Original Memphis Five
The Original Memphis Five was an early jazz quintet founded in 1917 by trumpeter Phil Napoleon and pianist Frank Signorelli. Jimmy Lytell was a member from 1922 to 1925. The group made many recordings between 1921 and 1931, sometimes under different names, including Ladd's Black Aces[1] and The Cotton Pickers. Richard Cook and Brian Morton, writing for The Penguin Guide to Jazz, refer to the group as "one of the key small groups of the '20s".[2] The group formed around 1917.[1] The name Original Memphis Five was first used in 1920, and applied to small groups of white musicians throughout the decade.[1] The Ladd's Black Aces name was used from 1921 until 1924.[1] Cook and Morton identify Jimmy Lytell and Miff Mole as standout musicians in the group.[1] Jimmy Durante played piano with Ladd's Black Aces, while both Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey were members of the Original Memphis Five.[1] Occasional vocalists were Anna Meyers, Annette Hanshaw and Vernon Dalhart (as George White). Both Red Nichols and Miff Mole later led their own groups named Original Memphis Five.[1] Phil Napoleon, however, would continue using the group name into the 1980s.[2] References
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