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We have yet to investigate a rather solid set of Soundies featuring a combo led by jazz drummer Ray Bauduc. There are not many series that swing so consistently, and we will share them all in the upcoming months. The band’s pianist, Ray Sherman, was a good friend and we will let him do the talking here. Ray visited my house to view films on several occasions and what follows is a condensed version of his thoughts from multiple visits. The entire interview can be found in my Soundies book.
“I joined the band shortly after leaving the armed services and I seem to recall that the band had been playing together before I joined them. I’m not certain after all this time, but I think that I replaced Bobby Hammack. We stayed together until 1947, but not beyond that. Now, we weren’t really a traveling band, and we stuck pretty much to the Los Angeles area. I remember that we had a long engagement at the Suzie-Q on Hollywood Boulevard and that the intermission pianists were Erroll Garner and the Wini Beatty Trio.
“Ray was trying to modernize his sound at the time, and he wanted to move away from being thought of as just a Dixieland drummer, although that is what he did best. He had decided that Dixieland was passé, so except for his featured numbers, we played what we thought was more modern stuff. He finally returned to his traditional roots, and that is how he finished up his career.
“Joe Graves had a big tone on the trumpet, and he had ears for Dizzy and those fellows, but he never really made the switch to bebop. His other hero was Harry James. Later, for many years, he was the leader of Harry James’ ghost band. Al Pellegrini was one of those musicians who could do just about anything. He was there in the reeds, a strong swinging modern sound, but he could also play piano as well, maybe vibes on occasion. He was one of the early tenor men who listened closely to Lester Young, and you can hear him [Young] in Al’s tone and in the way he phrases. On string bass, we had Paul Morsey, a rock-solid rhythm man. He didn’t solo much, but he could always hold the rhythm together. The music we were playing was like so much of what was being played in Los Angeles at the time – solid swing but with touches here and there of more modern sounds.”
Duke Ellington’s music is featured in twelve Soundies, five of which he made himself in 1941. In our Soundie feature today, Ray Bauduc’s combo performs “I’m Just A Lucky So and So.” Mack David wrote the lyrics to Duke’s melody. Debby Claire was a fine swing vocalist, and Ray Sherman noted that she was with the band at the time, not just added for the film shorts. This is a five-star performance and a fine introduction to a lesser-known series in the World of Soundies.