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 Ben Pollack
was one of the more successful White band leaders of the late 1920s.
His Orchestras featured many future Jazz stars such as Glen Miller,
Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, and Jimmy McPartland. While his Orchestras were basically
commercial dance bands they also gave soloist plenty freedom in determining
the shape of the music. Pollack played in several bands in Chicago
before joining the Friar's Society Orchestra in 1921. In 1926 he started
his own band which played at the hotels in Chicago and then relocated
to California in 1927, and then to New York where it found a home
at the Park Central Hotel. Victor signed the band up in 1926 and they
recorded with them until 1929. The band continued with numerous personnel
changes until 1934. Pollack continued to lead bands into the 1940s
including one for comedian Chico Marx, and owned his own record company
called Jewel. He also owned a restaurants in Hollywood and Palm Springs
where he played from time to time. Pollack committed suicide by hanging
himself in 1971.
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The Music Room
