Bobbie Hind (1888 - January 24, 1950) was not an importantmusician and no improviser, but he had a solid knowledge ofthe clarinet and saxophone and was quite successful as anorchestra leader for several year, especially in Europe and, ascan be seen below, he had no fewer than eleven recordingsessions for Lindström's Favorite label, totalling 44 30 cm (12")titles.

Robert Hind was born in India but raised in England, the sonof a bandmaster. He studied piano as a youth and later took upclarinet and saxophone, studying at the Royal Military Schoolof Music based at Kneller Hall, Twickenham. After service in theBritish Army in World War One, he played in various theatrepit orchestras and by 1922 was first clarinet at the LondonPalladium under Philip Lewis (later Musical Director of EnglishDecca). Later the same year he formed a band and auditionedsuccessfully for theatrical impresario Sir Oswald Stoll, and wasgiven work at several of Stoll's chain of theatres. Hind called hisgroup the London Sonora Band.

In 1923 his Sonora Band was chosen to give a CommandPerformance, and later he claimed that his was the firstsyncopated band to do so (but this is patently untrue, as WillMarion Cook's Southern Syncopated Orchestra with SidneyBechet had performed at Buckingham Palace in 1919).

Hind's band included, beside himself on alto sax, his brother

Arthur Hind on tenor sax, Arthur Louseley and Tom Marshall(trumpet), Richard Betts (trombone), S. Harrison (alto sax),Harry Silcox (violin), Jack Llewellyn (banjo), Jack Humphrey(drums). This is the personnel for the September 1924 FrenchPathé recordings. The band played at the seaside resort ofScheveningen in the Netherlands from July 1 to August 30,1924. Immediately after that they went to Paris and recordedfor Pathé. Only four titles were issued, but as the matrixnumbers are very scattered (7198, 7200, 7212, 7220) theremay well be more unissued titles.

Although they recorded James P. Johnson's Old Fashioned Loveand Walter Hirsch's Horsey! Keep Your Tail Up (Pathé 6697)these are not jazz performances. The other titles are SavoyAmerican Medley (arr. Debroy Somers) / Sweet Henry (HarryAkst) (Pathé 6680). The lowest stamper date is 4-9-24, so thesession must have takes place no later than September 2.

After this session the band moved to Berlin and played at thefamous Scala theatre, probably from October to December1924 and were a great success, especially drummer JackHumphrey, who was very much a showman. In the spring of1925 they played at the Palais Barberina, also in Berlin. It wasduring this period they started recording for Favorite. British-born pianist Rex Allen, who by 1925 was a well known fixtureof the German dance band scene, joined the band at this time.

The London Sonora Band's Favorite Recordings. A revised discography by Björn Englund

Photo courtesy of Rainer Lotz

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In the summer of 1925 the band again played in Schevenin-gen, but then it broke up. Drummer Jack Humphrey took aseven-piece band to Berlin that recorded for Vox in January andFebruary 1926. Though the band apparently included EmileChristian on trombone, these titles are not listed in any of theeditions of Brian Rust's ‘Jazz Records.’ The titles are 2957-BUkulele Lady / 2959-B Sugar Foot Stomp (Vox 8026) and 2976-B Milenburg Joys / 2977-B Don't Bring Lulu (Vox 8027); thefirst from the January session and the second from the Februarysession.

There may well have been two more titles recorded at each ofthese sessions (probably 2956-B/2958-B and 2977-B/2978-B).The -B is not a take indication but means 25 cm acoustic record-ing. (The label of Vox 8026 gives E. Schoebel as composer ofSugar Foot Stomp! Obviously this was Elmer Schoebel, thearranger of the Melrose "stock".)

In contrast to the Hind recordings, these are (according toLotz) "not only among the rarest but also the finest Germanmade jazz records of the 20's". Possible personnel: Alf Bowes(tp), Emile Christian (tb), unknown cl/as, cl/ts, p, bj, JackHumphrey (dr). For a tune-by-tune analysis, see Lotz' bookletlisted below.

Hind formed a new band after the 1925 breakup, but neverregained his leading position, although he continued to tour Eu-rope with his band as late as 1938. During World War Two heand his wife Margery were active in the ENSA troop entertain-ment organisation, touring Europe and even India! He later leda band up to at least 1948, but was largely forgotten by the time

of his death in 1950.

(The Austrian musician Heinrich Blaser was in London in1922-1923 and heard Hind's band, which inspired him to starta "Sonora Band" in Vienna on his return in 1923. The band brokeup at the end of 1939. Its full history can be found in Lotz' book-let.)

Members of Bobbie Hind’s London Sonora Band on the beach at Scheveningen, August 1925. Courtesy Rainer Lotz.

