion Records 1000 series), where he scouted, signed or produced artists including, King Oliver , Jelly Roll Morton , Pinetop Smith , Leroy Carr , Frankie Jaxon , and Cow Cow Davenport , among others. Kapp also worked with artists on the Brunswick label; it was over the company's objection that he had Al Jolson record " Sonny Boy ", which became

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484-602: Was released as a V-Disc by the U.S. War Department in July, 1944 as No. 230A in a new recording by Frankie Carle and his Orchestra. Jack Kapp Jack Kapp (born Jacob Kaplitzky ; June 15, 1901 – March 25, 1949) was a record company executive with Brunswick Records who founded the American Decca Records in 1934, along with British Decca founder Edward Lewis , and later American Decca head Milton Rackmil . Kapp oversaw Bing Crosby 's rise to success as

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