Mildred Bailey
Mildred Rinker Bailey was a popular and influential American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as The Queen of Swing, The Rockin Chair Lady and Mrs. Swing. Some of her hits are Its So Peaceful in the Country, Trust in Me. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart, Small Fry, Please Be Kind, Darn That Dream, Rockin Chair, Blame It on My Last Affair, Bailey was born Mildred Rinker in Tekoa, Washington. Her mother, was an member of the Coeur dAlene Tribe. Her father, played fiddle and called square dances and her mother played piano every evening after supper and taught Mildred to play and sing. Her brothers were the vocalist and composer Al Rinker and the lyricist Charles Rinker, at seventeen, Bailey moved to Seattle and worked as a sheet music demonstrator at Woolworths. She married and divorced Ted Bailey, keeping his last name because she thought it sounded more American than Rinker, with the help of her second husband, Benny Stafford, she became an established blues and jazz singer on the West Coast.
According to Gary Giddins, in his book Bing Crosby, A Pocketful of Dreams, The Early Years 1903–1940, in 1925 she secured work for her brother, Al Rinker, and his partner, Bing Crosby. Giddins further states that Crosby first heard of Louis Armstrong and other Chicago black jazz records from Baileys collection, Crosby helped Bailey in turn by introducing her to Paul Whiteman. She sang with Whitemans band from 1929 to 1933 and her first two records were as uncredited vocalist for a session by the Eddie Lang Orchestra in 1929 and a 1930 recording of I Like to Do Things for You for Frankie Trumbauer. She was Whitemans popular female vocalist through 1932, when she left the band over salary disagreements and she recorded a series of records for Brunswick in 1933 and an all-star session with Benny Goodmans studio band in 1934, featuring Coleman Hawkins. In the mid-1930s, she recorded with her husband, Red Norvo. A dynamic couple, they earned the nicknames Mr. and Mrs. Swing, from 1936 to 1939 Norvo recorded for Brunswick and Bailey made her own recordings for Vocalion, often with Norvos band.
Some of her recordings instead featured members of Count Basies band, despite their divorce, the two continue to record together off and on until 1945. She sang on a number of Benny Goodmans Columbia recordings in 1939 and 1940, a large woman, she suffered from diabetes and depression. She only made a few recordings following World War II, Bailey died of heart failure, due chiefly to diabetes, on December 12,1951, in Poughkeepsie, New York, aged 44. Norvo outlived Bailey by nearly half a century, dying in April 1999, in 1989, Bailey was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame. In 1938, Bailey had two number one hits with Red Norvo and his Orchestra, Please Be Kind reached number one on the Hit Parade chart on May 7
V-Disc
The records were produced for the use of United States military personnel overseas. Many popular singers, big bands and orchestras of the era recorded special V-Disc records and these 12-inch, vinyl 78 rpm gramophone recordings were created for the Army between October 1943 and May 1949. Navy discs were released between July 1944 and September 1945, twelve-inch discs were used because, when 136 grooves per inch were cut, they could hold up to six and a half minutes of music. Not all releases were pressed on vinyl, many were of the less durable shellac compound used for standard 78 RPM records of the day. Army V-discs were issued in series A-Z, AA-ZZ and AAA-FFF, navy V-discs were issued in series A-N. Bronson suggested the troops might appreciate a series of records featuring military band music, inspirational records that could motivate soldiers, the American Federation of Musicians, under the leadership of James Caesar Petrillo, were involved in a major recording ban against the four major record companies.
This continued until the intervention of recording pioneer George Robert Vincent, on October 27,1943, Vincent convinced Petrillo to allow his union musicians to record sides for the military, as long as the records were not offered for purchase in the United States. From that moment on, artists who wanted to record now had an outlet for their productivity – as well as a guaranteed, enthusiastic audience of soldiers, sailors. The V-Discs were an instant hit overseas, soldiers who were tired of hearing the same old recordings were treated to new and special releases from the top musical performers of the day. The selection was very varied – it included big band hits, some swing music, classical performances from eminent symphony orchestras, radio networks sent airchecks and live feeds to V-Disc headquarters in New York. Some movie studios sent rehearsal feeds from the latest Hollywood motion pictures to V-Disc, artists gathered at several V-Disc recording sessions in theaters around New York and Los Angeles, including CBS Playhouse No.
3, NBC Studio 8H, and CBS Playhouse No.4, V-Discs were pressed by major civilian record companies like RCA Victor and Columbia Records. Many V-Discs contained spoken-word introductions by bandleaders and artists, wishing good luck and prayers for the soldiers overseas, V-Discs featured one-of-a-kind performances, as artists who were not shackled by restrictive record company contracts could now perform special versions of the 1940s most popular hits. V-discs were recorded targeted to specific AFRS programs, the Jubilee series, hosted by comedian Ernie Bubbles Whitman, was targeted to black servicemen. The banter between Whitman and guests sometimes ventured into risque racial humor, including the use of the pig latin term ofay to refer to whites, v-disc recordings provide important archives of the Billy Eckstine Orchestra and the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. The V stands for Victory although Lieutenant Vincent was quoted to say that the V stood for Vincent, after the V-Disc program ended in 1949, the Armed Services set out to honor the original AFM request that the records not be used for commercial purposes.
Original masters and stampers were destroyed, leftover V-Discs at bases and on ships were discarded. On some occasions, the FBI and the Provost Marshals Office confiscated and destroyed V-Discs that servicemen had smuggled home, an employee at a Los Angeles record company even served a prison sentence for the illegal possession of over 2500 V-Discs
Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo Jack Teagarden, was a jazz trombonist and singer. Born in Vernon, his brothers Charlie and Clois Cub and his father was an amateur brass band trumpeter and started him on baritone horn, by age seven he had switched to trombone. His first public performances were in theaters, where he accompanied his mother. Teagardens trombone style was largely self-taught, and he developed many unusual alternative positions, chief among his contributions to the language of jazz trombonists was his ability to interject the blues or merely a blue feeling into virtually any piece of music. By 1920 Teagarden was playing professionally in San Antonio, including with the band of pianist Peck Kelley, in the mid-1920s he started traveling widely around the United States in a quick succession of different bands. In 1927, he went to New York City where he worked with several bands, by 1928 he played for the Ben Pollack band. Within a year of the commencement of his career, he became a regular vocalist, first doing blues material.
He is often mentioned as one of the best jazz vocalists of the era, his style is like his trombone playing. His singing is best remembered for duets with Louis Armstrong and Johnny Mercer, in the early 1930s Teagarden was based in Chicago, for some time playing with the band of Wingy Manone. He played at the Century of Progress exposition in Chicago, Teagarden sought financial security during the Great Depression and signed an exclusive contract to play for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra from 1933 through 1938. The contract with Whitemans band provided him financial security but prevented him from playing an active part in the musical advances of the mid-thirties swing era. Teagarden started leading his own big band, in 1946 Teagarden joined Louis Armstrongs All Stars. In late 1951 Teagarden left to lead his own band, co-led a band with Earl Hines. Teagarden appeared in the movies Birth of the Blues, The Strip, The Glass Wall, and Jazz on a Summers Day and he recorded for RCA Victor, Decca, and MGM Records.
As a jazz artist he won the 1944 Esquire magazine Gold Award, was rated in the Metronome polls of 1937-42 and 1945. Teagarden was the performer at the Newport Jazz Festival of 1957. In 1969, Jack Teagarden was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame and he was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1985. Other honors have included induction in the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame in 2005 and inclusion in the Houston Institute for Cultures Texas Music Hall of Fame
Stage Show (TV series)
Stage Show was a popular music variety series on American television originally hosted on alternate weeks by big band leaders and brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Produced by Jackie Gleason, the CBS-TV show included the first national television appearances by Elvis Presley, the series began as a one-hour show on July 3,1954 as a summer replacement for The Jackie Gleason Show. Gleason brought it back in the fall of 1955 as a show and scheduled it from 8–8,30 p. m. ET in the time slot prior to his own series, The Honeymooners. In 1956, Jack Carter, a frequent guest, became the permanent host, the June Taylor Dancers made regular appearances. Bobby Darin made his national TV debut on the program in early 1956, the shows final telecast was September 18,1956, only two months before the death of Tommy Dorsey. Brother Jimmy lost his life in June of the following year, introduced by Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Bill Randle, Presley first appeared on January 28,1956, performing Shake and Roll, Flip and Fly and I Got a Woman.
