Arcadian Serenaders

In the '20s, the Arcadian Ballroom in St. Louis was such a hot spot that any music group that had any kind of a lengthy stint there would eventually become associated with the venue, to misquoth the raven forevermore. What one of these groups would actually sound like depended on many factors, however. The Arcadian Serenaders can be immediately spotted as one such group whose name was strongly linked to the venue, the facts in the group's history more than bearing out this hunch as the group was known as the Original Crescent City Jazzers up to the point of scoring the gig up the river in St. Louis. Unlike some of the other Arcadian groups, then, this one was a bunch of white New Orleans musicians, some future stars such as Wingy Manone making their recording debut while in its ranks. These sides were cut by the OKeh company beginning in late 1925. "Angry" is a classic, most likely an apt description of any musician's state of mind once he got around to reading the fine print on this label's contracts. "Bobbed Hair Bobbie (Bobbie Be Mine)" shows the lighter side of a band, among whose "Fidgety Feet" were players such as the lively cornetist Sterling Bose, the slight Slim Hall's banquet of banjo, and ace early studio reed pilot Cliff Holman. Several different reissue collections feature cleaned-up masterings of these vintage recordings, also allowing listeners to sample other groups that made the venue home, such as the Arcadia Peacock Orchestra and Johnny de Droit & His New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide