Anton Lada (September 25, 1890 – August 28, 1944) was a

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and dance musician. He was a drummer. He played with and was the manager of the

Louisiana Five The Louisiana Five was an early Dixieland jazz band that was active from 1917 to 1920. It was among the earliest jazz groups to record extensively. The Louisiana Five was led by drummer Anton Lada. History The Louisiana Five was formed in New Y ...

. He recorded on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and toured. He performed for dancing and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

shows and made a series of recordings for

Emerson Records Emerson Records was an American record company and label created by Victor Emerson in 1915. Victor Hugo Emerson was the chief recording engineer at Columbia Records. In 1914 he left the company, created the Emerson Phonograph Company, and then ...

Edison Records Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important player in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's founda ...

, and

. He is credited as co-composer of a number of tunes with

Spencer Williams Spencer Williams (October 14, 1889 – July 14, 1965) was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs " Basin Street Blues", "I Ain't Got Nobody", "Royal Garden Blues", "I've Found a New B ...

, most successfully the "Arkansas Blues". After the breakup of his first Louisiana Five, he formed a series of his own bands before launching a new "Original Louisiana Five" band and moving to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

to do film scores. Lada was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

and moved with his family to Chicago as a child. Lada formed various bands and made recordings with them. He composed "Let Us Be Sweethearts Again" with

Ernie Erdman Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born c ...

in 1921. He copyrighted "Neglected Blues" with Williams.

Harry L. Alford Harry L. Alford (August 3, 1875 – March 4, 1939) was an American arranger and composer of band marches. Early life Harry LaForrest Alford was born in Hudson, Michigan. His family moved to nearby Blissfield, Michigan two years later. As a bo ...

arranged Some of his songs.

Discography

*"Your Voice at Twilight", words by McElbert Moore *"Uncle Blues" (1920) *"At Parson Jenkins' Ball (1920), words by Ed Sanford and arranged by Ray Brost *"Blue Jay Blues" (1920) with Frank Rizzo *"California Blossom" (1920), with Spencer Williams

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lada, Anton Musicians from Chicago Columbia Records artists 1890 births 1944 deaths Musicians from Prague 20th-century American male musicians American people of Bohemian descent Dixieland drummers American drummers Dixieland bandleaders American jazz drummers American ragtime musicians Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States