Brooks, Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, Ballantine Books, mcNeil, Total Television, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-024916-8. The following public domain episodes can be viewed on the Internet Archive, June 271956, March 311956, April 211956
Annie's Cousin Fannie
Annies Cousin Fannie, which is sometimes listed as Annies Cousin Fanny, is a 1934 song composed by Glenn Miller and recorded by The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra for Brunswick and Decca Records. The Dorsey Brothers released two versions of the song in 1934 and 1935. Annies Cousin Fannie, released as Annies Cousin Fannie is a Sweetie of Mine, was written for the Dorsey Brothers Band in 1934 by Glenn Miller, the composition featured double entendre lyrics. The song was recorded four times, first on May 21,1934 in New York, the June 4,1934 recording was released under the title Annies Cousin Fannie is a Sweetie of Mine on Brunswick as 6938 b/w Judy. Glenn Millers name was misspelled on the 78 record label as Glen, take 2 was recorded on August 15,1934 in New York for Decca. The lyrics were sung by Kay Weber, one of the first female singers of the Big Band Era, and Glenn Miller, the song was reportedly banned by some radio stations because of the risque double entendre lyrics and stirred controversy.
Tommy Dorsey, Don Mattison, Glenn Miller, Skeets Herfurt, the recording was produced by David Lennick. The song is on the 2006 compilation The Dorsey Brothers, Vol.4 on Jazz Oracle, Glenn Miller was an arranger in the band. Charlie Spivak and Bob Crosby were members of the band at various times, the band broke up in late 1935. Levinson, Peter J. Tommy Dorsey, Livin in a Great Big Way, cambridge, MA, Da Capo Press,2005. ISBN 978-0-306-81111-1 Stockdale, Robert L. Tommy Dorsey, On The Side, metuchen, NJ, The Scarecrow Press,1995. ISBN 978-0-8108-2951-0 Stockdale, Robert L. Jimmy Dorsey, A Study in Contrasts, lanham, MD, The Scarecrow Press, Inc.1999. Arnold, Jay, ed. Jimmy Dorsey Saxophone Method, A School of Rhythmic Saxophone Playing and Jimmy, The Dorsey Years. Jazz Connection Magazine, October,2005, Stephen Fratallone, Remembering Kay Weber Sillaway, the 1934 Brunswick recording is available online on the Red Hot Jazz website. Annies Cousin Fannie,1934 Decca version, track 1, moras Modern Rhythmists 2000 recording of Annies Cousin Fannie from the Call of the Freaks album
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon Johnny Mercer was an American lyricist and singer. He was the founder of Capitol Records and he is best known as a lyricist, but he composed music. He was a singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others. From the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s, many of the songs Mercer wrote and he wrote the lyrics to more than fifteen hundred songs, including compositions for movies and Broadway shows. He received nineteen Academy Award nominations, and won four Best Original Song Oscars, Mercer was born in Savannah, Georgia. Lillians father was a merchant seaman who ran the Union blockade during the U. S. Civil War, Mercer was Georges fourth son, first by Lillian. Mercer was a distant cousin of General George S. Patton, neither the General, nor Mercer himself, ever lived there. His mothers father was born in Lastovo, Croatia in 1834 to mother Ivana Cucevic, Mercer liked music as a small child and attributed his musical talent to his mother, who would sing sentimental ballads.
Mercers father sang, mostly old Scottish songs and his aunt told him he was humming music when he was six months old and she took him to see minstrel and vaudeville shows where he heard “coon songs” and ragtime. The family’s summer home “Vernon View” was on the waters and Mercer’s long summers there among mossy trees, saltwater marshes. Mercer’s exposure to music was perhaps unique among the white songwriters of his generation. As a child, Mercer had African-American playmates and servants, and he listened to the fishermen and vendors about him and he was attracted to black church services. Mercer stated, “Songs always fascinated me more than anything and he had no formal musical training but was singing in a choir by six and at 11 or 12 he had memorized almost all of the songs he had heard and became curious about who wrote them. He once asked his brother who the best songwriter was, and his brother said Irving Berlin, despite Mercers early exposure to music, his talent was clearly in creating the words and singing, not in playing music, though early on he had hoped to become a composer.
