Adrian Rollini and his Tap Room Gang Weather Man 1935

I follow on from the last post on Joe Venuti's Tap Room Blues with a feature on Adrian Rollini who accompanied Joe Venuti on that track.

Adrian Rollini was a child prodigy on piano; at age four he played a recital at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (34th sreet and 5th Avenue) in New York. He led his own band at age 14 and began playing with the California Ramblers in the early 1920s. The band also featured Red Nichols, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey.

While in that band Rollini developed his distinctive style of bass saxophone playing. He played in Red Nichols' Five Pennies and appeared on many of Red's recording sessions. He also worked with Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra and recorded with Cliff Edwards and Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang.