 1928 was notable for two major events in Ben Pollack’s life. In March he moved his band to New York where they had a base for regular East Coast tours and appeared in many local venues. A few months later, Pollack hired the then largely unknown Jack Teagarden as his trombone soloist. From that point on Glenn Miller, quickly recognizing Teagarden’s superiority, chose to focus more on arranging. Unlike many other bandleaders, Ben Pollack was generous in letting his talented sidemen record elsewhere while still working nightly in his orchestra. Pollack himself participated in some of the sessions which were generally more freewheeling and jazz-oriented than most of the recordings released under his own name as Ben Pollack’s Park Central Orchestra. Excerpt from Ben Pollack: Profiles in Jazz, by Scott Yanow Thanks to Bob Palmer, Owen Miller and Richard Unger for the recordings on this page. |
| Title | Recording Date | Recording Location | Company |
| Bashful Baby (Cliff Friend / Abner Silver ) | 7-25-1929 | New York, New York | RCA X LX-3003 53949-2 |
| Bashful Baby (Cliff Friend / Abner Silver) | 7-25-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22074 53949-3 |
| Buy, Buy For Baby (Or Baby Will Bye-Bye You) (Irving Caesar / Joseph Meyer) | 10-15-1928 | New York, New York | Victor 21743 47742-1 |
| Buy, Buy For Baby (Or Baby Will Bye-Bye You) (take 3) (Irving Caesar / Joseph Meyer) | 10-15-1928 | New York, New York | RCA X LX-3003 47742-3 |
| Forever (Jack Yellen / Milton Ager) | 10-1-1928 | New York, New York | Victor 21716 |
| From Now On (Edward Eliscu / Harry Ruby ) | 9-27-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22158 |
| Futuristic Rhythm (Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh) | 12-24-1928 | New York, New York | Victor 21858 |
| I’d Like To Be A Gypsy (Ned Washington / Michael H. Cleary) | 5-27-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22252 |
| In A Great Big Way (Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh) | 1-25-1929 | New York, New York | Okeh 41189 (Louisville Rhythm Kings) |
| In The Hush Of The Night (Sammy Lerner / Al Hoffman) | 7-25-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22071 |
| Keep Your Undershirt On (Bert Kalmar / Harry Ruby) | 11-29-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22267 |
| Let’s Sit And Talk About You (Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh) | 1-24-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 21858 |
| Let’s Sit And Talk About You (Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh) | 1-16-1929 | New York, New York | Okeh (Louisville Rhythm Kings) |
| Louise (from Paramount picture “Innocents of Paris”) Vocal refrain by Charles Roberts (Leo Robin / Richard A. Whiting) | 3-1-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 21941-A |
| My Kinda Love (One Way To Paradise) (Jo Trent / Louis Alter) | 3-5-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 21944 50912-2 |
| My Kinda Love (One Way To Paradise) (Jo Trent / Louis Alter) | 3-5-1929 | New York, New York | Victor LPV-528 50912-3 |
| On With The Dance! (Monaco / Leslie / Dubin) | 3-5-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 21944 |
| Sally Of My Dreams (William Kernell) | 1-24-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 21857 |
| Sentimental Baby (Jack Palmer) | 12-3-1928 | New York, New York | Victor 21827 |
| She’s One Sweet Show Girl (Edward Grossman / Ted Ward) | 10-15-1928 | New York, New York | Victor 21743 47743-1 |
| She’s One Sweet Show Girl (Edward Grossman / Ted Ward) | 10-15-1928 | New York, New York | Victor unissued 47743-2 |
| She’s One Sweet Show Girl (Edward Grossman / Ted Ward) | 10-15-1928 | New York, New York | Victor unissued 47743-3 |
| Shout Hallelujah ! ‘Cause I’m Home (Dixon) | 1-25-1929 | New York, New York | Parlophone R-340 (Bennie’s Louisville Rhythm Kings) |
| Song Of The Blues (Bernie Grossman / Isham Jones) | 8-15-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22147 |
| Sweetheart, We Need Each Other (From the RADIO picture, “Rio Rita”) Vocal refrain by Burt Lorin (Joseph McCarthy / Harry Tierney) | 8-22-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22101-A |
| Then Came The Dawn (Al Dubin / Harry Warren) | 12-3-1928 | New York, New York | Victor 21827 |
| True Blue Lou (from Paramount picture “The Dance of Life”) (Dobin / Coslow / Whiting ) | 8-15-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22089 |
| Wait ‘Til You See “Ma Cherie” (from Paramount picture “Innocents of Paris”) (Leo Robin / Richard A. Whiting) | 3-1-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 21941-B |
| Where The Sweet Forget-Me-Nots Remember (Mort Dixon / Harry Warren) | 8-15-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22106-A |
| Won’tcha? | 7-25-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22071 |
| You’re Always In My Arms (But Only In My Dreams) (From the RADIO picture, “Rio Rita”) Vocal refrain by Burt Lorin (Joseph McCarthy / Harry Tierney) | 8-22-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22101-B |
| You’ve Made Me Happy Today (Graham John / Nicolas Kempner) | 9-27-1929 | New York, New York | Victor 22158 |
| Artist | Instrument |
| Gene Austin | Vocals |
| Smith Ballew | Vocals |
| Ray Bauduc | Drums |
| Franklyn Baur | Vocals |
| Al Beller | Violin |
| Ed Bergman | Violin |
| Larry Binyon | Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone, Flute |
| Vic Briedis | Piano |
| Joe Catalyne | Clarinet, Alto Saxophone |
| Benny Goodman | Clarinet, Alto Saxophone |
| Harry Goodman | Brass Bass |
| Al Harris | Cornet |
| Scrappy Lambert | Vocals |
| Belle Mann | Vocals |
| Matty Matlock | Clarinet, Alto Saxophone |
| Jimmy McPartland | Cornet |
| Dick Morgan | Banjo |
| Ben Pollack | Drums, Leader, Vocals |
| Snub Pollard | Trumpet |
| Dick Robertson | Vocals |
| Gil Rodin | Alto Saxophone |
| Bill Schumann | Cello |
| Murphy Steinberg | Trumpet |
| Charlie Teagarden | Trumpet |
| Jack Teagarden | Trombone |
| Ruby Weinstein | Trumpet |