Photo courtesy of Rainer Lotz

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London Sonora Band, direction Bobbie HindArthur Lousely, Tom Marshall (tp), Ginger North (tb), Bobbie Hind (as), Eddie Grosso (as), Arthur Hind (ts, bsx), S. Silcox (vln),Rex Allen (p), Jack Llewellyn (bj), Jack Humphrey (dr). Berlin December 18, 1924F2-0652 I Have a Blue Bedroom (Lehár, arr B. Hind) Fav F.560 (2/25)F2-0653 Susquehanna Home (Dave Ringle) "F2-0654 Dreary Weather (Clay Boland, Frank Winegar) Fav F.561 (2/25)F2-0655 American Medley (OS) (arr. Debroy Somers) "The first title is Hab' ein blaues Himmelbett from the operetta ‘Frasquita.’

Berlin January 15, 1925F2-0680 Oh! Eva. Novelty foxtrot (Harry Warren) Fav F.562 (3/25), Par P.2120 (3/26)F2-0681 Oh! Baby (Don't Say No, Say Maybe)

(Walter Donaldson) Fav F.562 (3/25), Par P.2120 (3/26)F2-0682 Love Is Just A Gamble (Ben Selvin) Fav F.563 (3/25) F2-0683 Heart Broken Rose (Milt Hagen - Sam Goold) "(F2-0684-0685 are not by this band.)

Berlin January 23, 1952F2-0686 Just Like A Beautiful Story (Earl Burtnett) Fav F.569 (3/25) F2-0687 The Meanest Kind O' Blues (Lou Jackson) "F2-0688 Just One More Kiss (Leon Berger) Fav F.570 (3/25)F2-0689 Love Has A Way (Victor Schertzinger) "

Berlin February 19, 1925F2-0702 Patsy (Earl Burtnett) Fav F.577 (4/25) F2-0703 All Alone (Irving Berlin) "F2-0704 Savoy Scottish Medley (arr. Debroy Somers) Fav F.578 (4/25)F2-0705 Tell Me What To Do (Vic Meyers) "

Berlin March 10, 1925F2-0712 Shanghai Lullaby ((Isham Jones) Fav F.579 (4/25), Par P.2122 (3/26)F2-0713 Oh! Mabel (Ted Fiorito) Fav F.579 (4/25), Par P.2122 (3/26)F2-0714 Bell' Amore Veneziano (Henry Richards) Fav F.580 (4/25), Par P.2123 (3/36)F2-0715 Peter Pan (Ray Henderson) Fav F.580 (4/25), Par P.2123 (4/26)

Berlin March 21, 1925F2-0722 Shanghai (Horatio Nicholls) Fav F.8074 (5/25), Par P.2123 (3/26)F2-0723 Chopiano (Henry Lange) Fav F.8074 (5/25), Par P.2123 (3/26)F2-0724 Whom Do You Love (Cliff Friend) Fav F.8075 (5/25), Par P.2124 (3/26)F2-0725 Minnetonka (Thurlow Lieurance) Fav F.8075 (5/25), Par P.2124 (3/26)Last title : By The Waters of Minnetonka (full title).

Berlin March 30, 1925F2-0731 Bye Bye Baby (Otto Motzan) Fav F.8076 (5/25), Par P.2125 (3/26)F2-0732 German Medley (arr. B. Hind) Fav F.8076 (5/25), Par P.2125¨(3/26)F2-0733 Marie, Marie Marie (N. H. Brown) Fav F.8077 (5/25), Par P.2126 (3/26)F2-0734 Tokyo Blues (Irving Berlin) Fav F.8077 (5/25), Par P.2126 (3/26)

Berlin April 18, 1925F2-0747 Tea For Two (Vincent Youmans) Fav F.8078 (6/25), Par P.2127 (3/26)F2-0748 Madagaskar ((J. Garcia - E. Fromberg

- Eric Borchard) Fav F.8079(6/25), Par P.2128 (3/26)F2-0749 *Somebody Loves Me (George Gershwin) Par P.2117 (3/26)Madagaskar was written as a ‘tie in’ with the silent German film Madagaskar in which Eric Borchard’s orchestra appeared.Somebody Loves Me was obviously intended as the coupling on Favorite F.8078, but was issued a year later on ParlophonP.2117 (coupled with F2-0764 by the José Melzak orchestra).

