Italians in the Early Days of Jazz

[Biff83]

Often overlooked is the role that Italians played in the early days of jazz music. Nick LaRocca, Anthony Parenti, Frank Signorelli, Eddie Lang (Salvatore Massaro), Leon Roppolo, Adrian Rollini, Joe "Wingy" Manone, Phil Napoleon (Filippo Napoli), Jimmy Durante (yep, the great Schnozzola started out as a piano player), and the baddest jazz violin player of all time Joe Venuti. Here's a link to the Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang and Their All-Star Orchestra page on the Red Hot Jazz Archive where you can listen to a number of selections. Not too shabby a line up with Venuti on violin, Lang on guitar, Benny Goodman on clarinet and Jack Teagarden on trombone and vocals. Make sure you listen to "After You've Gone" for a really hot violin solo by Venuti, and "Beale Street Blues" featuring some wonderful ensemble work and Jack T's funky vocal. You can also access the pages of the other musicians mentioned above for bios and full version songs.

http://www.redhotjazz.com/vlo.html