Here's a superb recording by British cinema bandleader Alfred Van Damn, and most likely featuring musicians from the pit of the Trocadero, Elephant and Castle.
Violinist Van Dam was an extremely busy musician who broadcast prolifically on the BBC throughout the 1930s, but very rarely recorded. At the age of 18, he was leading an orchestra which toured the Gaumont-British chain of cinemas. He spent seven years playing at the Trocadero Cinema at the Elephant and Castle, before moving on to the Kilburn State Cinema. During the war, Van Dam formed a new orchestra from musicians ineligible for the services and had a long association with the Golders Green Hippodrome. It seems he was still broadcasting in the late 1950s on \"Music While You Work\".
VAN DAM AND HIS BAND
Alfred Van Dam, vn, dir: 2t / tb / cl, as / cl, ts / p, cel / g / sb / d.