Berlin April 27, 1825F2-0751 *String Beans (Vincent Rose) Fav F.8085 (9/25), Par P.2130 (3/26)F2-0752 *Indian Love Call (Rudolf Friml) Fav F.8085 (9/25), Par P.2130 (4/26)F2-0753 *Honoloù (Leonard Pearce) rejectedF2-0754 Fo-Tu-San (Charles Griswold) Fav F.8086 (9/25), Par P.2131 (3/26)

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Berlin April 29, 1925F2-0758 Song of the Hindu Merchant (arr. B. Hind) Fav F.8086 (9/25), Par P.213 (3/26)F2-0759 I Want To Be Happy (Introducing The Marriage

Moon (Vincent Youmans / Helen Kilner) Fav F 8078 (6/25), Par P.2127 (3/26)F2-0760 *Put Away A Little Ray Of Sunshine (Fred E.

Ahlert) Fav F.8087 (9/25)F2-0761 *I'm All Broken Up Over You (Joe Murphy -

Carl Hoefle) Fav F.8087 (9/25)

* Not listed by Rust in his British Dance Bands On Record (1989)All titles described as foxtrots except where noted. OS = One Step.Figures in brackets after the issue numbers are the release dates.

Despite some promising-looking titles, there is hardly any ofjazz interest to be found on these recordings. As Rainer Lotzsays in his biography of the band: "The records are still playedin the doo-wacka-doo style."

Matrix F2-0684 listed by Rust (but not by Horst Lange) isreally a renumbering of Par(E) matrix E 4002 (Sahara by theDix Band from E 10236, recorded in December 1924 andissued in February 1925 coupled with a title by the MarekWeber orchestra from German Parlophon. Obviously thecoupling was intended to be E 4001 by the Dix Band, but itwas rejected. These were British Parlophone's first 12"/30 cmrecordings but the special E 4001 series was shortlived. Thenext 12" titles were in the regular (W)E 100 series (from WXE979, c. November 1926). When the WE series reached WE4000 in 1930 it almost certainly duplicated the 4001-4002numbers from 1924.

The two titles recorded for Aco in London in November 1925and the probably eight titles (only four issued) recorded forSyrena, probably in Warszaw around December 1926, are byan entirely different band.

A Note on Favorite

The Favorite label was founded in 1904 and was anindependent label until 1913, when it was taken over byLindström. (See Hugo Strötbaum's article listed below for anexhaustive history of the early years.) During this period it wasan important label and recorded in most European countries(in France the label name was Eden), Asia (including China)and South America (including Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador)and even Africa (Egypt).

After the Lindström takeover Favorite was kept as a separatelabel, but never made any recordings outside Europe up to1918. It was revived in 1919 when six titles were recorded onSeptember 20 (matrix R 1-6) and later that year the Bekabranch began recording for Favorite starting with a session onDecember 11 for the new Favorite F 01 matrix series. Theywere all renumbered from Beka 30000 series until F 0579 onOctober 29, 1923. After that the recordings were all 30 cm/12"beginning with F2-0580 on August 20, 1924. The last recordingwas F2-0767, May 20, 1925. The last 25 cm issue in the F.218-catalogue series hade been F 513. F.514-580 were 30 cmfollowed by F.8069-8092. (F 0524-0527, F 0538-0569 hadbeen renumberings of titles taken over from OKeh.)

The last issues came in September 1925 and in March 192690 titles were reissued in the Parlophon P.2100-2144 block.After World War One the label had been used only in Germany,Austria (in the FA matrix series) and the Netherlands (in the

(0)95000 series) until 1925.

In 1920 the revived British Beka label issued six discs as byElite Dance Orchestra (1205-1210). They are all by thePolischek orchestra from Favorite:

1205 (F 03/04) from F.219 (5-12-1919)1206 (F 024/025) from F.230 (17-1-1920)1207 (F 022/023) from F.229 (17-1-1920)1208 (F 018/019) from F.227 (17-1-1920)1209 (F 038/039) from F.237 (3-3-1920)1210 (F 020/021) from F.228 (17-1-1920)

1202-1204 are by the same orchestra (issued as by BekaSpecial Dance Orchestra), but they are from Beka. (1201 is notlisted in the 1920 Beka(E) catalogue.) F 04/025 were reissuedon Par(E) E 5017 as part of the first release in October 1923,

Sources:

Rainer E. Lotz: The London Sonora Band & The Vienna SonoraBand (Menden 1984, 56 pages). Still available for 10 Euro +postage 3.45 from Lotz (www.lotzverlag.de) - (highly recom-mended - Ed.)

Hugo Strötbaum: Favorite: an independent record company(1904-1914). (The Lindström Project, volume 2, Wien 2011,p. 120-145).

The German Lindström recording ledgers CD-ROM (availablefrom www.phonomusuem.at)

Acknowledgments.

Thanks are due to Rainer Lotz for his assistance and for theillustrations from his collection.

Note. Readers may like to know that they can see - but nothear - the London Sonora Band (mistakenly identified as‘Senora Band’) on a 1926 Pathe newsreel film athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT6MFuKAFVg - Ed.

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