The Chocolate Dandies (jazz combos)

The Chocolate Dandies was the name of several American jazz combos from 1928 through the 1940s. The name was an outgrowth of the Broadway production, The Chocolate Dandies, that debuted in 1924.

Bands

A band led by Don Redman was the first to record with the name "Chocolate Dandies" on the Okeh label in 1928–1929. He also recorded with McKinney's Cotton Pickers and released material with that ensemble under this name.[1] King Oliver and Lloyd Smith's Gut-Bucketeers recorded under the name for Vocalion Records in 1931.[2]

Sessionography

1. The Chocolate Dandies

   Musicians: Langston Curl (1899–1991), John Nesbitt (1900–1935) (de) (trumpets); Claude Jones (trombone); Don Redman, Milton Senior (1900–1948) (alto saxes, clarinets); George Thomas (1902–1930), Prince Robinson (tenor saxes, clarinets); Todd Rhodes (piano); Dave Wilborn (banjo); Lonnie Johnson (guitar on "Paducah" and "Star Dust"); Ralph Escudero (tuba); Cuba Austin (drums); Redman, Thomas, Wilborn (vocal trio on "Four or Five Times")

   Recorded October 13, 1928, New York City

   1. "Paducah," by Redman (music), Okeh 8627, Matrix: 401218-B
   2. "Star Dust," by Hoagy Carmichael, Okeh 8668, Matrix: 401219-A
   3. "Birmingham Breakdown," by Duke Ellington, Okeh 8668, Matrix: 401220-B
   4. "Four or Five Times," by Marco Hellman (words) and Byron Gay (music), Okeh 8627, Matrix: 401221-A

Benny Carter

Benny Carter had several ensembles in the 1930s named The Chocolate Dandies.

Sessionography

2. The Little Chocolate Dandies; OCLC 971979418, 28090642

   Musicians: Rex Stewart (cornet); Leonard Davis (trumpet); J. C. Higginbotham (trombone); Don Redman (clarinet on "Six or Seven Times;", alto sax, vocals on "That's How I Fell Today"); Benny Carter (alto sax, vocal); Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax); Fats Waller (piano, celeste in "That's How I Feel Today"); Bobby Johnson (banjo); Cyrus St. Clair (tuba); George Stafford (drums); unknown vocalist on "Six or Seven Times"

   Recorded September 18, 1929, New York

   1. "That's How I Feel Today," by Don Redman (unissued), Matrix: 402965-A
   2. "That's How I Feel Today" (unissued), Matrix: 402965-B
   3. "That's How I Feel Today" Okeh 8728, Matrix: 402965-C
   4. "Six or Seven Times," by Fats Waller & Irving Mills (unissued), Matrix: 402966-A
   5. "Six or Seven Times" (unissued), Matrix: 402966-B
   6. "Six or Seven Times" (unissued), Matrix: 402966-C
   7. "Six or Seven Times" Okeh 8728, Matrix: 402966-D

3. The Chocolate Dandies

   Musicians: Bobby Stark (trumpet), Jimmy Harrison (trombone, vocals), Benny Carter (clarinet, alto sax, vocals), Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax), Horace Henderson (piano); Benny Jackson (guitar); John Kirby (bass on "Goodbye Blues," tuba on the December 31 session)

   1. "Goodbye Blues," Carter (vocals and arrangement), Columbia 35679, Matrix: 404566-A

   Add Fletcher Henderson

   Recorded December 8, 1930

   2. "We're Friends Again" (unissued), Brunswick
   3. "What Good Am I Without You?" (unissued), Brunswick

   Recorded December 31, 1930, New York

   4. "Cloudy Skies," by Coleman Hawkins, Columbia 35679, Matrix: 404596-B
   5. "Got Another Sweetie Now," by Harrison (Harrison, vocals; arranged by Carter), Columbia 36009, Matrix: 404597-B
   6. "Bugle Call Rag" by Jack Pettis, Billy Meyers, and Elmer Schoebel (arranged by Carter), Columbia 2543-D, Matrix: 404598-B
   7. "Dee Blues," by Carter (Carter plays clarinet; arranged by Carter), Columbia 2543-D, Matrix: 404599-B

