Biography
A short-lived recording group known as the Jones & Collins Astoria Hot Eight drew its name from the Astoria Ballroom, also called the Astoria Gardens, a dancehall situated on South Rampart Street in New Orleans that flourished during the 1920s and 1930s.
The same ensemble might just as readily have been billed the Pelican Hot Eight, given that cornetist Lee Collins, an early collaborator of Jelly Roll Morton, and tenor saxophonist David "Davey" Jones, a former Storyville entertainer counted among the first musicians in history to play jazz on the saxophone, had both led bands at the Pelican Roof Ballroom only two blocks from the Astoria.
On November 15, 1929, the Jones & Collins Astoria Hot Eight gathered for a recording date at the Italian Hall near the intersection of North Rampart and Esplanade Avenue.
Besides the two leaders, the octet featured clarinetist Sidney Ardoin, alto saxophonist Theodore Purnell, pianist Joseph Robichaux (who in 1933 would take his own band to New York City to make records), banjo man Emanuel Sayles, string bassist Al Morgan, and percussionist Joe Strode-Raphael.
Four titles, along with two alternate takes, emerged from that single day of work.
Victor released the master takes, which later appeared on the label’s budget-line subsidiary Bluebird.
“Astoria Strut” carries composer credit to Collins and Jones; “Duet Stomp,” containing a vocal by Al Morgan, originated with Jones and Ardoin; Morgan and Sayles devised “Damp Weather”; and Purnell and Robichaux created “Tip Easy Blues.”
These landmark New Orleans jazz recordings have since surfaced on numerous anthologies, among them the Frog label’s Sizzling the Blues 1927-1929 (which contains the test takes), Louisiana Red Hot’s New Orleans: Great Original Performances 1918-1934, the affordable Jazz Roots release New Orleans 1918-1929: Where Jazz Was Born, and ABC’s Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo, Vol. 1: New Orleans.
The same ensemble might just as readily have been billed the Pelican Hot Eight, given that cornetist Lee Collins, an early collaborator of Jelly Roll Morton, and tenor saxophonist David "Davey" Jones, a former Storyville entertainer counted among the first musicians in history to play jazz on the saxophone, had both led bands at the Pelican Roof Ballroom only two blocks from the Astoria.
On November 15, 1929, the Jones & Collins Astoria Hot Eight gathered for a recording date at the Italian Hall near the intersection of North Rampart and Esplanade Avenue.
Besides the two leaders, the octet featured clarinetist Sidney Ardoin, alto saxophonist Theodore Purnell, pianist Joseph Robichaux (who in 1933 would take his own band to New York City to make records), banjo man Emanuel Sayles, string bassist Al Morgan, and percussionist Joe Strode-Raphael.
Four titles, along with two alternate takes, emerged from that single day of work.
Victor released the master takes, which later appeared on the label’s budget-line subsidiary Bluebird.
“Astoria Strut” carries composer credit to Collins and Jones; “Duet Stomp,” containing a vocal by Al Morgan, originated with Jones and Ardoin; Morgan and Sayles devised “Damp Weather”; and Purnell and Robichaux created “Tip Easy Blues.”
These landmark New Orleans jazz recordings have since surfaced on numerous anthologies, among them the Frog label’s Sizzling the Blues 1927-1929 (which contains the test takes), Louisiana Red Hot’s New Orleans: Great Original Performances 1918-1934, the affordable Jazz Roots release New Orleans 1918-1929: Where Jazz Was Born, and ABC’s Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo, Vol. 1: New Orleans.