'Tempting' Hotel Cleveland Dance Orchestra (Okeh, 1922) Early Territory Band

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Ivan Francisci, vn, dir. t / tb / as / cm or ten / bj / p / d / bb
General Phonograph Corp. Studios
New York, NY ca. Nov. 1922

S-71060-B “Tempting” (James Monaco–Albert Gumble) OK4755-A

Transferred with 3.0ML lateral stylus in Audiotechnica VMN70SP cartridge via Audiotechnica AT-LP120 Turntable. Declicked and EQ’d by Colin Hancock. Discographical and Historical Information from DAHR, Brian Rust’s Jazz Records Discography 1917-1942, “Cleveland Jazz History” by Joe Mosbrook, “Jazzed in Cleveland” by Joe Mosbrook, Talking Machine World, ADBOFR. Discs from Colin Hancock Collection.

The city of Cleveland, Ohio had a thriving music scene in the 1920s–a time when the city was booming, and its citizens were dance hungry. From hotel ballrooms to restaurants to dance clubs, there were dozens of great bands in that city throughout the decade. The earliest of these bands to record was the orchestra of the Hotel Cleveland, directed by local light classical string star Ivan Francisci. The recordings were cut during a time when Okeh was branching out and recording more artists from outside of New York, likely in response to Brunswick’s doing so with Gene Rodemich, Isham Jones, and the Oriole Orchestra. The record buying public was looking for variety in dance music, and the sounds of different city’s respective scenes sold favorably among Okeh’s buyers, prompting them to sign the Hotel Cleveland Orchestra in addition to George Kelly’s band (Willmington, DE), the Herbert Berger Orchestra (St. Louis, MO), Jules Huberveaux’s Orchestra (Chicago, IL), and dozens more as the decade continued. The Hotel Cleveland Dance Orchestra was very much in the society orchestra tradition, passing the melody around different instruments and voicings, often underscored by orchestrated obbligatos, syncopations from the rhythm section, or creative interludes. After these records were cut, the band played at the Hotel Cleveland for another season before being replaced by Austin Wylie’s band in 1924. Francisi continued to be a presence in Cleveland music, making the switch to radio. These, along with early sides by William and George Finzel’s Orchestra from Detroit, are some of the earliest examples of Great Lakes style hot dance music.