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Play That Thing

Ollie Powers'
Harmony Syncopators

Alex Calamese , Eddie Vincent, Glover Compton, Horace Demer , Jimmie Noone, John Basley , Ollie Powers , Tommy Ladnier , William Moore

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This recording was made in Chicago during September of 1923 featuring Alex Calamese and Tommy Ladnier cornets, Eddie Vincent trombone, Jimmie Noone clarinet & alto sax, Horace Demer alto sax, Glover Compton piano, John Basley banjo, William Moore sousaphone, and Ollie Powers director & drums.

*"Play That Thing" was composed by Ollie Powers.

Ollie Powers was an obscure cabaret drummer and vocalist who recorded two numbers with his band the "Harmony Syncopators" for Paramount in 1923. At the time of this recording a band of New Orleans musicans dubbed "King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band" had amassed a huge local following virtually overnight taking the city by storm. Led by Joe "King" Oliver and featuring the young and talented Louis Armstong, there was little mystery behind this group's enomous success.

At his "Harmony Syncopators'" first and only recording session held in the Fall of '23, Ollie Powers, Jimmie Noone, Tommy Ladnier and the other musicians might have felt a bit of pressure to emulate (to the best of their abilities) the celebated and wildly popular sound of the "King Oliver Band" for obvious reasons.