Copenhagen Wolverine Orchestra Gennett 5453

Copenhagen is a jazz standard composed in 1924 by bandleader Charlie Davis and first recorded in that year by the Wolverine Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke in a foxtrot tempo. The title refers to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

tobacco, favored by Davis's bass player. Lyrics were added by Walter Melrose to the tune, which is a blues in B-flat.

History

On April 5, 1924, Davis's jazz band began an engagement at the Ohio Theater in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, and performed the song "Copenhagen." That evening, members of The Wolverines, including cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, heard the performance and asked Davis to be allowed to perform the tune in their own engagement. Davis agreed. The Wolverines subsequently worked out their own arrangement in the course of engagements at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

and elsewhere over the following weeks. The Wolverines recorded it at Gennett Studios in Richmond, Indiana on May 6, 1924. The single was released by Gennett Records as 5453-B and also by

Claxtonola Records Claxtonola was a jazz record label founded in 1918 by the Brenard Manufacturing Company in Iowa City, Iowa. It reissued Paramount, Black Swan, and Gennett Records masters on the Claxtonola and National labels. The label closed in 1925. The company ...

as 40336-B as by the Jazz Harmonizers. The A side was "Oh Baby", recorded at the same session. "Copenhagen" was published in the same year (in the Wolverines' arrangement) by the Melrose Bros. Music Company of Chicago, Illinois. At least nine other recordings of the song were released in 1924 alone. The Wolverines' recording features a brief cornet solo by Beiderbecke. Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra recorded "Copenhagen" on October 30, 1924, five months after the Beiderbecke version.The Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. Red Hot Jazz.
/ref> The recording by Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra, arranged by

Don Redman Donald Matthew Redman (July 29, 1900 – November 30, 1964) was an American jazz musician, arranger, bandleader, and composer. Biography Redman was born in Piedmont, Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. His father was a music teacher ...

, features a solo by Louis Armstrong.

Personnel

The personnel on the session were: Bix Beiderbecke (c); Jimmy Hartwell (cl); George Johnson (ts); Dick Voynow (p); Bob Gillette (bj/g); Min Leibrook (tu); and Vic Moore (dm). The solos and the number of bars are indicated: Jimmy Hartwell (12) – George Johnson (12) – Bix Beiderbecke (6+8) – Jimmy Hartwell (2) – Min Leibrook (4+4) – Bob Gillette, g (2).

Notable recordings

* ''Bix Beiderbecke and the Wolverines 1924–1925''. Timeless, 1993. CD Release 2008. * ''Fletcher Henderson and Louis Armstrong 1924–1925''. Timeless, 1991. CD Release 2008. * ''Essence of Swing: Glen Gray & the Casa Loma Orchestra''. Drive Archive, 1997. CD Release 2007. * ''The Complete Tommy Dorsey Volume 7''. Hallmark, 2010. * The Benson Orchestra under the direction of

Don Bestor Don Bestor (September 23, 1889 - January 13, 1970) was an American bandleader, probably best known for directing the orchestra in the early years of ''The Jack Benny Program'' on old-time radio.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrat ...

, 1924. * Sammy Stewart. 9/24 * Al Turk. 10/24 * Oriole Orchestra. 10/18/24 * Varsity Eight. 10/22/24 * New Orleans Jazz Band. 10/23/24 * California Ramblers. 10/23/24 * Arkansas Travellers. 11/19/24 * Savoy Orpheons. 1/21/25 * Alex Hyde. 6/25 * Julian Fuhs Follies Band. 6/25 *

Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic tempe ...

Bud Freeman Lawrence "Bud" Freeman (April 13, 1906 – March 15, 1991) was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing tenor saxophone, but also the clarinet. Biography In 1922, Freeman and some friends from high sc ...

* Earl Hines *

Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz. He was ...

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

Dorsey Brothers Orchestra The Dorsey Brothers were an American studio dance band, led by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. They started recording in 1928 for OKeh Records. History The Dorsey Brothers recorded songs for the dime store labels (Banner, Cameo, Domino, Jewel, Oriole, ...

Theresa Brewer Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...

. 1949

References

Sources

* Crawford, Richard, and Magee, Jeffrey. ''Jazz Standards on Record, 1900–1942: A Core Repertory''. Chicago: Center for Black Music Research, 1992.
Evans, Phil. Interview with Fritz Morris, n.d. Accessed May 30, 2013.

* Magee, Jeffrey. "Revisiting Fletcher Henderson's 'Copenhagen'" ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'', Vol. 48, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 42–66. * Rust, Brian. ''Jazz Records, 1897–1942''. Chigwell, Essex: Storyville Publications, 1982. * Schuller, Gunther. ''Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development''. Oxford University Press, U.S., 1986. {{authority control 1924 songs 1920s jazz standards Instrumentals Jazz compositions Jazz standards Jazz compositions in B-flat major