Irving Aaronson and his Crusaders is simply the early name of Aaronson‘s band, which may have existed as early as 1923. Aaronson upgraded their rank to Commanders right after their March 8, 1926 session for Edison.

The name changed, but the band remained the basically the same until the Summer of 1928, when trumpeter Mickey Bloom and saxophonist Harold Saliers were replaced by Charlie Trotta and, allegedly, Artie Shaw respectively. Saxophonist Tony Pastor and pianist Chummy MacGregor also joined at this time as pianist and arranger.

These later additions raised the heat on the band considerably, but they are much less well documented on record than the earlier group.The Crusaders Edisons are fairly straightforward dance band sides, and one senses the band is holding back a little, perhaps in deference to the Edison Company’s standard tastes, although by 1926 this was no longer necessary.

In the end, it didn’t matter, as their one issued record sold poorly and is today one of the scarcest Diamond Discs. But the Edison company, as was their habit, retained all of the takes. Differences between them are very slight, and listening to them is an interesting case study in just how similar takes of a commercial 1920s dance band’s records could be to one another. -By Uncle Dave Lewis.

Title	Recording Date	Recording Location	Company
All For You (It is unclear which take this recording is.)	3-8-1926	New York, New York	Edison unissued 10870-A
All For You	3-8-1926	New York, New York	Edison unissued 10870-B
All For You	3-8-1926	New York, New York	Edison unissued 10870-C
Don’t Wake Me Up (Let Me Dream) (Singing by Frank Cornwell) ( L. Wolfe Gilbert / Mabel Wayne / Abel Baer)	1-20-1926	New York, New York	Edison 51685 R 10782-A
Don’t Wake Me Up (Let Me Dream) (Singing by Frank Cornwell) ( L. Wolfe Gilbert / Mabel Wayne / Abel Baer)	1-20-1926	New York, New York	Edison unissued 10782-B
Goodnight (I’ll See You In The Morning)	3-8-1926	New York, New York	Edison unissued 10871-A
Goodnight (I’ll See You In The Morning)	3-8-1926	New York, New York	Edison unissued 10871-B
Goodnight (I’ll See You In The Morning)	3-8-1926	New York, New York	Edison unissued 10871-C
Goodnight (I’ll See You In The Morning)	3-8-1926	New York, New York	Edison unissued 10871-D
I Dare Not Love You (Introducing “Twilight Voices”) (Singing by Frank Cornwell) (Harry B. Smith / Sigmund Romberg)	1-20-1926	New York, New York	Edison 51685 L 10783-A
I Dare Not Love You (Introducing “Twilight Voices”) (Singing by Frank Cornwell) (Harry B. Smith / Sigmund Romberg)	1-20-1926	New York, New York	Edison unissued 10783-B
I Dare Not Love You (Introducing “Twilight Voices”) (Singing by Frank Cornwell) (Harry B. Smith / Sigmund Romberg)	1-20-1926	New York, New York	Edison unissued 10783-C

Artist	Instrument
Irving Aaronson	Piano, Leader, Vocals
Mickey Bloom	Trumpet
Sal Cibelli	Violin, Vocals
Frank Cornwell	Violin, Vocals
Herman Hyde	Alto Saxophone, Violin
Stanley Johnson	Drums, Vocals
Ralph Napoli	Banjo, Vocals
Harold Saliers	Alto Saxophone, Violin, Vocals
Phil Saxe	Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Violin, Vocals
Red Stanley	Trombone, Vocals
Jimmy Taylor, Vocals	Trumpet
Mack Walker	Bass Brass