In addition to the lyrics that Mercer memorized, he was an avid reader and his attempts to play the trumpet and piano were not successful, and he never could read musical scores with any facility, relying instead on his own notation system. As a teenager in the Jazz Era, he was a product of his age and he hunted for records in the black section of Savannah and played such early black jazz greats as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Louis Armstrong. His father owned the first car in town, and Mercer’s teenage social life was enhanced by his driving privilege, Mercer wrote a humorous song called Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry. Mercer attended exclusive Woodberry Forest boys prep school in Virginia until 1927, though not a top student, he was active in literary and poetry societies and as a humor writer for the school’s publications
Bunny Berigan
Although he composed some jazz instrumentals such as Chicken and Waffles and Blues, Berigan was best known for his virtuoso jazz trumpeting. His 1937 classic recording I Cant Get Started was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975, Berigan was born in Hilbert, the son of William Patrick Berigan and Mary Catherine Schlitzberg, and raised in Fox Lake. Having learned the violin and trumpet by 14, Berigan played in local orchestras by his mid-teens and he attended the University of Wisconsin, teaching trumpet and playing in dance bands after school hours before joining the successful Hal Kemp orchestra in 1930. His first recorded trumpet solos came with it, which toured England and he appeared as featured soloist with bands fronted by Rudy Vallee, Tommy Dorsey, Abe Lyman, Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman. Shortly after the Kemp unit returned to the U. S. in late 1930, like fellow trumpeter Manny Klein, fred Rich, Freddy Martin and Ben Selvin were just some conductors who sought his services for record dates.
He joined the staff of CBS radio network musicians in early 1931, Berigan recorded his first vocal, At Your Command, with Rich that year. From late 1932 through early 1934, Berigan was a member of Paul Whitemans orchestra and he returned to freelancing in the New York recording studios and working on staff at CBS radio in 1934. He recorded as a sideman on hundreds of records, most notably with the Dorsey Brothers and on Glenn Millers earliest recording date as a leader in 1935. At the same time, Berigan made an association that began his ascent to fame in his own right, he joined Benny Goodmans Swing band. Legendary jazz talent scout and producer John H. Berigan recorded a number of classic solos while with Goodman, including on King Porter Stomp, Sometimes Im Happy, Berigan left Goodman to return again to freelancing as a recording and radio musician in Manhattan. During this time, he began to record regularly under his own name, and continued to back such as Bing Crosby, Mildred Bailey. He spend some time with Tommy Dorseys orchestra in late 1936 and early 1937, working as a jazz soloist on Dorseys radio program and his solo on the Dorsey hit recording Marie became considered one of his signature performances.
In 1937, Berigan assembled a band to record and tour under his name, picking the then-little known Ira Gershwin/Vernon Duke composition, I Cant Get Started as his theme song. He made three attempts to organize a band of his own, his last try meeting success, playing trumpet in every number while directing the band. Berigans bravura trumpet work and curiously attractive vocal made his performance of it for Victor the biggest hit of his career. Berigan modeled his style in part on Louis Armstrongs. Still, his sound and jazz ideas were unique, earning Armstrongs praise both before and after Berigans death. Berigan got the itch to lead his own band full-time and did so from early 1937 until June 1942, with one six-month hiatus in 1940, some of the records he made with his own bands were equal in quality to the sides he cut with Goodman and Dorsey
Okeh Records
Okeh Records was a record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. Since 1926, it has been a subsidiary of Columbia Records, Okeh is an imprint of Sony Masterworks, a specialty label of Columbia. Okeh was founded by Otto K. E. Heinemann, a German-American manager for the U. S. branch of German-owned Odeon Records, Heinemann formed the name of the record label from his initials, on early disc labels, the name is spelled OkeH. The first discs were vertical cut, in 1919, Okeh switched to the lateral-cut method of sound recording, more commony used for disc records. In that year the parent company was renamed the General Phonograph Corporation. The common 10-inch discs retailed for 75 cents each, the 12-inch discs for $1.25, the companys musical director was Fred Hager, who was credited under the pseudonym Milo Rega. Okeh produced lines of recordings in German, Polish, some were pressed from masters leased from European labels, others were recorded by Okeh in New York.
