Dutch Ladies Bands with Clara De Vries and Annie Van't Zelfde

Hollandse damesorkesten met Clara de Vries en Annie van't Zelfde (Nederlands) Dutch Ladies Bands with Clara De Vries and Annie Van 't Zelfde ( English) Hollandse damesorkesten - Blue Jazz Ladies (Nederlands) Dutch Blue Jazz Ladies: She Could Play That Horn ( English)

..... free coffee, tea and fresch drinks!
DUTCH LADIES BANDS with CLARA DE VRIES and ANNIE VAN'T ZELFDE
Hans Koert

When you are a regular visitor of jazz clubs or festivals you know that Jazz seems to be a predominant male activity. Most jazz musicians are male and if female artists are part of the band, they happen to be the vocalist ......... Of course, I know, there are lot of exceptions that proves the rule ............ The same conclusions can be drawn for the entirely light music scene, as it seems. Women-instrumentalists seem to be rare species, but what about a complete orchestra with women-instrumentalists! That must be very very rare ......... During the 1930's and 1940s those All-Girl bands or Ladies bands, were very popular among the general public.

Babe Egan and her Hollywood Redheads ( 1932-1933) ( photo: Doctor Jazz Magazine nr. 73)

Some of you will have heard of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, the Hour of Charm All Girl Orchestra, directed by Phil Spitalny or from Ina Ray Hutton who directed an All-Girl band entitled the Melodears.
Enjoy an old Soundie (1936), for the youngster amoung us, a kind of video clip avant la lettre, entitled Accent on Girls in which you can see Ina Ray Hutton directing her Melodears in the song Blues in the Groove.

Annie van 't Zelfde ( also known as Annie The Same) ( 1913 -2002) ( photo: Annie van't Zelfde archive from Doctor Jazz Magazine nr. 73)
I found a nice book about these All-Girl bands entitled Take-Off - American All-Girl Bands During WWII written by Tonya Bolden (2007). It has a CD enclosed with most Ina Rae Hutton and Sweetheart of Rhythm recordings.

All-Girl bands were not a pure American phenomenon - also in The Netherlands we had numerous All-Girl orchestras, although most are now completely forgotten. Damesorkesten (All-Girl bands), were very popular during the first half of the Twentieth Century in The Netherlands.

Clara de Vries and her Jazzladies ( The Hague - 1935) (from Doctor Jazz Magazine nr. 71)

Most damesorkesten played Tango's, waltzes, polka's and the Wiener repertoire, but when in the 1930s bands like Babe Egan and her Hollywood Redheads, an All-Girl orchestra, visited The Netherlands early 1933, All-Girl bands, that played jazzy dance music, became popular. Some well known women instrumentalists, who played that kind of swinging dance music were Clara De Vries and Annie Van't Zelfde. Annie Van 't Zelfde started to play the saxophone when she heard Babe Egan's band, and together with Clara she started to play jazz or jazz-related music. Juultje Cambre, Mickey Besemer, Hannie Rutgers, Florentine Peuschgens and Rita Dalvano played all kinds of styles - also jazzy dance music, but the regular stuff was in the light-classical or light music. In a Dutch documentary, produced in 1989, made by Netty Van Hoorn, entitled Sweet and Hot Music - Nederlandse damesorkesten uit de jaren ‘30 they are well portraited as the last surviving 1930s artists that played in that kind of Dutch ladies bands. ( More about that in the next contribution)
Pschorr - Rotterdam ( 1930s)

Clara de Vries was born in Schoonhoven, a small city near Gouda, on the last day of 1918 and became a well known trumpet player. She got lessons from her father, who directed several brass bands and was a younger sister of Louis and Jack De Vries, who became well known musicians too. Louis, nicknamed The Dutch Armstrong, also played the trumpet in the Excellos Five, a band that was recorded in the mid 1920s in Berlin. Later he played in the band of his brother Jack. Jack, who played the bass and sousaphone (and sometimes trombone ) became a band leader and one of his bands was named Jack en Louis' International Band. Clara became a member of the Blue Jazz Ladies directed by Leo Selinsky in the early 1930s and this band seems to have been very popular - it played, except in The Netherlands, in Berlin, Stuttgart, Essen, Prague and München-Gladbach.
Vlissingsche Courant ( 2nd of June, 1932) (source: KrantenbankZeeland)

