Roaring Twenties: Harry A. Yerkes' Dance Orch. - Whispering, 1920

Описание: Harry A. Yerkes’ Dance Orchestra – Whispering (Malvin & John Schonberger) Fox-Trot, Vocalion 1920 (USA)

NOTE: Harry A. Yerkes (1872 in NY – 1954 in NY) American marimba player, inventor and recording manager whose name was often used by various dance bands in the early years of jazz, even when Harry Yerkes was not musically active. He was responsible for the group known as Yerkes' Novelty Five, which recorded for Vocalion Records and Yerkes' Jazarimba (or Marimbaphone) Orchestra on Columbia Records, some of which were best-selling records between 1919 and 1921. Yerkes began his recording career in 1906, performing on the xylophone. He founded the Yerkes Sound-Effects Company, which developed a pneumatic system for playing chimes, which were featured in the Woolworth Building during its construction. Yerkes joined Betts & Betts company in 1915, and the manufacture of his chime and bell mechanisms was transferred to that company. From 1917 to 1924 he was active as a recording artist and manager of various dance bands. In addition to his own marimba ensembles, he was involved with The Happy Six, the Columbia Saxophone Sextette, which produced jazz-tinged recordings, and was also associated with the well-known Yerkes' S.S. Flotilla Orchestra. In 1924, he founded his own record label, Yerkes Dance Records. In 1918, he became a manager at Columbia Records, first as a “field manager” and then as assistant to Columbia's vice president. Before resigning in 1925, Yerkes played an important role in bringing many later well-known jazz artists to Columbia, including Ted Lewis. His own recordings can be classified as light classical, when he often mixed classical musicians with jazz artists in his sessions, and as such can be considered the originator of the “jazz fusion” concept. Many of his performances provide an important link between ragtime and early, “basic” jazz. He is considered one of the proponents of jazz as well as the blues music as a serious forms of art.