File:"The Japanese Sandman" (1920) 1920s dance band music for flappers Harry Raderman's Novelty Orchestra.opus

English: Harry Raderman lived from 1883 to 1939. This trombonist known for his ability to make his instrument "laugh" recorded as a member of various bands from 1917 throughout the 1920s and also led Harry Raderman's Jazz Orchestra, cutting many sides in 1920 and 1921, mostly for Edison, Gennett, and Okeh.

Other names used for ensembles he led include Raderman's Novelty Orchestra, Harry Raderman's Orchestra, the Plantation Dance Orchestra (on Emerson), Raderman's Roysteres (on Columbia's budget label Harmony), and the Red Hotters (on Okeh).

Using the name Raderman's Orchestra, he led his musicians during a recording of the instrumental "Moxie" for the promotional Moxie label, pressed by the Starr Piano Company.

He was born in the Ukraine in a town near Kiev called Prosgov, known for originating Clesmar music. His father, Ellias, played flute at weddings and bar mitzvahs.

In 1900, when Harry was in his late teens, the family immigrated to the United States. At this time he had four brothers and two sisters.

Another brother, Louis, was born in America. Considerably younger than Harry, Lou attended many sessions in the 1920s (page 86 of the May 1923 issue of Metronome identifies him as "Lew" when announcing that he had joined Jack Shilkret's Tent Orchestra).

Lou was skilled at the violin and viola, playing the latter instrument on "The Prisoner's Song," sung by Vernon Dalhart on Victor 19427, and on other popular discs He led a band at New York City's Pelham Heath Inn, and his Pelham Inn Society Orchestra made over a dozen records in 1928. Lou later became lead violinist for the MGM studio orchestra.

Harry married Rosie Meyers in 1904, and they had three sons--Al, Oscar, and Max--and a daughter named Lillian. Harry became an American citizen in 1905.

By June 1917 he attended Victor sessions as a member of Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band, one of the first bands to imitate the Original Dixieland Jass Band. Whereas the ODJB had created a sensation playing for audiences at Reisenweber's, Fuller's so-called famous jazz band was probably only a studio ensemble, created specially for recording purposes.

Within a few years Raderman's name became well-known to record buyers.

He was probably the second trombonist to gain a following based on his "jazz" recordings, the first being Eddie Edwards of the ODJB.

Raderman's records are best characterized as dance records despite some being marketed as jazz. In June 1922 Edison used the name Harry Raderman's Jazz Orchestra for the last time with the release of "Cutie" on Blue Amberol 4512. Thereafter, the name Harry Raderman's Orchestra was used regularly. Edison issued new Raderman performances nearly every month from early 1920 to early 1923.

A photograph of Harry Raderman's Jazz Orchestra in the November 1920 issue of Edison's Amberola Monthly shows eight musicians: the leader on trombone, two violinists, a cornetist, a saxophonist, a pianist, a cellist, and a drummer.

Fuller's jazz ensemble evolved into Ted Lewis and His Band, and Raderman played trombone on Lewis records beginning in 1919.

His trombone is prominent on Joseph C. Smith's popular "Yellow Dog Blues," cut on October 1, 1919.

Following the success of the earliest "jass" record, on which the Original Dixieland Jass Band musicians imitate various farmyard animals, other musicians created novel sounds on their instruments. Raderman made his trombone laugh.

On January 9, 1920, Harry Raderman's Jazz Orchestra recorded "Yellow Dog Blues" during its first Edison session, and it was issued on Blue Amberol 3991 in June. At that session Raderman also showcased his laughing trombone in "Make That Trombone Laugh," written by the orchestra's pianist, Henry Scharf.

The ensemble cut "Dardanella"--a wildly popular song by early 1920--a few days later, and "Dardanella" on Blue Amberol 3965 along with "Make That Trombone Laugh" on Blue Amberol 3966 were the first Raderman numbers to be issued by the company, being issued at the same time on Diamond Disc 50637.

Raderman soon afterwards recorded "Make That Trombone Laugh" for Gennett 9031 and Okeh 4089. When "Make That Trombone Laugh" was issued in April 1920, Edison promotional literature stated, "Weirdly human is the almost sardonic laugh of the lazy Satan who lies hidden in the flexible throat of Harry Raderman's tickled trombone. Harry Raderman created this laughing trombone novelty--the most humorous instrumental comedy ever conceived. He has no successful imitators."

As a studio musician in the early 1920s, Raderman played regularly under Joseph Samuels, Bennie Krueger, and Nathan Glantz (the Ukraine-born Glantz played saxophone during sessions led by Raderman). In the 1920s and early 1930s he recorded with Ted Lewis.

The brothers Lou and Harry, along with Harry's son Al, were members of Jack Shilkret's Orchestra in 1924.

"The Japanese Sandman" (1920) 1920s dance band music for flappers Harry Raderman's Novelty Orchestra