In June 1932 the band played at the Moeder en Kind Beurs ( = Mother and Child fair), a kind of home fair in Amsterdam and they seem to have been a very popular attraction. In a giant ad their concerts were promoted. The Vlissingsche Courant, a regional news paper, reads on the 2nd of June, 1932: Reusachtige Weensche tuin met het beroemde damesorkest The Blue Jazz Ladies. (= A giant Wiener garden with the famous ladies band The Blue Jazz Ladies.) Geopend tot 1 uur. (= Open up to 1 a.m.) Dansmuziek tot 12 uur. (= Dance music up to midnight ) 2 Dansvloeren ( = Two dance floors). Schitterende Show op het tooneel.(= A great show on stage). Gratis koffie, thee en frissche dranken.(= Free coffee, tea and fresh drinks). The editor makes objections against this ......... : Is dat alles niet écht iets voor Moeder en Kind, - dansen en gratis drinken? ( = Is this really someting for Moeder en Kind? Dancing and free drinks?) Bèl, bèl 't is toch!

In the second part more about the Dutch ladies bands of the 1930s in Dutch Blue Jazz Ladies: She Could Play That Horn

Thanks to Piet Van 't Zelfde, who pointed me to the Sweet and Hot Music documentary. Sources: Heb je wel gehoord van Clara de Vries by Hans Langeweg ( Dr. Jazz magazine 71 p. 25 - 29) - Heb je wel gehoord van Annie van 't Zelfde by Hans Langeweg (Dr. Jazz Magazine 72. p. 8 - 12) - Annie van't Zelfde ( NJA Bulletin 45 p. 18-19)

It's a pity that no film or audio fragments have survived from these great Dutch instrumentalists, but you can find numerous fragments of US All-Girls bands on YouTube. So I love to share with you a fragment from a concert by the The Ingenious playing The Tiger Rag(1929)

Hans Koert
keepswinging@live.nl

During the 1930s ladies bands were very popular in The Netherlands. Most bands played light classical music, Wiener songs and waltzes, polka's and tango's. Clara De Vries and Annie Van 't Zelfde played a more swinging repertoire, inspired by American All-Girl bands that had visited Europe. They became very popular and played in venues like Heck's Lunchroom and Pschorr in Rotterdam, but their music, which was never recorded, is now complete forgotten. Keep Swinging loves to point you to that part of the music history. If you don't want to miss any contribution, ask for its free newsletter.




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All-Girl Bands

( Naar de Nederlandse vertaling.)
Women belong at home - in the kitchen - to raise the kids. They should play piano, violin or flute. Old fashioned thoughts .... That opinion has long been superseded: enjoy this contribution about women-in-jazz.

The Ingenues serenading the cows for the University of Wisconsin in a scientific test of whether the cows would give more milk to the soothing strains of music.

A few weeks ago Jo posted a great contribution, titled Vibraphonia where he introduced us a film fragment played by a female marimba band headed by a certain Reg Kehoe playing Larry Clinton's A Study In Brown ca. 1940. A few days ago I was pointed to another great fragment by Enrico B. by The Ingénues, an all-female band, that made a great film in 1928 playing some 1920s hits. Enjoy a fragment of this film

When you have listened carefully you must have heard tunes come by like Keep Sweeping the Cobwebs off the Moon, Changes, Mighty Lak’ a Rose, Shaking the Blues Away and the good old Tiger Rag, but to be honest ..... I was fascinated by all those girls playing in this not so common setting; a 1920s dance band. These All-Girl orchestras were popular in the 1920s and born out of the minstrel groups late 1900s, where women appeared in bands like the Madame Rentz's Female Minstrels or the Colored Female Brass Band. During the change of the century women were active at home, in the classical repertoire playing the piano, the violin or the harp. Looking to these women, playing saxophones in all sizes ( even a baritone sax), brass instruments, like the tuba, I wonder how the director of such a band selected all these girls with their special qualities - as a genius on their instrument or as a female-as-sex object....... Okay, I agree, the lady on the clarinet better could have used her stick playbacked and the numerous of accordions, hidden behind their stools, feel commically. One of the popular all-women bands of the 1920s was the Parisian Redheads, later renamed as the Bricktops. The Parisean Redheads ( thanks to their red heads)

In the book Stormy Weather, The Music and lives of a century of jazzwomen by Linda Dahl is a great source when you love to understand these bands.
In the Depression years there were a lot of those all-women orchestras, founded to make money and, as the book reads, Women bandleaders and players were picked for their physical assets as much as for their musicianship: hence the group billed as "The Band with a Bosom".One of the regular band leaders of the Hit of the week orchestras was Phil Spitalny who founded during the late 1930s and 1940s an All-Girl Band which became very famous. I found a fragment of this band, made late 1930s I guess, where they play the Tiger Rag. It is a pity that the music is very soft, but the fragment is so rare and special that I love to share it with you. So open your speakers .... and enjoy.

