"I'm Building Up to an Awful Let Down" (from "Rise and Shine"; Mercer-Astaire). Recorded in London on April 4, 1936 by Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans with singers Brian Lawrance and Anne Lenner. Columbia FB-1375.
Transfer by Stereo Sounds of the 1930s Onwards: https://youtu.be/3AMabQg4BG4?si=_T0ypHDgSuHGYI1v
"Let's Face the Music and Dance" (from the film "Follow the Fleet"; Irving Berlin). Recorded in London on April 4, 1936 by Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans with singers Brian Lawrance and Anne Lenner. Columbia FB-1363.
Transfer by the Hehr Archive: https://youtu.be/pnmBJfVtxzI?si=z_Ht9A9npPDeHk6Z
just one Turkish track by Isaac ben Solomon Algazi (1882–1964), a Sephardic chazzan born in Izmir who later lived in France and Uruguay. recorded in Istanbul in 1909.
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/1000004356
this one is beautiful too, if google is being accurate it's "The song of the crane" by Macedonian-born composer Dramalı Hasan Hasgüler, recorded in #Istanbul in 1931
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/200023374
for example these two tracks by unidentified Greek orchestras in Germany, recorded before WWI, not sure if they're both the same musicians or not. very prominent #accordion with a sound you'd never hear today
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000747381
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000747380
There's some cool stuff in this new batch. Nothing klezmer, but a good amount of Greek/Turkish/Ottoman music mixed in with the thousands of American discs.
As someone interested in early recording industry history, I love this project. still holding out hope that they eventually release klezmer test pressings that no one has ever heard in 100 years
https://www.library.ucsb.edu/recordings-added-dahr-april-2-2026
"Ten Cents a Dance." Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart (1930). Recorded by Jack Payne and His BBC Dance Orchestra, with vocals by Elsie Carlisle. London, March 31, 1931. Columbia CB 249 mx. CA-11275-5.
https://www.elsiecarlisle.com/ten-cents-a-dance-with-jack-payne-and-his-orchestra/
this kind of thing is so cool. we know from listings that there are a fair number of klezmer test pressings from the 1910s/1920s that never saw a commercial release. none in this set yet, but I hope some surface eventually. In some cases they were done by people with no other recordings, in other cases a large catalogue but they had some that were deemed not commercially viable and never released.
https://www.library.ucsb.edu/digitized-test-pressings-michael-brooks-collection
During the course of a many decades-long career with Columbia Records (now part of Sony Music) Michael Brooks produced numerous reissue projects and was the resident "vault whisperer" who was tasked with tracking down unissued material, alternate takes, and pristine source material from the Columbia and Sony vaults for reissue projects. From original metal parts in the Sony Archives, Brooks would have new test pressings made for evaluation. Michael's record collection and his personal collection of these test pressings was acquired by UCSB in 2019.
"One Song" (from the film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"; Morey-Churchill). Recorded in London on March 25, 1938 by Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans. Columbia FB-1935.
Transfer by Fred Finnigan: https://youtu.be/VNNWCLjQGgg?si=hDLdoJ3isOhmzQGm
"With a Smile and a Song" (from the film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"; Morey-Churchill). Recorded in London on March 25, 1938 by Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans. Columbia FB-1935.
Transfer by Fred Finnigan: https://youtu.be/sg5JJme-wTU?si=PSQ8aS62RQ4YiMnD
Anne Lenner
🕵️old klezmers🎻
Elsie Carlisle