The Cellar Boys—”Wailing Blues” (1930)

90 Years ago -- on January 24, 1930 -- a group of six jazz musicians, who were all in their twenties, went into the Vocalion recording studio in Chicago, Illinois, to record two tunes. The Cellar Boys first waxed Lewis composition “Wailing Blues.”

The Cellar Boys were led by New Orleans-born cornet player Joseph Matthews “Wingy” Manone. The reed men were Kansas City-born clarinetist Frank Techemacher and Chicagoan Lawrence “Bud” Freeman on tenor saxophonist.

The pianist was Illinois-born pianist Franklin Taft Melrose, who in 1918, together with brothers Elmer and Walter, had founded the Melrose Music Company, where business partner Jelly Roll Morton was the chief songwriter and arranger.

The other two members of the rhythm section were Louisiana-born accordionist Charles Melrose, and Kansas-born drummer George Godfrey Wettling,

The only other side The Cellar Boys recorded was Melrose composition “Barrel House Stomp.”