These typically phenomenon of All-Women Bands became popular in the 1940s, but it was, like the decades before, most vaudeville and music to dance they played. Of course there were bands that played jazz or women that became great jazz instrumentalists ( I am not talking of women vocalists now), like Lil Hardin, Emma Barrett (I must talk about her in a next blog sometimes), Beryl Booker or Marian McPartland to name some known and less known women in jazz.

The tuba player of the Phil Spitalny All-Girl Band

I found a fragment from a typically All-Women Band from the 1940s too, the band of Thelma White and her All Girl Orchestra in a film from ca. 1946. (Mind the sound level)

Another phenomenon that needs some more study, in my opinion, are the so-called Sisters and Brothers vocal groups, vocal groups, of men or women who are related to each other by family. Well known are the Mills Brothers, the Boswell Sisters and the Andrew Sisters, but there were numerous others, most of them now almost forgotten, like The Brian Sisters, Ponce Sisters, Pickens Sisters, Keller Sisters, Bronx Sisters, Trix Sisters, Williams Sisters, MacDowell Sisters, Zurik Sisters and Kordt Sisters. I also could make a list from brother vocal groups, although it seems that that list is much shorter. Are there readers of this blog who have studied these groups and love to share their knowledge with us? If you're the one or you konw someone who has that knowledge, please contact me: keepswinging@live.nl

Keep swinging

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

Retrospect
Bix Beiderbecke Kansas City - Jazz '34

Nederlands ( To the English translation )

Vrouwen horen thuis - in de keuken - hun recht is hun aanrecht - Ze horen piano, viool of dwarsfluit te spelen, de kinderen op te voeden .......Ouderwetse gedachten, die al lang achterhaald zijn .... zelfs in de vorige eeuw. Je komt er meer over te weten in deze bijdrage over vrouwen-in-de-jazz.

The Ingenues spelen in opdracht van de Universiteit van Wisconsin in een koeienstal in de hoop dat het de melkproductie zou stimuleren.

Een paar weken geleden postte Jo een bijdrage, getiteld Vibraphonia waarin hij een filmfragment liet zien van een vrouwelijke marimbaband bijgestaan door Reg Kehoe, die Larry Clinton's A Study In Brown rond 1940. Een paar dagen geleden wees Enrico B. me op een ander fragment van The Ingénues, een all-female band, een band die helemaal uit vrouwen bestaat, in een film uit 1928. Ze spelen daar een serie titels die in die tijd populair waren. Geniet ervan.

Als je goed geluisterd hebt zou je nu wellicht de gespeelde nummers herkent hebben: Keep sweeping the cobwebs off the moon, Changes, Mighty lak’ a Rose, Shaking The Blues Away and the good old Tiger Rag, maar eerlijk gezegd heb ik het moeten opzoeken want ik was gefascineerd door wat ik te zien kreeg; al dat vrouwelijk schoons in een niet alledaagse setting. Deze All-Girl orkesten waren populair in de jaren twintig en tijdens de Depressie en waren voortgekomen vanuit de traditie van de Minstrelgroepen, waarin al voor 1900 vrouwen dit soort groepen vormden: the Madame Rentz's Female Minstrels en the Colored Female Brass Band zijn daar voorbeelden van. Tijdens de eeuwwisseling, rond 1900, waren de vrouwen voornamelijk thuis actief, en als ze muziek maakten dan was dat klassieke muziek op piano, harp of viool. Als je naar deze vrouwen kijkt, die alle soorten saxofoons spelen (tot de baritonsax toe). blaasinstrumenten waaronder de tuba, dan vraag ik me af hoe de dirigent deze dames heeft gevonden en op welke gronden hij ze heeft geselecteerd: op het feit dat ze een specifiek instrument konden bespelen of op hun vrouw-zijn. Okay, ik geef toe, in het geval van de klarinettiste is dat overduidelijk; zij zou er beter aan doen te playbacken en al die accordeons, die ineens van onder de stoel te voorschijn komen, maakt het geheel tot een haast komische act. Eén van die all-women bands uit de jaren twintig waren de Parisian Redheads, later hernoemd als the Bricktops.
The Parisian Redheads ( = naar de kleur van de hoedjes denk ik)

