Oliver Naylor

Oliver Naylor recorded 19 selections with his Seven Aces during 1924-25, excellent examples of high-quality white jazz that was influenced by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. The performances are pretty much forgotten today but a 1997 Retrieval CD has all of the music (plus two numbers from the related band Pinkie's Birmingham Five) and shows that Naylor had a frequently exciting group. Naylor formed his first band in 1923, a similar outfit to the one that would record. The group's big break happened in early 1924 when they were offered a spot at New York's Roseland Ballroom and ...