The Georgians

The Georgians were a subset of the Phil Specht Orchestra. Specht had a gig at the Hotel Alamac in New York City in 1920. The orchestra played music for dancing in the ballroom and afterwards a smaller version of the group that went by the name of the Georgians played in the cocktail lounge.

The star and leader of the band was trumpet player Frank Guarente. Guarente was originally from Italy but his family moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1910 and then to New Orleans in 1914. In New Orleans, he began to play professionally while absorbing the styles of the city and taking trumpet lessons from King Oliver.

In 1916 he left New Orleans and played in a number of different bands that travelled throughout the country. Guarente was in the Army in World War I. After the war was over he started to make his living as a musician and in 1921 he joined Phil Specht’s Orchestra and played in both the larger dance band and in the smaller Jazz combo, the Georgians.

In 1922 the Georgians went to Europe and stayed until 1924 and then rejoined Specht’s Orchestra. The Georgians’ stay in Europe was quite influential and gave many Europeans their first taste of a real American jazz band. Guarente formed his own band called the New Georgians which recorded in Switzerland under the name of Frank Guarente’s World Known Georgians.

Guarente played in Europe until 1927, when he joined the Savoy Orpheans in London. He returned to America in 1928 and rejoined Specht’s Orchestra for two years. In the 1930s he did studio work and played in a variety of bands including the Dorsey Brother’s Orchestra.

Thanks to Bob Palmer, Scott and Mark of Vintage Music Company and James Gallup for their help with this page.