In het boek Stormy Weather, The Music and lives of a century of jazzwomen, geschreven door Linda Dahl staat onder andere de geschiedenis van deze bands beschreven.

Tijdens de Depressietijd (begin jaren dertig) zien we een toename van dit soort orkesten, opgericht, zo zegt het boek, to make money (= om geld mee te verdienen). Women bandleaders and players were picked for their physical assets as much as for their musicianship: hence the group billed as "The Band with a Bosom". ( = Vrouwelijke bandleidsters en spelers werden zowel uitgezocht op hun uiterlijk als op hun muzikale kwaliteiten: wat te denken van een groep genaamd Band-met-een-boezem). Eén van de vaste bandleiders, die voor Durium platen maakten was Phil Spitalny, weliswaar een man, maar dat belemmerde hem niet een All-Girl band op te richten die in de jaren dertig en veertig heel populair werd. Ik vond een fragment uit de jaren dertig waarin hij te zien en te horen is met zijn band in de Tiger Rag. Helaas is het geluid erg zacht, dus zet je luidsprekers open; het fragment is zo bijzonder en zeldzaam dat ik het jullie niet wilde onthouden.

Dit typische fenomeen van all-women bands was ook populair in de veertiger jaren, maar dan is de muziek veranderd in meer swing en jive muziek. Toch komt het peil van de meeste damesorkesten uit de eerste helft van de Twintigste eeuw niet uit boven het niveau van vaudeville of amusementsorkest. Natuurlijk waren er ook vrouwen die wel jazz speelden op hun instrumenten ( zangeressen lat ik hier buiten beschouwing), zoals Lil Hardin, Emma Barrett (ik kom zeker nog eens op haar terug), Beryl Booker of Marian McPartland om maar eens even wat bekende en minder bekende namen te noemen.
De tuba-speler van de Phil Spitalny All-Girl Band

Ik vond een fragment van zo'n typische voorbeeld uit de jaren veertig (1946) van de Thelma White and her All Girl Orchestra (Denk aan het geluidsniveau)

Een andere verschijnsel rond vrouwen-in-de-jazz waren de Sisters Trios, met de mannelijke tegenhanger de Brother Quartets; zanggroepen die een familierelatie hadden. Wie kent niet de Mills Brothers, the Boswell Sisters en de Andrew Sisters? Maar stiller wordt het als we meer namen willen; namen als The Brian Sisters, Ponce Sisters, Pickens Sisters, Keller Sisters, Bronx Sisters, Trix Sisters, Williams Sisters, MacDowell Sisters, Zurik Sisters en de Kordt Sisters - allemaal nu vergeten zanggroepen. Zo'n lijst kan eer natuurlijk ook gemaakt worden met Brothers Groups ... maar die wordt een stuk kleiner. Is er iemand onder de lezers die kennis opgebouwd heeft over dit soort vergeten vrouwen-zang-groepen? Het zou mooi zijn als we daar eens aandacht aan konden besteden. Ken je iemand die dat zou kunnen, laat hem dan contact opnemen of stur me een mailtje: keepswinging@live.nl

AT RANDOM:
ARREPIADO - GLAUCO VIANA. Brazilian musician recorded in 1928 for Parlophon

Julian CANNONBALL Adderley was called CANNONBALL because of his good apetite. ( = vanwege zijn eetlust). Thanks all for posting this. - Iederen dank voor zijn inbreng.

12 maart / March 12th:
1928:

• stack o' lee blues / moani ke ala / drowsy waters / lepe ulaula / hue hue hue hue = sam ku west harmony boys
• when / i'm winging home like a bird that's on the wing = paul whiteman o

Keep swinging

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

Retrospect

Bix Beiderbecke Kansas City - Jazz '34

Keep Swinging Oscar Aleman Flexible Records Choro Music Hit of the week - Durium