Hitch's Happy Harmonists (a.k.a. The Happy Harmonists, active 1922–27) was an early jazz band from

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

which played on the first recordings by

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first ...

: "Bone Yard Shuffle" and "

Washboard Blues "Washboard Blues" is a popular jazz song written by Hoagy Carmichael, Fred B. Callahan and Irving Mills. It was first recorded for Gennett Records in May, 1925 by Hitch's Happy Harmonists with Carmichael on piano. It was subsequently recorded by ja ...

". The band was led by the pianist

Curtis Hitch Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin from the Old French ''curteis'' ( Modern French ''courtois'') which derived from the Spanish Cortés (of which Cortez is a variation) and the Portuguese and Gal ...

and included Fred Rollison, Jerry Bump, Rookie Neal, Dewey Neal, Maurice May, Earl McDowell, Harry Wright, Arnold Abbe, and Haskell Simpson The band recorded a total of nine sides on 78s released by

Gennett Records Gennett (pronounced "jennett") was an American record company and label in Richmond, Indiana, United States, which flourished in the 1920s. Gennett produced some of the earliest recordings by Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Bix Beiderbecke, and H ...

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 ...

, Buddy Records, Champion Records and Temple Records. Their style echoed the

New Orleans Rhythm Kings The New Orleans Rhythm Kings (NORK) were one of the most influential jazz bands of the early to mid-1920s. The band included New Orleans and Chicago musicians who helped shape Chicago jazz and influenced many younger jazz musicians. History The ...

and they were influenced by

Bix Beiderbecke Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical app ...

and The Wolverines.

References

American jazz ensembles from Indiana Gennett Records artists {{US-jazz-band-stub