Bert Lown

Bert Lown, who occasionally played violin, led a series of superior jazz-oriented dance band sides during 1929-33, 82 selections in all. 23 of his band's best performances have been reissued on the TOM CD Bert Lown & His Orchestra and they are his chief musical legacy, along with the fact that he was one of the composers of the standard "Bye Bye Blues." As a violinist Lown worked for a time in the 1920's as a sideman, including in 1925 with cornetist Fred Hamm's band. He collaborated with Hamm, Chauncy Gray and Dave Bennett on "Bye Bye Blues" which they first recorded on May 1...