The New Orleans Owls, Part Two

Jeff Barnhart: Hal, onto Part 2 of our exploration of the New Orleans Owls, a hot band that recorded some terrific sides over five sessions between Sept. 1925 and Oct, 1927. We’ll be looking at the final three dates this time, but first I wanted to share part of a note we received through our editor-in-chief, Andy Senior, this past month, from one David Federman, who wrote: “Please thank Jeff Barnhart and Hal Smith for the first part of their guided tour of the New Orleans Owls discography…I went to YouTube and listened to every record they talked about. I’m ready for Part Two.” David, thank YOU for taking the time to write and obliquely remind our readers that listening to the records we are forensically (and gleefully) dissecting is the best way to enjoy our work and decide if you agree with us. We endeavor to choose only those sides that can be easily accessed online, either on YouTube or the Red Hot Jazz Archive. The Owls were back in the studio on Nov. 8, 1926, for a session recorded in Atlanta, GA, rather than their native New Orleans, slightly over seven months after their previous session. The one personnel replacement was in the piano chair, with Sigfried Christensen replacing Mose Ferrer. The band’s first ride, “Blowin’ Off Steam,” lives up to it’s title!! The photo you shared in Part 1 of the band hamming it up (“They need the AIRS!”) shows this ba