Odell Rand was born in 1905 in New Orleans; he died on 22 June 1960 in Chicago, Ill.
Robert Stendhal recalls: “I saw Odell Rand in a band with Jasper Taylor and Natty Dominique. I doubt he was 5 feet tall, more like 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 m).” Quoted in Hillman. C., Middleton, R., & Chaigne, M. Chicago Swingers. Cygnet Publications 2010. Stendhal’s visit was probably in the 1940s and perhaps the photograph of Natty Dominique’s Creole Band is from the same source.
At his size, he would not have been able to play a “normal” Bb clarinet. He chose to play an Eb model. From the few published photographs of him, he played an Albert (simple, Mueller or German) system instrument. On most of his recordings he kept to the low (chalumeau) register particularly when accompanying singers but for solos he occasionally played in the upper (clarion) range. He had a very reedy tone which he succeeded in maintaining even in the upper register; this is quite a feat because the upper range of the Eb clarinet tends to be loud and shrill. Very few players of Eb clarinets attempt to play in the low register.
Most of his recordings were made with the Harlem Hamfats (199 tracks). The same musicians also recorded as The Palooka Washboard Band (4 tracks). The Harlem Hamfats was a band based in Chicago, not in Harlem. J. Mayo Williams was head of the “race records” for Decca. He assembled this band in Chicago exclusively for recording. At first to accompany popular singers such as Rosetta Howard (12 tracks), Johnny Temple (10 tracks) and Frankie “Half Pint” Jaxon (14 tracks).
The band was a mixed group of musicians and musical styles. Herb Morand (trumpet, vocal, composer and arranger), Odell Rand (clarinet), John Lindsay (string bass) came from New Orleans; Kansas Joe McCoy (guitar, vocal, composer and arranger) and his brother, Papa Charlie McCoy (guitar, mandolin, vocal) from Mississippi; Horace Malcom (piano and perhaps arranger), Freddie Flynn and Pearlis Williams (drums) from Chicago.
This mixture of different musical backgrounds produces a delightful mixture of blues and jazz. It is difficult not to enjoy this band—it is joyous music, good for dancing. The lyrics are mostly about sex, drugs, and alcohol. Their first recording as a band (18 April 1936), was “Oh! Red.” It was an immediate hit and brought them a contract with Decca for an additional 50 titles. “Oh! Red” was recorded by Count Basie, The Ink Spots, Blind Willie McTell, Blind Boy Fuller, Howlin’ Wolf and many other singers and musicians.
Another composition originally titled “Weed Smoker’s Dream” later, got new lyrics and a new title “Why Don’t You Do Right” and was recorded many times by many artists Lord’s Jazz Discography (CD 17) lists 140 recordings of this tune. On peggyleediscography.com, Iván Santiago wrote a long essay entitled “Observations about the song ‘Why Don’t You Do Right?’” It is worth reading, it also includes a part about the disputed authorship of both “Weed Smoker’s Dream” and “Why Don’t You Do Right?”
Odell Rand also recorded with some artists without the Hamfats: Jimmy Gordon (9 tracks), Johnny Temple (eight tracks), Old Man Oden (two tracks), Art McKay (two tracks), Big Bill Broonzy (39 tracks), and Oscar’s Chicago Swingers (two tracks). All recordings were made for Decca or Vocalion (owned by Decca) label. We will never know how much the choice was made by J. Mayo Williams, but he certainly liked Odell Rand’s playing. All in all, he is present in some 301 issued recordings.
Very few jazz “experts” have bothered with Odell Rand. In the internet, one can read “An erratic player who often slipped out of tune”—this is rubbish. He gets a mention in John Chilton’s Who’s Who of Jazz and in Chris Hilllman’s Chicago Swingers but he is absent from almost all other jazz and blues reference works. Chilton tells us that he had his own band (The Ebonites) for many years with long residencies in Chicago at the Rock Cellar Gardens, The Blinking Pup, etc. He gigged with Baby Dodds in1957 and played with Lil Armstrong from 1959 to his death in 1960. He was apparently also playing with Natty Dominique’s Creole Band c. 1944. Brian Rust (writing on the liner notes of Ace of Hearts LP 77) obviously liked him and comments on his exceptionally reedy tone and how he blends his very individual sound with that of Morand.
