Ben Pollack & His Park Central Orchestra – Sentimental Baby (Jack Palmer) Fox-Trot with Vocal refrain by Gene Austin, Victor 1928 (USA)
NOTE: Ben POLLACK (b.1903 in Chicago – d. 1971 in Palm Springs, California) Born to a wealthy Jewish /American family of the fur merchants, Ben Pollack was a talented self-taught drummer, in early 1920s he became the drummer for the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, a top jazz outfit in the early 1920s. In 1924 he played for several bands, including West Coast, which led to his forming a band there in 1925.
Pollack had an excellent ear for the music and his first engagement to his band was a 16-year old Benny Goodman, followed by such later luminaries in the world of jazz, as Glenn Miller, Harry James, Mugsy Spanier, Jack Teagarden,, Frank Teschemacher or Bud Freeman. This ability earned Ben Pollack the nicknames \"Father of Swing\" or \"Hotbed of Talent”. In 1926, Pollack's band started recording for Victor and from about 1928, besides regular recordings, Pollack's band with involvement with Irving Mills, also recorded a vast quantity of hot dance for dime store labels Banner, Perfect, Domino, Cameo, Lincoln, Romeo, appearing on their labels under the most phantasmatic nicknames, such as Mills' Musical Clowns, The Lumberjacks, Dixie Daises, The Whoopee Makers, The Hotsy Totsy Gang, Dixie Jazz Band, Jimmy Bracken's Toe Ticklers and many others. All that made Pollack's band one of the most prolific in the turn of the 1920s and 1930s. They played in Chicago, mainly, and moved to New York City playing for Broadway shows, and having an exclusive engagement at the Park Central Hotel. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 ended the good times for most of American dance bands, with no exception to Ben Pollack's. Benny Goodman and Jimmy McPartland left the band in the summer of 1929, Pollack left Victor and from 1930 recorded for Hit of the Week, to return to Victor in 1933 (in later years he also recorded for Columbia, Brunswick, Vocalion and Decca).
In the early 1930s Pollack made several trips around Midwest and Canada, also becoming more and more involved with the singing career of his girl vocalist, Doris Robbins. His romance led to his neglectance of the band matters. In 1933, Jack Teagarden gave his notice, a year later the rest of the musicians decided to leave. They re-formed soon after, as a co-operative band, fronted by Bing Crosby's brother, Bob. Ben Pollack also managed to re-form his orchestra, engaging some highly talented musicians (Harry James, Irving Fazola). However, still very high artistic level of the recordings never led the band back to its former popularity. In 1942, Pollack became the leader of the touring band working behind comedy star Chico Marx, but the field of big-band music was already dominated by his former alumni, Miller, Goodman, and James. In the late 1950s he left music in favor of opening a club of his own in LA, and then a restaurant in Palm Springs, CA. In June 1971 Ben Pollack committed suicide by hanging himself in his Palm Springs home.
