Swan Records (jazz label)

This article is about the jazz label. For a later label of the same name, see Swan Records.
Label of 78rpm Swan Record by Phil Napoleon's jazz band, recorded in April 1946.

Swan Records (aka Swan Recording Co. Inc.) was an American record company and label that was founded in 1946 and closed the same year. Sometime before 1959, Swan went out of business. In 1950, Mercury acquired 16 masters once owned by Swan, all being of Phil Napoleon.[1] In 1946, Swan listed its address at 1600 Broadway, Room 1003, New York, New York.

History

The Jazz Discography by Tom Lord lists 18 recording sessions that took place from January to April 1946. Les Schriber, Sr., who had founded Black & White Records in 1943 and sold it in 1945, went to work for Swan, but left sometime around October 1946.[2] Sometime around November 1946, Swan appointed Jesse J. Trilling as Secretary-Treasurer of Swan.[3]

Artists

Emperors of Jazz

Sal Franzella Quintet

Napoleon Emperors

Don Redman and His Orchestra

Rhythmaires

Selected extant discography

Don Redman and His Orchestra

  • 7501, Studio recording, January 1, 1946, New York City
Side A: "Midnight Moods"
Side B: "Mickey Finn"
Released on Onyx (nl) LP 220; OCLC 3585846
Released on PickUp 1002[5]
  • 7502, Studio recording, January 1, 1946, New York City
Side A: "Carrie Mae Blues"
Side B: "Dark Glasses"
Sides A & B released on Onyx (nl) LP 220; OCLC 3585846
Sides A & B released on PickUp 1003[5]
Sides A & B released on Foxy 9007[6]

Rhythmaires

  • 7503
Side A: "On The Level"
Side B: "Russian Lullaby"
  • 7504
Side A: "Say, Old Man, Watcha Ya Doin'?"
Side B: "I Got Rhythm"
  • 7505
Side A: "Sweet Lorraine"
Side B: "Just Jammin'"

Emperors of Jazz

  • 7506
Side A: SWFD-12-7 (matrix) "Royal Garden Blues"; OCLC 27986148
Side B: SWFD-12-6 (matrix) "Nobody's Sweetheart"
  • 7507 (1946)
Side A: SWFD-10-4 (matrix) "Muskrat Ramble"; OCLC 27977258
Side B: SWFD-10-2 (matrix) "Clarinet Marmalade"
  • 7508 (1946)
Side A: SWFD-10-1 (matrix) "At The Jazz Band Ball"; OCLC 27977486
Side B: SWFD-12-5 (matrix) "Figety Feet"
  • 7509 (1946)
Side A: SWFD-12-8 (matrix) "Tiger Rag"; OCLC 27986112
Side B: SWFD-10-3 (matrix) "Little Emperor Blues"

Phil Napoleon's Emperors

  • 7510 (1946)
Side A: "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate"
Side B: "I'll Never Be The Same"

See also

References

  1. ^ "Merc Takes Swan Disks for LP's," Billboard, July 8, 1950, pg. 13
  2. ^ "Music – As Written: New York," Billboard, October 12, 1946, pg. 34
  3. ^ "Music – As Written: New York," Billboard, November 30, 1946, pg. 32
  4. ^ Bassically Speaking: An Oral History of George Duvivier, by Edward Berger, Institute of Jazz Studies (1993), pps. 238 & 462; OCLC 28587065
  5. ^ a b "Don Byas — Part 1:" (of 2) "American Recordings 1938–1946," by Cornelis Jan "Kees" Hazevoet, PhD, (University of Lisbon), September 17, 2010; (second source: "Don Redman January 29, 1946," Discography J-Disk, Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University)
  6. ^ Luck's In My Corner: The Life and Music of Hot Lips Page, by Todd Bryant Weeks, Routledge (2008); OCLC 241305198