(Count Basie and Baron Timme Rosencrantz)
Remington Records, Don Gabor & Baron Timmie Rosencrantz
An important name in early American LP history is Webster Manufacturing Co. of Webster, Mass., which - as the story is told - had once been a center of textile manufacturing, but just after World War II, the company had moved to a non-union site in the South, leaving behind an empty factory and an unemployed labor force. That is where Don Gabor and Continental Records and later, Remington Records come into focus. He persuaded the workers to buy the factory and install record-pressing equipment to produce 78 rpm discs for him. Where Gabor's 33 rpm LPs were pressed is not clear.
Don Gabor also made recordings in the nineteen forties with young jazz artists, who stood at the beginning of their careers, and released them on his Continental 78 RPM label: Dizzie Gillespie, Slam Stewart, Ethel Waters and Timmie Rosencrantz. It is remarkable to not only find Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie and Slam Stewart, but also Louis Armstrong and even Leonard Feather, who started off as a musician and later concentrated on writing and publishing.
Some of these recordings were later released on LP (33rpm) on the Remington label and are quite unique. Remington RLP 1035 titled "Moods in Blues" features orchestral music conducted by Edmund Hall, Timmie Rosencrantz and "Hot Lips" Page. The cover of Remington R-1032 reads "Cafe Society Swing" by the Timmie Rosencrantz, Cozy Cole and Sabby Lewis’ orchestras.
Timmie Rosencrantz was a true Baron with a genuine old Danish aristocratic background. He first arrived in New York in 1934 only to discover (and become an integral part of) the burgeoning Jazz movement. He spent the duration of World War II in New York, among other things running the Melodee Music Shop in Harlem. He was a gigolo in a dance club, produced records under several labels, worked in the Commodore music shop, and for a while he had his own radio show “Rhythm Is Our Business” on a local station.
He produced records in Denmark under the labels Jazz Star, Baronet, Gazell, Storyville and Embassy. In 1945 he moved to Europe with vocalist Inez Cavanaugh. For some years they lived (as husband and wife) alternately in Copenhagen and Paris. In Paris, Inez ran a jazz club, Chez Inez. For the rest of his life, Timmie continued to frequent New York as often as possible, visiting friends, listening to music, recording and researching material for his popular jazz shows in Denmark. Timmie wrote about jazz in countless anecdotal articles in Danish, Swedish, British and American magazines and newspapers as well as a couple of travel journals.
Baron Rosencrantz hired local musicians (Stuff Smith, Cozy Coles and Hot Lips Page to name a few) to record under the name of Timmie Rosencrantz and the Barrelhouse Barons.
*Some of the information for this article was obtained from "The Remington Site"
Click on this link to go to that Web Site for more information
For more information on Baron Timmie Rosencrantz (Timme Rosenkrantz) also known as
The JazzBaron "Click Here" (You need Adobe Reader)
(Selection Playing is One from Count Basie & His Orchastra - Flight of the Foo Birds)
*See 10" 33 rpm LP pages for Remington Records
