The Chicago Rhythm Kings was the name under which the recordings of several different

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 ...

ensembles were issued. The earliest of these was a jazz octet consisting of vocalist

Red McKenzie William 'Red' McKenzie (October 14, 1899 – February 7, 1948) was an American jazz vocalist and musician who played a comb as an instrument. He played the comb-and-paper by placing paper, sometimes strips from the ''Evening World'', over the t ...

, cornetist

Muggsy Spanier Francis Joseph "Muggsy" Spanier (November 9, 1901 – February 12, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist based in Chicago. He was a member of the Bucktown Five, pioneers of the "Chicago style" that straddled traditional Dixieland jazz and swing ...

, saxophonist

Frank Teschemacher Frank Teschemacher (March 13, 1906 – March 1, 1932) was an American jazz clarinetist and alto-saxophonist, associated with the "Austin High" gang (along with Jimmy McPartland, Bud Freeman and others). Early life and education He was born in ...

, guitarist

Eddie Condon Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang. Early years Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, the son of J ...

, clarinetist

Mezz Mezzrow Milton Mesirow (November 9, 1899 – August 5, 1972), better known as Mezz Mezzrow, was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist from Chicago, Illinois. He is remembered for organizing and financing recording sessions with Tommy Ladnier ...

, pianist

Joe Sullivan Michael Joseph O'Sullivan (November 4, 1906 – October 13, 1971) was an American jazz pianist. Sullivan was the ninth child of Irish immigrant parents. He studied classical piano for 12 years and at age 17, he began to play popular music in si ...

, drummer

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of "Sing, Sing, S ...

, and bassist and tubist

Jim Lanigan Jim Lanigan (January 30, 1902 - April 9, 1983) was an American jazz bassist and tubist. Lanigan learned piano and violin as a child, and played piano and drums in the Austin Community Academy High School, Austin High School Blue Friars before sp ...

. This group, who also recorded under the name the Jungle Kings, released a 1928 record for

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History From 1916 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing produ ...

as the Chicago Rhythm Kings performing

Benton Overstreet William Benton Overstreet (April 3, 1888 – June 23, 1935) was an American songwriter, bandleader and pianist in the early twentieth century. He was born in Atchison, Kansas. He directed McCabe's Georgia Troubadours in 1910, and by the mid-1910s ...

's "

There'll Be Some Changes Made "There'll Be Some Changes Made" ("Changes") is a popular song by Benton Overstreet (composer) and Billy Higgins (lyricist). Published in 1921, the song has flourished in several genres, particularly jazz. The song has endured for as many years ...

" and Jack Palmer and

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 ...

's "

I Found a New Baby I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...

". Several members of this first Chicago Rhythm Kings band, including Condon, Sullivan, and Krupa, also played together in another recording group together, the

Rhythmakers Rhythmakers, sometime known as The Rhythmakers or the Chicago Rhythm Kings in later re-issues of their music, was a jazz recording group which recorded music in four sessions in New York City in 1932. A racially integrated ensemble, the group was u ...

. The Rhythmakers made several recordings in 1932 in New York City for

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 ...

which were later reissued on

Parlophone Records Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 19 ...

and

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

under the pseudonym Chicago Rhythm Kings. In 1936 Tom Berwick and His Ritz-Carlton Orchestra also used Chicago Rhythm King as a pseudonym for a record they made for

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known ...

. In 1940

Signature Records Signature Records was a jazz record company and label founded in 1939 by Bob Thiele when he was 17 years old. Its roster included Coleman Hawkins, Earl Hines, Erroll Garner, and Lester Young. At age 14, Thiele was a disc jockey for his own jazz r ...

released an album with another Chicago Rhythm Kings band consisting of trumpeter Marty Marsala, clarinetist and saxophonist

Rod Cless George Roderick Cless (May 20, 1907, in Lenox, Iowa – December 8, 1944, in New York City) was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, perhaps best known for his work on sixteen Muggsy Spanier tunes for Bluebird Records. Additionally, Cles ...

, guitarist Jack Goss, pianist

Art Hodes Arthur W. Hodes (November 14, 1904 – March 4, 1993), was a Russian Empire-born American jazz and blues pianist. He is regarded by many critics as the greatest white blues pianist. Biography Hodes was born in Mykolaiv, in present-day Ukrain ...

, and string bassist Earl Murphy. That same year the drummer

George Wettling George Godfrey Wettling (November 28, 1907 – June 6, 1968) was an American jazz drummer. He was born in Topeka, Kansas, United States, and from his early teens was living in Chicago, Illinois. He was one of the young Chicagoans who fell ...

also released music with "George Wettling's Chicago Rhythm Kings" for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. Currently Bob Schulz and His Chicago Rhythm Kings have been active in performance and on record.Bob Schulz discography
on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

References

Bibliography

* * *{{cite book, title=Pseudonyms on American Records, 1892-1942; A Guide to False Names and Label Errors, year=2005, isbn=9780967181998, publisher=Mainspring Press, author=Allan Sutton American jazz ensembles