Leon Abby and the Savoy Bearcats
Stampede, 1926
Leon Abbey didn’t make any recordings when he was in India, but here he is, directing his Savoy Bearcats a decade before he sailed from Bombay. The 1920s and ’30 were a period of rapid evolution for jazz, so his style had probably changed a great deal after this recording was made. He was the band’s director, which means that his violin isn’t heard here.