I have found no satisfactory discography of Odell Rand. On the website of DHAR (Discography of American Historical Recordings), a list of his recordings from 1936 to 1938 is given. It is just a list and leaves out 1939. It also has some errors: Al Miller and his Swing Stompers (4 Feb.1936) does not have Rand on clarinet and the Jimmy Ogden (29 Oct.1937) has no clarinet at all. The former is also incorrectly cited in Lord’s Jazz Discography (CD 17). The clarinet player on Leonard Scott (20 August 1936) is certainly Arnett Nelson and not Odell Rand.
The personnel of the Harlem Hamfats remained remarkably constant from 1936 to 1938; they were a studio band and under contract to Decca records. In 1937 or 1939, Herb Morand left and returned to New Orleans. On 31 March 1939 they recorded eight tunes. The band remained in its old form with a new trumpet player. Some discographies cite Ann Cooper as the trumpet player.
On 14 September 1939 a rather different band recorded another eight tunes using the name Harlem Hamfats. To my ears, only Odell Rand on clarinet, Chris Reggell on tenor saxophone and Joe McCoy guitar and vocal are clearly recognizable. The trumpet player is usually cited as being Ann Cooper. To my ears it is not the same trumpet player on the 31 March session.
On the later session the trumpet player is more skilled and has a better tone. Dave Doyle wrote an article about Ann Cooper in the Syncopated Times (30 October 2021). She was certainly a good player. Doyle got the number of her released recordings wrong and, without citing the origin, he wrote she “joined clarinetist Odell Rand and sax player Chris Reggell.” This would place her as the trumpet player on the later session (14 Sep 1939). So, I leave “trumpet unknown” for the earlier session (31 Mar 1939).
I have chosen some recordings which I appreciate. They are all on YouTube.
Chicago, 13 November 1936: Hamfat Swing. This is enjoyable swinging number. It is a 32-bar tune. Rand plays most of his solo in upper register showing that he can play the clarinet. The upper register of the Eb clarinet can be loud and shrill, thus suitable for marching bands, but Rand keeps it well under control. There is also some nice mandolin played by Charlie McCoy. This kind of recording paved the way for Louis Jordan’s small group sound and “Rhythm and Blues” and later “Rock and Roll.”
New York City, 6 October 1937. Black Girl, You Better Use Your Head. This is an elegant number with a beautiful guitar introduction followed by Morand and Rand playing riffs in harmony. After a superb piano solo by Horace Malcolm, Rand weaves around Morand’s muted trumpet.
New York City, 20 April 1937. Don’t Start No Stuff. Morand plays very nicely, first playing the melody, and later behind the vocal. Rand stays in the background until his solo which is very well constructed and keeps the melody in mind.
New York City, 22 April 1938: Mellow Little Devil on Decca or Hello Little Devil on Brunswick. This was the second recording date made in New York City. This is a 32-bar tune. The first 16 bars are played by Rand, the next eight by Morand and the last eight by Rand. On the very last chorus it is reversed with Rand taking the middle eight. On the previous day (21 April), Rand was replaced by Buster Bailey. The day before that (20 April) Rand was the clarinetist. Bailey is a great clarinet player, but he does not fit in well with the relaxed, blues-infused Hamfats. With Bailey they sometimes sound more like a Dixieland band. On the 12 December 1936 recording session, Rand was replaced by Chris Reggell on tenor saxophone; the recordings made on this session were not very satisfactory.
Chicago, 27 Oct 1937 Save Me Some. This is an attractive melody well played by Rand in lower register. Again, Charlie McCoy plays some nice mandolin.
I have found no information about Odell Rand as a person. If anybody has some information, please let me know at cook@bluewin.ch.
