Cricket Smith and his Symphonians
Taj Mahal, 1936
Crickett Smith, trumpet; George Leonardi, trombone; Rudy Jackson, clarinet; Roy Butler, tenor sax, Teddy Weatherford, piano; Sterling Conaway, guitar; Luis Pedroso, drums; and Creighton Thompson, vocals.
Frank Orford, accompanied by Teddy Weatherford
Don’t Be a Talkie, 1944
A tune composed by Mena Silas, a member of a longstanding Baghdadi Jewish family in Bombay.
James Reese Europe
A short film on the influential composer.
Crickett Smith
Montmatre Rag, 1922
Crickett Smith and other African-American musicians at Club Zelli in Paris
Nina Mae McKinney and the Eubie Blake Orchestra
Everything That I’ve Got Belongs To You, 1932
Nina Mae McKinney, the “Black Garbo”, was among the performers who the young Indian student Dosoo Karaka heard in a Paris nightclub.
Quintette du Hot Club de France, featuring Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli
Year unknown
Whitey Smith
Night time in Old Shanghai, 1929
The American band leader Whitey Smith attempted to give jazz a Chinese twist as early as 1929.