In 1920, Ralph Peers recordings of the African-American blues singer Mamie Smith were a smash hit for Okeh. The company perceived the significant, little-tapped market for blues and jazz by African-American artists, in 1922, Okeh hired Clarence Williams as director of race recordings for Okehs New York studios, in addition to making recordings under his own name. Okeh opened a studio in Chicago, the center of jazz in the 1920s. Many classic jazz performances by prominent artists as King Oliver, Lucille Bogan, Sidney Bechet, Hattie McDaniel, Louis Armstrong. As part of the Carl Lindstrom Company, Okeh recordings were distributed by other Lindstrom labels, King Oliver and Bennie Moten recorded for Okeh before moving on to other labels. The 8000 race series is highly prized by collectors, partly because Okeh recorded many blues, in 1926, Okeh was sold to Columbia Records. Columbia and its subsequent parent companies have controlled Okeh since then, the original Mamie Smith recording was in 1920, of Crazy Blues.
General Phonograph Corp, Okehs manufacturer, used Smith’s success as the press to cultivate the new found market. Okeh had further prominence in the demographic, as African-American artists such as Sara Martin, Eva Taylor, Shelton Brooks, Esther Bigeou, Okeh started a special 8000 series devoted exclusively to race artists. The success of this series led Okeh to start recording where the music was being performed, the 8000 series, which began in 1921, lasted until late 1934, the final number being 8966. Okeh Records pioneered the practice of recording in 1922
John Silver (song)
John Silver is a 1938 song written by Jimmy Dorsey with Ray Krise. Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra released the song as a 78 single on Decca in 1938, Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra recorded John Silver on April 29,1938, and released the song as a Decca 78, 3334A, Matrix #63689, with Bob Eberly on vocals. The single reached no.13 on Billboard in 1938, staying on the charts for 2 weeks, the composers of the words and music were Jimmy Dorsey and Ray Krise. The publisher was Bregman and Conn, Inc. in New York, Jimmy Dorsey recorded the song for release as a V-Disc, No. The instrumental was re-arranged and released as Long John Silver as V-Disc No, 409B in April,1945 by Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra. The song was performed by Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra in an arrangement by Sonny Burke in the 1944 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie Lost in a Harem starring Bud Abbott, the song was re-released as a 10 orange label Coral Records 78 single as #60296. The BBC Big Band released a recording of the song in 1996, Robert L.
Jimmy Dorsey, A Study in Contrasts. Lanham, MD, The Scarecrow Press, Inc.1999, Jay, ed. Jimmy Dorsey Saxophone Method, A School of Rhythmic Saxophone Playing. Tommy and Jimmy, The Dorsey Years, on the Road with the Jimmy Dorsey Aggravation, 1947-1949. Gray Castle Press,1996 Online version of the 1938 Jimmy Dorsey recording
Ray McKinley
Ray McKinley was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. McKinley got his start at age 9 working with bands in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. He left home when he was 15 and played with Milt Shaws Detroiters and his first substantial professional engagement came in 1934 with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. It was with the Smith Ballew band in 1929 that McKinley met Glenn Miller, the two formed a friendship that lasted from 1929 until Millers death in 1944. McKinley and Miller joined the Dorsey Brothers in 1934, Miller left for Ray Noble in December 1934, while McKinley remained. The Dorsey brothers split in 1935, with McKinley remaining with Jimmy Dorsey until 1939, McKinleys biggest hit with Bradley, as a singer, was Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar, which he recorded early in the year 1940. McKinley is referred to as Eight Beat Mack in the lyrics to the song Down the Road a Piece and this was the earliest recording of the song, which was written specifically for Bradleys band by Don Raye. McKinley and Bradley split in 1942 and McKinley formed his own band, when McKinley broke up the band, he joined Glenn Millers Army Air Force Band, which he co-led with arranger Jerry Gray after Millers disappearance in December 1944.
