The Kit-Cat Band Plays “Hot” Dance Music 1925-1927

Many jazz history books underrate the contributions of European musicians prior to 1960, other than mentioning Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. The truth is that jazz has been heard and performed around the world ever since recordings became widely available in the early 1920s. The better European players, who sometimes had opportunities to interact with visitors from America, caught on fairly fast. They initially learned to play jazz by closely emulating the sounds of Americans, both in the arrangements and many of the soloists. While there were a few distinctive soloists, a number that grew greatly in the 1950s, it was not until the modern jazz scene of the mid-1960s that European jazz musicians began to create truly new music in their own vocabulary. The Kit-Cat Band Plays “Hot” Dance Music 1925-1927 features a twelve-piece group organized by British bandleader Jack Hylton to perform regularly at the Kit-Cat club in London. Most notable among the musicians are director Al Starita who doubled on clarinet and alto, hot trumpeter Tom Smith, either Hugo Rignold or Eric Siday on violin, and the group’s one major name of the future, trombonist Ted Heath, who led his own very popular dance band during 1944-69. The Kit-Cat Band’s 24 most jazz-oriented recordings are on their CD and they fit very well into the jazz mainstream of the day. The musicianship and jazz se
You've read three articles this month! That makes you one of a rare breed, the true jazz fan!

The Syncopated Times is a monthly publication covering traditional jazz, ragtime and swing. We have the best historic content anywhere, and are the only American publication covering artists and bands currently playing Hot Jazz, Vintage Swing, or Ragtime. Our writers are legends themselves, paid to bring you the best coverage possible. Advertising will never be enough to keep these stories coming, we need your SUBSCRIPTION. Get unlimited access for $30 a year or $50 for two.

Not ready to pay for jazz yet? Register a Free Account for two weeks of unlimited access without nags or pop ups.

Already Registered? Log In

If you shouldn't be seeing this because you already logged in try refreshing the page.

Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings.

Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.

Or look at our Subscription Options.