Gennett Records was the pre-World War II label that was home to many of the pivotal and influential figures in jazz; in fact some first recorded for this Richmond, Indiana based label. The names roll off the lips like some mantra recited a hundred times before: Louis Armstrong, Bix Biederbecke, Hoagy Carmichael, Jellyroll Morton, Duke Ellington, The New Orleans Rhythm Kings, King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, and Fats Waller, to name a few. But adding up all the Gennett recordings made by these artists and multiplying that figure by two still wouldn’t come close to matching the number of recordings by Gennett’s most prolific recording group, Bailey’s Lucky Seven (and its various alter-egos and pseudonyms).
Bailey’s Lucky Seven was a group led by bandleader and music agent, Sam Lanin. Nobody named Bailey was ever a part of this group, and sometimes more than seven members recorded together, so the naming of the group is a mystery. Lanin organized sessions in Gennett’s New York studio, basically using the personnel in the Original Memphis Five and adding a cornetist to supplement the ensemble. While Red Nichols cornet work was most notable, Lanin also used Earl Oliver, Jules Levy, Jr., Henry Gluck, Vic d’ Ippolito, and Hymie Farberman.

The sales of Bailey’s Lucky Seven recordings must have certainly satisfied the executives in Richmond, Indiana, as the group recorded over a hundred sides for Gennett in five years (from October 1921 until late 1926). Yet the group is virtually forgotten or ignored in the annals of jazz history and not even dismissed as unimportant, possibly explainable because the group was never consistent in its personnel and trod a fine line between a pop dance band and a hot jazz band. The simple fact may be that the group never had a solid identity to be hailed or eschewed, even though Bailey’s Lucky Seven records sold well. Despite this lack of attention, the available records echo display a capable band that both hits upon the pop sound and highlights various members’ virtuosity or innovative playing. One of the centerpieces of their repertoire was “Nobody Lied,” which was recorded for Gennett in June of 1922. This recording was the third take, and is known to have featured Phil Napoleon on cornet and Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards on kazoo, though Edwards was one of the more in-demand vocalists on stage and record (he won an Oscar for his recording of “When You Wish upon a Star” as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in “Pinocchio.”).

The core members of Bailey’s Lucky Seven, aka The Original Memphis Five (who also recorded many sides for the Gennett label), consisted of Phil Napoleon on cornet, Irving Milfred ‘Miff’ Mole on trombone, Jimmy Lytell on clarinet, Frank Signorelli on piano, and Jack Roth on drums. The Original Memphis Five were neither from Memphis nor even the South; in fact, most members were natives of major East Coast urban areas. The name “Original Memphis Five” helped this white jazz band sell records to the ‘race’ or black music market. In another incarnation, the band recorded under the name of Ladd’s Black Aces to further assist in their appeal and promotion in the race music market. Again the name is misleading, as no one named Ladd was in the all-white ensemble. But despite the marketing ploy behind the band’s names, the recordings by the Original Memphis Five and Ladd’s Black Aces are among some of the best in the 1920s era of hot jazz.

Phil Napoleon and Frank Signorelli founded the Original Memphis Five after several years of playing in various East Coast white dance bands. With the blessing of Nick La Rocca, the initial Napoleon and Signorelli collaborations were released as Original Dixieland Jazz Band recordings. The Original Dixieland Jazz Band is recognized as having made the first jazz recording ever released, “Livery Stable Blues,” which was a hit in 1917, selling over 250,000 recordings in the first year after its release. This was approximately 5 times more than the number of records ever sold by the biggest recording star at the time, Enrico Caruso!
In late 1921, the Gennett studio began a series of recordings organized by popular New York bandleader and agent, Sam Lanin. Lanin hired Red Nichols to add an invigorating second cornet line to capitalize on what was becoming the popular sound at the time. Nichols quickly became the most in-demand and recorded cornetist in dance music. Nichols, like many of the members of Bailey’s Lucky Seven, was a trained musician. His father, a college music professor, taught Nichols how to play. He appreciated the freedom and vibrancy that jazz offered the cornet and could be considered a compatriot of fellow Gennett recording artist, Bix Beiderbecke. Although Nichols enjoyed a long and prolific career as a sideman and leader after his recordings for Gennett, his place in jazz history, much like that of Bailey’s Lucky Seven, has been long overlooked or dismissed.

The other main cornetist in Bailey’s Lucky Seven was Phil Napoleon, who was also formally trained. Like Nichols and Beiderbecke, Napoleon merged his training with the open-endedness of the genre into a pioneering approach and sound. While his brilliance was probably best displayed in the recordings of the Original Memphis Five, his virtuosity can be heard on Bailey’s Lucky Seven Gennett recordings such as “Bee’s Knees” and “Homesick.”

Perhaps the true jazz all-star of the Lucky Seven was trombonist Miff Mole, whose playing is best heard on his Gennett sides, despite the poor acoustic recording equipment used in making them. Mole was a ground-breaking and trend-setting trombonist in the jazz world because of his ability to use the composition as a vehicle through which to interact with the other members of the ensemble. He started his musical studies playing violin and as a result, brought a learned musical approach to the ensemble. Mole’s playing on Gennett’s recordings of Bailey’s Lucky Seven makes them worth a serious listen. He first recorded with the band in March of 1923 and appeared on “Wet Yo’ Thumb,” “Everything is KO in KY,” and “Carolina Mammy.” He then became the mainstay trombonist on almost very side Bailey’s recorded from December 1923 until the band’s final Gennett session in February 1926.

Bailey’s Lucky Seven is sometimes dismissed as nothing more than a pop society dance band of the early 1920s. They are virtually never acknowledged as a group playing with musical vibrancy akin to fellow Gennett artists King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band or the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, or even as an ensemble that recorded the most popular sides as did Benny Goodman’s orchestra or Paul Whiteman’s orchestra. Another listen, however, confirms that Bailey’s Lucky Seven combined the free-spirited, hot sound and the more staid pop style of the period to make arguably excellent records.

Contributed by Professor Charlie Dahan, College at Oneonta;
Adapted from an article at http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=1028

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