Tap Room Special
LP RCA Vintage Series LPV-566
The name “The Little Ramblers” is revived for this session, and the reason is that there is a strong connection to Adrian Rollini since the band heard here was the house band in his club The Tap Room. Here they have shamelessly taken the standard tune Panama and given it a new name to make sure that the club was not forgotten.
It’s an interesting group. Ward Pinkett is the trumpet player, one of several good ones that died much too early. His fame came from playing on some of the classic Jelly Roll Morton records. On clarinet we hear the very agile Albert Nicholas, who wanted to see more of the world when he was a member of King Oliver’s Dixie Syncopaters and took a job in Shanghai, China. When he returned to New York and joined Luis Russell’s orchestra in November 1928, he had changed his playing from the Albert system clarinet to the Boehm system with a different fingering.
Behind the two there is a reliable rhythm section consisting of Jack Russin, piano; Danny Barker, guitar; Joe Watts, bass; and Sammy Weiss on drums. The year of recording is 1935.