Tim Gracyk | Jaudas' Band “Money Blues” (Hugo Frey) Edison cylinder (1917) jas ensemble Jaudas' Society Orchestra @timgracyk | Uploaded October 2024 | Updated October 2024, 2 hours ago.
Jaudas' Band plays “Money Blues” on Edison Blue Amberol 3186 (1917).
Composer is Hugo Frey, who worked with Joseph C. Smith around this time.
The ensemble was also called Jaudas' Society Orchestra.
Eugene Jaudas had a flourishing career a century ago but today has one claim to fame. His orchestra was among the first few ensembles to record performances issued as "jass."
However, Jaudas was not playing jazz.
Through Jaudas, the Edison company was trying to cash in on the new "jass" market created by the ODJB when Victor issued a disc. That historic Victor disc was soon followed by an ODJB Columbia disc.
This performance issued by Edison is not jazz at all, but I believe it has historical value since it was marketed as early jazz. Jazz in the earliest years was stereotyped as fast, and this performance is not certainly fast. Jaudas may have recorded this without knowing that it would be marketed as jazz. He may have thought he was performing "Hong Kong," and marketing people may have assigned it a new title to cash in on the jass craze.
The Victor Talking Machine Company had sparked a jass craze by issuing an ODJB disc (another spark were live performances by the ODJB), and Columbia followed by issuing an ODJB disc in July. Edison's company was jumping on the jass bandwagon. One can imagine the aging Thomas Edison himself having no patience for the new music--of course, he could not hear any music properly at all since he was basically deaf.
Eugene Jaudas has one claim to fame: his orchestra was among the first few ensembles to record performances issued as "jass" despite the fact Jaudas was not playing jazz.
"The 'Jass' One-Step" is really the Holstein and Sanders hit "Hong Kong" arranged for dancing. A jazzy name was given to a Tin Pan Alley product.
Born in New York on October 11, 1869, Eugene A. Jaudas was trained as a violinist and became a musical director for Edison beginning in 1900. He was also "a director with the Edison Kinetophone," according to Edison promotional literature.
Leading studio musicians, he provided orchestral accompaniment for many Edison singers. His name was on cylinders beginning in 1903. The March 1903 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly stated, "A feature of the March Records was No. 8349, 'Dream of the Tyrolienne' (Traum der Sennerin), a violin and flute duet by Eugene Jaudas and Louis Atz. The latters' names appeared among the Edison talent for the first time. This Record is the first good violin and flute duet ever made and our Record Department is delighted over its success."
The November 1908 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly lists performers on "Elks' Minstrels" (Amberol 64) and cites Jaudas as musical director.
He conducted the Edison Symphony Orchestra, a recording ensemble that was never a full orchestra. Jaudas' Band, sometimes called Jaudas' Society Orchestra, was Edison's primary dance band from 1914 to 1919. Records include "Missouri Waltz" (Blue Amberol 2950, 1916) and "The Darktown Strutters' Ball" (Diamond Disc 50469, 1918).
Jaudas' Band plays “Money Blues” on Edison Blue Amberol 3186 (1917).
Composer is Hugo Frey, who worked with Joseph C. Smith around this time.
The ensemble was also called Jaudas' Society Orchestra.
Eugene Jaudas had a flourishing career a century ago but today has one claim to fame. His orchestra was among the first few ensembles to record performances issued as "jass."
However, Jaudas was not playing jazz.
Through Jaudas, the Edison company was trying to cash in on the new "jass" market created by the ODJB when Victor issued a disc. That historic Victor disc was soon followed by an ODJB Columbia disc.
This performance issued by Edison is not jazz at all, but I believe it has historical value since it was marketed as early jazz. Jazz in the earliest years was stereotyped as fast, and this performance is not certainly fast. Jaudas may have recorded this without knowing that it would be marketed as jazz. He may have thought he was performing "Hong Kong," and marketing people may have assigned it a new title to cash in on the jass craze.
The Victor Talking Machine Company had sparked a jass craze by issuing an ODJB disc (another spark were live performances by the ODJB), and Columbia followed by issuing an ODJB disc in July. Edison's company was jumping on the jass bandwagon. One can imagine the aging Thomas Edison himself having no patience for the new music--of course, he could not hear any music properly at all since he was basically deaf.
Eugene Jaudas has one claim to fame: his orchestra was among the first few ensembles to record performances issued as "jass" despite the fact Jaudas was not playing jazz.
"The 'Jass' One-Step" is really the Holstein and Sanders hit "Hong Kong" arranged for dancing. A jazzy name was given to a Tin Pan Alley product.
Born in New York on October 11, 1869, Eugene A. Jaudas was trained as a violinist and became a musical director for Edison beginning in 1900. He was also "a director with the Edison Kinetophone," according to Edison promotional literature.
Leading studio musicians, he provided orchestral accompaniment for many Edison singers. His name was on cylinders beginning in 1903. The March 1903 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly stated, "A feature of the March Records was No. 8349, 'Dream of the Tyrolienne' (Traum der Sennerin), a violin and flute duet by Eugene Jaudas and Louis Atz. The latters' names appeared among the Edison talent for the first time. This Record is the first good violin and flute duet ever made and our Record Department is delighted over its success."
The November 1908 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly lists performers on "Elks' Minstrels" (Amberol 64) and cites Jaudas as musical director.
He conducted the Edison Symphony Orchestra, a recording ensemble that was never a full orchestra. Jaudas' Band, sometimes called Jaudas' Society Orchestra, was Edison's primary dance band from 1914 to 1919. Records include "Missouri Waltz" (Blue Amberol 2950, 1916) and "The Darktown Strutters' Ball" (Diamond Disc 50469, 1918).
