The Savoy Orpheans is a

British dance band British dance band is a genre of popular jazz and dance music that developed in British dance halls and hotel ballrooms during the 1920s and 1930s, often called a Golden Age of British music, prior to the Second World War. Thousands of miles awa ...

currently led by

Alex Mendham Alex Mendham (born 13 September 1989) is a British bandleader, singer, and saxophonist known for reviving the music and glamour of the Jazz Age. He is the founder and leader of Alex Mendham & His Orchestra, a transatlantic ensemble recognised f ...

. They were resident at the

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 1 ...

, London. The band was formed by

Debroy Somers Debroy Somers (born William Henry Somers; 11 April 1890,1939 England and Wales Register – 27 May 1952) was a British dance band leader. Somers was born in Dublin, Ireland. He had trained as a musician at the Duke of York's Royal Military School ...

, an ex-army bandmaster, in 1923. Both the Orpheans and the

Savoy Havana Band The Savoy Havana Band was a British dance band of the 1920s. It was resident at the Savoy Hotel, London, between 1921 and 1927. The band made their first live outside broadcast on the British Broadcasting Corporation from the Savoy Hotel on 3 Octob ...

were under the management of William de Mornys. The Orpheans were later led by the violinist Cyril Ramon Newton, and by the pianist

Carroll Gibbons Carroll Richard Gibbons (January 4, 1903 – May 10, 1954) was an American-born pianist, bandleader and popular composer who made his career primarily in England during the British dance band era. Early life and career Gibbons was born an ...

.Rust, Brian, "The Savoy Orpheans at the Savoy Hotel, London": sleeve notes to disc 1 of World Record Club LP set SH165/6, issued 1971 On 15 June 1925, Somers conducted the Orpheans in the first British performance of

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

's ''

Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band by George Gershwin. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and premiered in a concer ...

'', alongside the Savoy Havana Band and Gershwin himself on piano. The performance was broadcast live by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. The owner of the Savoy Hotel, Rupert D'Oyly, called the original Orpheans and their colleagues, "probably the best-known bands in Europe." Among their popular songs was " Let's All Go to Mary's House" from 1925. D'Oyly Carte's judgment was echoed by music historian

Brian Rust Brian Arthur Lovell Rust (19 March 1922 – 5 January 2011) was an English jazz discographer. Career Rust was born in 1922 in Golders Green, then part of the Municipal Borough of Hendon in Middlesex. He collected records from the age of fi ...

, who wrote in 1971 of the original Orpheans: "their very name personifies the Dancing Twenties … and their broad versatility … made this imprint in a way that no band had done before and few have achieved since". When de Morny's contractual arrangement with the Savoy Hotel company ended on 31 December 1927, the Orpheans disbanded. In early December 1927 there were newspaper reports of the Hotel management denying the rumour that the Savoy Orpheans, Savoy Havana Band and the Sylvians were to leave. Reg Batten, of the SHB, stayed on at the Hotel and led a band with the clumsy name "Savoy Orpheans (1928)". This would indicate legal tussles over the rights to the original name. It was not until 1931 that pianist

returned from working at

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

in Hollywood and, with saxophonist Howard Jacobs, formed a new ensemble "the Savoy Hotel Orpheans" for the hotel. The drummer during this period was

Max Abrams Max Abrams (original name Max Abramovitch, 11 August 1907 – 5 November 1995), was a British dance band and jazz drummer and an influential teacher of several generations of drummers. Early career Born in Glasgow, Abrams was largely self-taught ...

. Brian Rust wrote of this group, "it was a purely straight, typically smooth supper-club band." Gibbons continued as bandleader at the Savoy until 1950, when he became the hotel's Director of Entertainments until his death in 1954.''Face the Music and Dance'', Savoy Hotel history
/ref> His assistant pianist Ian Stewart then took over as head of the hotel's music, retiring in 1978. The Savoy Orpheans name was revived by the

in April 2022, and

was appointed bandleader and musical director of the reformed group. The New Savoy Orpheans

References

External links

Biography of Debroy Somers
Dance bands {{UK-band-stub