Gregoire Nakchounian and His Russian North Star Orchestra
Quite awhile before clarinetist Benny Goodman had his trio, clarinetist Gregoire Nakchounian also had one from his Russian North Star Orchestra. In addition to Nakchounian on clarinet Jean Paques was on piano and Eugene t'Sas played drums. Listen to this trio playing "Shreveport Stomp", (their spelling was "Shreevepoort Stomp") written by Jelly Roll Morton, and recorded on the Vox label. (Here digitally re-engineered by Mr. Verne Buland.) Brian Rust in his book "Jazz Recordings 1897-1942" gives the recording date as December 1926, in Berlin. Later research seems to indicate April or May of 1928 as the recording date, in Jelly Roll didn't record his own song until June, 1928. A rather intriguing spelling of the tune name on the Vox label ~ Shreevpoort Stomp.

Here's the entire orchestra playing "Sugar Baby", also digitally re-engineered by Mr. Verne Buland. Listen to the interesting vocal by an unknown Black singer, clearly of American origin. The ochestra members consisted of:
     Gregoire Nakchounian, leader/alto sax/clarinet
     Albert Deveydt, tenor sax/clarinet
     Martin Helsmurte, cornet
     Julian Testaert, trombone
     Jean Paques, piano
     Edwin Steinbacher, banjo
     Eugene t'Sas, drums
     unknown, violin and vocal

      [ Georg Nettelmann Orch. ]
b: Jan. 20, 1902, Hannover, Germany, d: Oct. 17, 1988, Hannover, Germany
Instrument: Piano.
Here's a photo of Georg Nettelmann Orch.. Nettelmann studied at the Conservatoire Brune Evers in Hanover (piano, violin). In 1924, he formed his own orchestra. In 1929, he played for the first time in Berlin ( at the Columbia Tanzpalast). In the following years the orchestra appeared in all the larger Berlin dance restaurants (Roof Garden of the Cafe Berlin, Moka Efti, Palace at the Zoo, Cafe Femina, Delphi Palace, Europa Spiegelsaal); the band was often recorded.

Listen now to the song (digitally re-engineered) "Mir Ist So Nach Dir", ("I'm So Like You") played by George Nettelmann Orch., with Kurt Muhlhardt vocal. (478 kb). After World War II, Nettelmann worked in Hanover as a pianist (hotels, Bars etc..) and remained active into the 1980s.

      [ Mitja Nikisch und sein Orchester ]
b: 1899, Leipzig Germany, d. 1936, Venice, Italy. (suicide)
Mitja Nikisch, was the son of a world-famous conductor of Hungarian origin. Arthur Nikisch (1855-1922), who in the turn of the XIX/XX centuries conducted the Leipzig and then the Boston Symphony Orchestras. Arthur was primarily a pianist, having studied with Teichmüller amd Pembaur in his native town and taken theory lessons from Kehl.

At first, Mitja followed in his father's footsteps: as a pianist he played classical music (in 1923 he recorded Chopin's Valse-A minor on a 'Duo-Art' roll). In 1936, he also composed his magnum opus, a 36-minute Piano Concerto, completed shortly before his death, and dedicated to his wife Barbara. It was originally accepted for its premiere performance by Serge Koussewitzky, but this plan never materialized. Not until 1941 was the concerto heard, in Paris, where it was created by famed conductor Charles Münch, with Nikisch's boyhood friend Konstantinoff at the piano.

Yet, his true love was the "Tanz-Diele" ('Dance Hall") life of Berlin of the 1920s. In 1925, he performed at the 'Admiral-Cafe' with his Tanz-Orchester, composed of the first-line Berlin players of the day: "Brothers' Luczkowski Trio" (Waldi-trumpet, Edmund- piano, Adalbert-violin) plus a few others: Georg Hirst, Danny Polo, David Bee and Christian Wagner. All together, they created a band that one prominent guitarist of the time, Otto Sachsenhauer, named "the best dance band ever heard in Berlin". In 1930-1931, they played at the "Casanova-International Casino", at Lutherstrasse, Berlin (in the Schöeneberg district- a very fashionable place), advertised as one of the "schöensten Tanzstaette des Kontinents" (beautiful dance-spots on the continent). However, in a split second, the onset of the Nazi rule ruined the whole of Mitja's world. Unfulfilled as a composer, "the disappointment for the family", and a band-leader with no band - in 1936, he commited suicide in Venice, Italy. Only a handful of his jazzband recordings still exist, and they must be carefully hunted out on the 78rpm "shellac" hot-dance auctions worldwide.

Listen now to the song (digitally re-engineered) "Ich Kann, Ich, Will, (Original English title: "Should I (Reveal Exactly How I Feel)", Music by: Nacio Herb Brown, Words by: Arthur Freed., 1929) played by Mitja Nikisch Tanz Orch., with Paul Dorn vocal, in 1931.(477 kb). ("In late 1928 MGM announced production of a musical based on Nell Martin's novel "Lord Byron of Broadway". The oddly titled book traced the journey of an out-and-out 'heel' and user, a tunesmith who lets no opportunity for material go unpassed. Broken romances are put into song, old love letters become song lyrics, and the death of his best friend serves as the basis for a tear-jerking hit." --Richard Barrios, 'A Song In The Dark'). Other songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed for this film included "A Bundle of Old Love Letters", "Only Love Is Real", "When I Met You", "You're the Bride and I'm the Groom", and "The Woman In The Shoe"; "Blue Daughter of Heaven" by Dimitri Tiomkin; and "Love Ain't Nothing But the Blues" by Joe Goodwin and Louis Alter.

In his short life, Mitja Nikisch managed to be - in spite of his attempts of "serious" music conducting and composing - the leader of an amazing dance band, playing in the night restaurants and "Tanz-Diele" of Germany's Weimar republic.
The Big Bands Database thanks Dr. Grzegorz Musial, for his gracious help with this Mitja Nikisch entry. Dr. Grzegorz Musial is by education a medical doctor, and by second profession, a writer and a poet, author of numerous books of poetry and prose, a member of Polish Writers' Association, and the Polish PEN Club.