Upon being discharged at the end of the year, McKinley formed a modern big band that featured a book of original material by legendary arranger Eddie Sauter. Sam Butera, of the band for Louis Prima was a member. But with the business in decline, by 1950 that band was history and McKinley began evolving into a leader and sometime radio. In 1956, capitalizing on the popularity of The Glenn Miller Story movie with James Stewart, McKinley was chosen to be the leader of the revived Glenn Miller band, which he led until 1966. He co-hosted, with former Air Force band vocalist Johnny Desmond, Ray McKinleys last recording session was in 1977 for Chiaroscuro Records. Ray McKinley wrote the lyrics to the 1945 wartime song My Guys Come Back with music by Mel Powell, the song was recorded by Benny Goodman with vocals by Liza Morrow and was released as a Columbia Records 78 single in 1945 and as V-Disc 585. He received a credit for Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar
Dese Dem Dose
Dese Dem Dose is a 1935 instrumental composed by Glenn Miller and recorded by The Dorsey Brothers orchestra. Dese Dem Dose was recorded in New York on February 6,1935, Ray McKinley, the drummer in the Dorsey Brothers band, Glenn did write a few things for us. I remember one thing called Dese and Dose that he wrote and he used to carry a little organ around with him to work on. The radio announcer introduced the performance as follows, Dem and fast but still with that underlying note of sophistication that distinguishes Ray Nobles music. Glenn Miller was in the Ray Noble orchestra at the time on trombone and had organized and rehearsed the band, Glenn Miller appeared with the Ray Noble Orchestra that year in the Hollywood movie musical The Big Broadcast of 1936. Ray Noble paid Glenn Miller for working on The Big Broadcast of 1936, Jazz trumpeter Billy Butterfield and Andy Bartha performed Dese Dem Dose in the early 1970s, a performance which was released on the 2005 live album Take Me to the Land of Jazz.
Dese Dem Dose was released in 2008 by the Colorado jazz band The Jazz Cookers on their album Live At Brix, Glenn Miller was an arranger in the band. Charlie Spivak and Bob Crosby were members during this period, Peter J. Tommy Dorsey, Living In A Great Big Way. Tommy & Jimmy, The Dorsey Years, drummin Men, The Heartbeat of Jazz. Oxford University Press,1990, p.100, online version on the Red Hot Jazz website
Phil Napoleon
Phil Napoleon, born Filippo Napoli, was an early jazz trumpeter and bandleader born in Boston, Massachusetts. Ron Wynn notes that Napoleon was a competent, though unimaginative trumpeter whose greatest value was the recording sessions he led that helped increase jazzs popularity in the mid-20s. Richard Cook and Brian Morton, writing for The Penguin Guide to Jazz, refer to Napoleon as a pioneer whose playing was profoundly influential on men such as Red Nichols. Napoleon began with training, and was performing publicly by age 5. In the 1910s, he was one of the first musicians in the northeastern United States to embrace the new style brought to that part of the country by musicians from New Orleans. With pianist Frank Signorelli he formed the group The Original Memphis Five in 1917 and he became one of the most sought after trumpeters of the 1920s. The group were very prolific, one of the most prolific in New York City at the time, Napoleons 1927 version of Clarinet Marmalade was a particular success.
The Original Memphis Five split in 1928, during the 1930s Napoleon mainly worked as a session trumpeter, working in the RCA Radio Orchestra in the early 1930s, and in 1937 unsuccessfully tried to form his own orchestra. He recorded with the Cotton Pickers and the Charleton Chasers and worked with blues singers Leona Williams, Napoleon joined Jimmy Dorseys Los Angeles-based group in the mid 1940s, and he appeared with the band in the film Four Jills in a Jeep. Parting with Dorsey in 1947, he moved back to New York, during the early 1950s the group became noted for their performances at Nicks in New York City. Phil worked frequently with his nephew Marty Napoleon, a jazz pianist, on July 3,1959, Napoleon and The Five performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, released as an album. In 1966 opened up his own club named Napoleons Retreat in Miami, Florida where he lived until his death, Phil Napoleon Discography at Discogs Phil Napoleon at The Red Hot Jazz Archive Phil Napoleon Biography at Solid
