Trombone – Al Gandee
Banjo – Bob Gillette
Bass – Min Leibrook
Clarinet – Jimmy Hartwell
Cornet – Bix Beiderbecke
Drums – Vic Moore
Piano – Dick Voynow
Tenor Saxophone – George Johnson
Formed in late 1923, the Wolverines, or Wolverine Orchestra, worked in clubs and dance halls in the Midwest for much of 1924, making occasional trips to a Gennett recording studio.
The ensemble is best known today for including among its members the young Bix Beiderbecke (1903 - 1931), who after leaving the band became an influential jazz instrumentalist.
Other members were pianist Dick Voynow, trombonist Al Gandee, tenor saxophonist George Johnson, clarinetist Jimmy Hartwell, banjoist Bob Gillette, tuba player Min Leibrook, and drummer Vic Moore.
The Wolverines played the Cinderella Ballroom at 1600 Broadway, New York City, from September 12, 1924, to the end of December 1924 (but Bix left the group on October 11, 1924).
Wolverine members obviously viewed Beiderbecke as the band's outstanding soloist--he is in the forefront on records. The others were competent on their respective instruments, at times elegant and imaginative.
Few other bands at this time made records featuring so much improvisation. Yet the band was clearly well-rehearsed for sessions. Alternate takes of numbers establish that some musical ideas had been carefully worked out ahead of time.
The band recorded a total of fifteen titles for Gennett in 1924, thirteen of those titles with Beiderbecke. The last session with Beiderbecke was in early October. The Wolverines' final session, with a young Jimmy McPartland on cornet, was on December 10, 1924.
Later, Dick Voynow became in his own way important to the industry, and he used the name Original Wolverines for sessions in the late 1920s, leading different musicians than those of the original Wolverine Orchestra. Voynow had become "assistant director of the Brunswick recording laboratory of Chicago," according to page 60 of the December 1929 issue of Talking Machine World & Radio-Music Merchant.
According to this article, Voynow in 1929 headed an eight-month tour throughout the South, recording hundreds of selections--not only Mexican but "hill billy [sic], French-Cajun, race, and popular"--on portable equipment. Page 27 of the September 1931 issue of Metronome states that he "is in charge" of the Chicago studio.
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band influenced the Wolverines, which is evident by the latter cutting six numbers popularized a few years earlier by the ODJB.
Another influence was the New Orleans Rhythm Kings (the band covered some NORK tunes and even took its name from a NORK record issued by Gennett in June 1923, "Wolverine Blues").
The Wolverines were first to cut two numbers that would become jazz standards: "Copenhagen," composed by Midwest bandleader Charlie Davis, and "Riverboat Shuffle," composed for the band by a young Hoagy Carmichael, who was then a law student at Indiana University in Bloomington and a friend of the musicians.
Voynow shared composer credit for "Riverboat Shuffle" since he arranged the new tune for recording purposes, thereby helping give it shape.
A reference is made to the Wolverines in the trade journal Talking Machine World, November 1924. It notes the coming December release of "Tia Juana" and "Big Boy" on Gennett 5565.
In the music trade journal composers are cited after song titles. "Tia Juana" is credited to "Conley-Rodernick [sic]," which refers to Larry Conley and Gene Rodemich.
Conley, a trombonist in Rodemich's popular orchestra, composed many songs with Rodemich around this time. The new and unknown "Tia Juana" was a curious selection for the Wolverines' session of October 6
Tom Griselle, musical director of Gennett's New York studio, possibly anticipated that "Tia Juana" would enjoy as much success as Rodemich and Conley's "Easy Melody.
Gene Rodemich and His Orchestra had recorded "Tia Juana" on June 10 for Brunswick 2680. That record was issued in November, so the Wolverines could not have known Rodemich's recorded version when cutting their own in early October for Gennett. Orchestras at the time may have been playing it at dances.
Hope Conley Lang, daughter of Larry Conley, reports that at least one stock band arrangement of "Tia Juana" was copyrighted by May 5, 1924. Jelly Roll Morton recorded "Tia Juana" a day before the Wolverines, on June 9. Gennett did not issue it (5632) until 1925. Emil Coleman and His Club Trocadero Orchestra recorded it for Vocalion in late August, 1924. It was issued as Vocalion 14879 in November--too late for the record to have influenced the Wolverines.
Bix left the Wolverines on October 11, 1924, after accepting a job with Jean Goldkette's ensemble in Detroit.
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