Johnny Hamp's Kentucky Serenaders was a US

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 band, active from the late 1910s through the 1920s.RedHotJazz.com
/ref> The group was known simply as The Serenaders until Johnny Hamp became the band leader.Internet Movie Database
/ref> Johnny Hamp was born in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

Answers.com
/ref> and should not be confused with British television producer Johnnie Hamp. According to some sources,Solid!
he became the leader by chance when the band was performing at the Hershey Ballroom in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The band leader at the time had an argument with the players and walked out. Hamp, who never played a musical instrument in spite of being a jazz fan and had no experience as a conductor (in addition, he only sang whenever the chorus was performed by a vocal ensemble or the whole band), volunteered to lead them for the rest of the evening and they accepted. After the performance, the band asked him to stay on as leader. The "Kentucky" in the name appears to be related to the band's use of " My Old Kentucky Home" as a theme song, rather than any connection to the U.S. state of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. The group toured in the eastern United States and toured England in 1930. In 1931, the group was renamed Johnny Hamp and His Orchestra. The group made most of its recordings in New York City on the

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

label. Their biggest hit was "Black Bottom" recorded in 1926, which led to a dance fad; see

Black Bottom (dance) The black bottom is a dance which became popular during 1920s amid the Jazz Age. It was danced solo or by couples. Originating among African Americans in the Deep South, rural South, the black bottom eventually spread to mainstream American cultu ...

. Hamp continued to record for Victor until April, 1932. The next session was in August, 1935 for ARC (Melotone, Perfect, Romeo, Oriole). In December, 1936, Hamp was back with Victor recording for their Bluebird label for only two sessions (the second in February, 1937), which turned out to be their last session. Band members at different times included: * Howard Bartlett on

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

, vocals * William Benedict on

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

* Lester Brewer on trumpet * Charles Buckwalter on piano, vocals and as

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

Franklyn Baur Franklyn Baur (April 5, 1903 – February 24, 1950) was a popular tenor vocal recording artist.Gracyk, Tim with Frank Hoffman, ''Popular American Recording Pioneers: 1895--1925'', Haworth Press, New York, 2000, pp. 39--42. DeLong, Thomas A., ''Radio ...

on vocals * Joe Cassidy on clarinet,

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

, vocals * Roy Cropper on vocals * Charles Dale on clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone * Cliff Gamet on alto saxophone, vocals * Carl Grayson (r.n.: Graub) on violin, vocals * Elwood Groff on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

, vocals * Irwin Hood on piano *

Lewis James Lewis Lyman James (July 27, 1892 – February 19, 1959) was a vocalist and among the most active of recording artists in the United States from 1917 through much of the 1930s. He was a member of The Shannon Four, The Revelers, and The Criterion ...

on vocals *

Johnny Marvin John Senator Marvin (July 11, 1897 – December 10, 1944) was an early American recording artist and musician, starting in 1924 and covering a twenty-year period for many record labels. Early years Born in Butler, Oklahoma Territory in 18 ...

on vocals * Johnny McAfee on saxophone, vocals * Frank Masterson on

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, vocals *

Frank Munn Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

on vocals * Billy Murray on vocals * Walter Pontius on vocals * Elliot Shaw on vocals * Charles Socci on guitar, vocals * Ray Stillson on clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone * John Strouse on drums * Clayton Tewkesbury on trumpet *

Hal White Harold George White (March 18, 1919 – April 21, 2001) was an American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher for the Detroit Tigers (1941–43 and 1946–52), St. Louis Browns (1953) and St. Louis Cardinals (1953–1954). Born in ...

on violin, vocals * Jayne Whitney on vocals *

Melvin Watkins Melvin Lenzo Watkins (born November 15, 1954) is an American college basketball coach and former player. He has also been the associate head coach at the University of Missouri. He served as interim head coach during the end of the 2006 season, but ...

playing clarinet and saxophone Johnny Hamp led other bands in the 1930s and early 1940s ending up as a hotel house band leader in Chicago.

Partial discography

* "Breeze Blow My Baby Back" 1919 * "Angry" 1925Dismuke's Hit of the Week
/ref> * "Black Bottom" 1926 (see

1926 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1926. Specific locations * 1926 in British music * 1926 in Norwegian music Specific genres * 1926 in country music * 1926 in jazz Events * January – Blind Lemon Jefferson ...

) PastPerfect.com
/ref> * "If I Had a Talking Picture of You" 1929 (see

1929 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1929. Specific locations * 1929 in British music * 1929 in Norwegian music Specific genres * 1929 in country music * 1929 in jazz Events *January 1 – Pianist and compose ...

) * "Venetian Moon" (released on 78 RPM by Columbia records) The first reference below has a detailed discography.

References

External links

RedHotJazz.com

Internet Movie Database

PastPerfect.com

Solid! - Johnny Hamp

Johnny Hamp: Information for Answers.com
{{Authority control American jazz ensembles