Leonard Anderson was an American film editor and film director, and he co-owned a film production company. Anderson's short films of African-American musical acts include footage of Anna Mae Winburn with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, [1] Lucky Millinder and his orchestra, [2] and Henri Woode.
Around late 1948, he founded the Video Varieties Corp., a film production company with George Goman, which was a predecessor to the West Coast Sound Studios. [3] [4] In late 1948, Anderson directed a series of short films for the band the Adrian Rollini Trio (Adrian Rollini, George Hnida, and Allan Hanlon). [5] He edited the popular television show The Honeymooners in the 1950s. [6]
Don Murray was an American jazz clarinet and saxophone player.
Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams was an American jazz and blues saxophonist, bandleader, and songwriter. His record "The Huckle-Buck", recorded in December 1948, was one of the most successful R&B records of the time. In his Honkers and Shouters, Arnold Shaw credited Williams as one of the first to employ the honking tenor saxophone solo that became the hallmark of rhythm and blues and rock and roll in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder was an American swing and rhythm-and-blues bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful. His group was said to have been the greatest big band to play rhythm and blues, and gave work to a number of musicians who later became influential at the dawn of the rock and roll era. He was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1986.
William Ballard Doggett was an American pianist and organist. He began his career playing swing music before transitioning into rhythm and blues. Best known for his instrumental compositions "Honky Tonk" and "Hippy Dippy", Doggett was a pioneer of rock and roll. He worked with the Ink Spots, Johnny Otis, Wynonie Harris, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Jordan.
The Mills Blue Rhythm Band was an American big band active during the 1930s.
Adrian Francis Rollini was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played the bass saxophone, piano, vibraphone, and many other instruments. Rollini is also known for introducing the goofus, a free-reed instrument resembling a saxophone, in jazz music. As a leader, his major recordings included "You've Got Everything" (1933), "Savage Serenade" (1933) and "Got The Jitters" (1934) on Banner, Perfect, Melotone, Romeo, Oriole, "A Thousand Good Nights" (1934) on Vocalion, "Davenport Blues" (1934) on Decca, "Nothing But Notes", "Tap Room Swing", "Jitters", "Riverboat Shuffle" (1934) on Decca, and "Small Fry" (1938) on Columbia.
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was the first integrated all-women's band in the United States. During the 1940s the band featured some of the best female musicians of the day. They played swing and jazz on a national circuit that included the Apollo Theater in New York City, the Regal Theater in Chicago, and the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C. After a performance in Chicago in 1943, the Chicago Defender announced the band was "one of the hottest stage shows that ever raised the roof of the theater!" They have been labeled "the most prominent and probably best female aggregation of the Big Band era". During feminist movements of the 1960s and 1970s in America, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm became popular with feminist writers and musicologists who made it their goal to change the discourse on the history of jazz to include both men and women musicians. Flutist Antoinette Handy was one scholar who documented the story of these female musicians of color.
David Michael Barbour was an American jazz guitarist. He was married to singer Peggy Lee and was her co-writer, accompanist, and bandleader.
Cee Pee Johnson was an American jazz composer, bandleader, singer and multi-instrumentalist.
Jivin' in Be-Bop is a 1947 musical film produced by William D. Alexander and starring Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra, which included notable musicians such as bassist Ray Brown, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, and pianist John Lewis. It also features singers Helen Humes and Kenny "Pancho" Hagood, Master of Ceremonies Freddie Carter, and a group of dancers.
Rhythm in a Riff is a 1947 medium length musical film produced by William D. Alexander and directed by Leonard Anderson. The film stars Billy Eckstine and his band performing as well as Ann Baker, Hortense Allen Jordan, Sarah Harris, and Emmett "Babe" Wallace. The film is extant. The film was.made in New York City. It was released by Astor Pictures. The film was targeted to am African American audience, features and African American cast, and was produced and directed by African Americans. The film is also known as Flicker Up.
Murder with Music is a 1948 American race film directed by George P. Quigley. The film used footage from the 1946 film Mistaken Identity and musical footage was reused in the short subject Bob Howard's House Party. Alfred N. Sack "presented" the film.
William Forest Crouch was an American director and writer of film, mostly shorts. His work includes Reet, Petite, and Gone (1947) made with an all-African-American cast. He was active during the 1940s.
"La Cinquantaine" is a piece of music which was composed by Jean Gabriel-Marie in 1887.
The Tune Twisters was an American jazz vocal trio founded in 1934 as The Freshmen by Andy Love, Robert "Bob" Wacker, and Jack Lathrop, who also played guitar. They were featured on radio broadcasts and recorded with jazz artists that included (i) Ray Noble in 1935, (ii) Bob Crosby in 1935, (iii) Glenn Miller in 1937, and (iv) Adrian Rollini in 1938. The Tune Twisters performed in the 1937 Broadway production, Between the Devil, singing "Triplets." The production ran from December 22, 1937, to March 12, 1938. During the audition, the Tune Twisters were known as the Savoy Club Boys. Lathrop was a member of the Tune Twisters in 1939 when they recorded the first radio jingle of its kind for Pepsi – "Pepsi-Cola Hits the Spot" (aka "Nickel, Nickel"). The trio also performed in two 1935 films, Sweet Surrender and Melody Magic, the latter directed by Fred Waller. Gene Lantham, in 1940, replaced Lathrop, who went on to become guitarist and vocalist with Glenn Miller.
That Man of Mine is an American film released in 1946. Directed by Leonard Anderson, it features an African-American cast.
Nicky O'Daniel was an American actress on stage and screen. In Caldonia (film) she portrays the title character, a possessive girlfriend who convinces her man not to go to Hollywood for a film production but to stay New York City. She was one of the performers featured in the 1945 film It Happened in Harlem. A soundie titled The Pollard Jump (1946) includes her dancing.
Sing and Be Happy is a series of animated sing-along films produced by Universal Pictures. The first film in the series was released in 1946.
Scandal of 1933, also known as Gig and Saddle and Scandal, is an American film featuring musical performances. The 60-minute feature film includes performances of songs written by Irving Mills, Duke Ellington, Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young, Harry Akst, Roger Graham, Dave Peyton, Spencer Williams, Leo Robin, Ralph Rainger, Mort Dixon, Harry Warren, Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra, and Putney Dandridge. Jack Goldberg produced it and featured an all-African American cast. A poster for the film advertises it as a musical jamboree.
Floyd Maurice "Stumpy" Brady is an American jazz trombonist.