4. The Chocolate Dandies

   Musicians: Max Kaminsky (trumpet); Benny Carter (trumpet, alto sax, arrangement); Floyd O'Brien (trombone); Chu Berry (tenor sax); Teddy Wilson (piano); Lawrence "Larry" Lucie (guitar); Ernest Hill (bass); Sidney Catlett (drums); Mezz Mezzrow (drums on "Blue Interlude" only)

   Recorded October 10, 1933, New York

   1. "Blue Interlude," by Carter, Parlophone R1792, Matrix: 265156-2
   2. "I Never Knew," by Gus Kahn & Ted Fio Rito (Carter plays trumpet and also sax), Parlophone (E)R1815, Matrix: 265157-1
   3. "I Never Knew" (Carter plays trumpet and also sax), Phontastic (Swd)7647, Matrix: 265157-2
   4. "Once Upon a Time," by Carter (Carter plays trumpet and also sax), Parlophone (E)R1717, Matrix: 265158-1
   5. "Krazy Kapers," by Carter (Carter plays trumpet and also sax), Parlophone (E)R1743, Matrix: 265159-2

Sessionography

5. King Oliver and the Chocolate Dandies
   (most discographers, more recently, feel that King Oliver was not present on this session)[2]

   Musicians: Ward Pinkett (trumpet, vocals); unknown (trumpet); Fernando Arbello (trombone); Fred Skerritt (alto sax, vocals); Henry Jones (alto sax); Bingie Madison (tenor, vocal); Gene Rodgers (piano); Goldie Lucas (banjo, vocals); Richard Fullbright (tuba); Bill Beason (drums)

   Recorded April 15, 1931, 1:30–4:30 pm, New York

   1. "Loveless Love" (Madison, Skerritt, Lucas; vocals), Vocalion 1610, Matrix: E-36474-A
   2. "One More Time" (Madison, Skerritt, Lucas; vocals), Matrix: E-36625-A
   3. "When I Take My Sugar To Tea," by Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal, Pierre Norman (Pinkett; vocalist), Vocalion 1617, Matrix: E-36626-A

Sessionography

6. Coleman Hawkins and The Chocolate Dandies

   Musicians: Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Benny Carter (piano), Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophone), Bernard Addison (guitar), John Kirby (bass), Sidney Catlett (drums)

   Recorded May 25, 1940, New York

   1. "Smack," Mosaic MR23-123, Matrix: R2995-T
   2. "Smack," Mosaic MR23-123, Matrix: R2995-1
   3. "Smack," Mosaic MR23-123, Matrix: R2995-2
   4. "Smack," Matrix: R2995-3
   5. "Smack," Commodore FL20025, Matrix: R2995-2
   6. "Smack," Commodore 533, Matrix: R2995
   7. "I Surrender Dear," Commodore 1506, Matrix: R2996
   8. "I Surrender Dear," (composite) Atlantic SD2-306, Matrix: R2996-2/1
   9. "I Surrender Dear," (original) Mosaic MR23-123, Matrix: R2996-2
   10. "I Surrender Dear," Mosaic MR23-123, Matrix: R2996-3
   11. "I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me," Commodore 1506, Matrix: R2997
   12. "I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me," Commodore XFL14936, Matrix: R2997-1
   13. "Dedication" (Eldridge, Carter: out), Commodore 533, Matrix: R2998
   14. "Dedication" (Eldridge, Carter: out), Mosaic MR23-123, Matrix: R2998-1
   15. "Dedication" (Eldridge, Carter: out), Mosaic MR23-123, Matrix: R2998-2

Others

Versions of groups' names "Chocolate Dandies" continued to play into the 1940s and counted among their members Buck Clayton, Floyd O'Brien, and other members of Carter's and Fletcher Henderson's bands.

References

General

1. The Chocolate Dandies at Allmusic

Inline

1. "Chocolate Dandies". Red Hot Jazz Archive. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
2. The Jazz Discography (online; subscription required), Tom Lord (ed.) (retrieved March 16, 2020)