Paris Omani A

'Parisomania'?
Jack Hylton and the French Connection

Authors(s): Deborah Mawer
Source: Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Vol. 133, No. 2 (2008), pp. 270-317
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal Musical Association
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Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 133 no. 2 270-317
'Parisomania'? Jack Hylton and the
French Connection
DEBORAH MAWER
It's that Jack Hylton [...] has caught 'Parisomania'. This terrible illness does not cause
bleeding but we've tried to sweeten it for him with the violet lozenge that he wears in his
button-hole. [...] Hope Hampton and Jack Hylton are Officiers de l'Instruction Publique!
This is absolutely justified... and very Parisian.1
IN 1930, at what will become the mid-point of an extended story, the French State
first honoured the extraordinary achievements of Jack Hylton (1892-1965), chris-
tened John Greenhalgh Hilton, a British dance bandleader born near Bolton in
Lancashire. This article aims to reconstruct Hylton's rich and va d French
activities across the 1920s and 1930s, and, in so doing, probes two sets questions
with wider resonances. The first, concerning British-French (anc ,imerican)
cultural relations, queries the nature and extent of Hylton's French linkage -
was it sufficiently extreme to justify that journalistic quip about 'Parisomania'?
What opportunities did France afford Hylton in his artistic and commercial
development, and, exploring the other side of this 'partnership', what did
Hylton and his band offer to French culture? Was a British stylistic identity
evident here, or was Hylton's sound more broadly international? The second
theme, which is intricately entwined with the first, considers classical-popular
(and jazz) interactions, questioning where Hylton's band was positioned, and
how it engaged with 'jazzing' the classics.
Much of the archival and interpretative work for this article was undertaken in spring and summer
2007 at the Jack Hylton Archive (JHA), Lancaster University, supplemented by research at the
Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris (especially the Collection Rondel, with its many press
cuttings on Hylton). For this stage of the Jack Hylton and France Project, I am grateful for funding
from Lancaster University and PALATINE, for the generous response of Helen Clish and Liz
Fawcett at Lancaster's Rare Books Archive, which houses the Hylton collection, and for the excellent
contribution of my research assistant, Adam Greig. I should also like to thank Derek Scott and the
two anonymous readers for their comments and suggestions, which helped me to clarify some of the
ideas presented here.
1 L. R., 'Deux artistes americains [sic] "bien parisiens" sont d&cores par le gouvernement frangais',
Paris Presse (24 August 1930), International News Cuttings (Jack and Band), I March 1930-15
August 1930 (JHA): 'C'est que Jack Hylton [...] est atteint de "parisomanie". Cette maladie
terrible ne se saigne pas mais on a cherche a la lui rendre plus douce par la pastille violette qu'il
porte a sa boutonniere. [...] Hope Hampton et Jack Hylton sont officiers de l'Instruction pub-
lique! C'est trs juste ... et tres parisien.' (All English translations are my own.) The 'Officier'
award comprised a violet rosette and ribbon worn in the button-hole, hence the pun. Hope
Hampton sang with Los Angeles Opera and made her French debut at the Opera-Comique.
The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Musical Association. All rights reserved.
doi:Io.Io93/jrma/fknoo4
PARISOMANIA?
27I
With little formal training, but undeniable aptitude and entrepreneurial
insight, Hylton had thrived on both sides of the Channel during the inter-war
years, and would later act as an impresario of variety entertainment and a pro-
ducer in the early days of television. According to the Daily Herald of 7 June 1930,
his band sold almost four million records in 1929 alone: as a marketing pheno-
menon, assuming the figure is merely approximately accurate, this was by any
standards exceptional.2 Hylton was credited for bringing Duke Ellington to
England in I933, and successfully made his own long-awaited American tour in
I935-6. By virtue of his frequent so-called 'continental' tours, he was regarded as a
celebrity in Vienna and Berlin. But of special intercultural fascination was his
sustained connection with France and things French. Many of the 16 European
tours he undertook with his band encompassed high-profile concerts in French
cities, especially Paris, but also in the Midi. Although the repertory played
was wide-ranging and multi-purpose, Hylton championed numerous French
arrangements. He worked to great effect with that star of chanson and film
Maurice Chevalier (1888-1972), and his own band contained French players
and arrangers. As an adept businessman with an eye for a niche, he released
many gramophone recordings onto the French market, often selling them directly
to the public in the concert-hall foyer following an evening's entertainment to a
capacity audience. Albeit to a lesser extent than his competitors, he also made
innovative use of radio broadcasting to maximize the band's impact.
Like many of his fellow bandleaders, however, Hylton has been largely written
out of music history.3 Indeed, such musicological neglect embraces a broad spec-
trum of popular musics (dance music, easy-listening music, entertainment, even
jazz), which in turn begs questions about values, meanings, canons, and whether
music should be viewed in privileged isolation or recontextualized within a deeper
2 A more conservative estimate, closer to three million, was given by Alasdair Fenton, quoted in
Peter Faint, 'Jack Hylton: His Life in Music' (M.Phil. dissertation, Lancaster University, 1998), 25.
3 Despite the French links, Hylton was summarily dismissed by Andre Hodeir, in Jazz: Its Evolution
and Essence (New York, 1956), 7. After a longish silence, however, there has been some acknow-
ledgement recently of the British dance band and Hylton's role; see the pioneering article of Mark
Hustwitt, 'Caught in a Whirlpool ofAching Sound: The Production of Dance Music in Britain in
the I920s', Popular Music, 3 (1983), 7-31; Sheila Tracy, Talking Swing: The British Big Bands
(Edinburgh, 1997); James Nott, Music for the People: Popular Music and Dance in Interwar
Britain (New York, 200oo2); and Jim Godbolt, A History of Jazz in Britain Ipr99-5o (London,
20zoo05). Especially relevant are: Brian Rust and Sandy Forbes, British Dance Bands on Record,
1zI to 1945, and Supplement (2nd, rev. edn, Harrow, 1989); Jeffrey H. Jackson, Making Jazz
French: Music and Modern Life in Interwar Paris (Durham and London, 200oo3); and Catherine
Parsonage, The Evolution ofJazz in Britain, 188o-1935 (Aldershot, 2zoos5). More specialized studies
include: Pamela W. Logan, Jack Hylton Presents (London, I995); Faint, 'Jack Hylton'; Liz Fawcett,
'The Jack Hylton Archive at Lancaster University', Brio, 41 (200oo4), 32-6; Jeffrey Richards,
'Salvaging Jack Hylton', The Archive Hour (BBC Radio 4, 7 August 200oo4). In the final stages of
preparing this article, I discovered a further contribution: Andy M. Fry, 'Jack i l'Op&ra', in '"De la
musique nigre au jazz frangais": African-American Music and Musicians in Inter-War France
(D.Phil. dissertation, University of Oxford, 200oo3).
DEBORAH MAWER
272
understanding of history, sociology, ideology and (mass) culture.4 Derek Scott
has argued that, because of inappropriate comparison with classical music and
a sense of double standards, dance music particularly has suffered from accusa-
tions of stylistic 'predictability' on the one hand and 'incongruity' on the other.5
Popular music - including dance music - certainly has its formulas, but fixed
principles and conventions are also apparent in the handling of classical genres.
Equally, both domains leave scope for variation and imagination.6 So for Hylton
and others this musicological neglect has arisen partly because of changing fash-
ions and the ephemeral nature of a commercially driven art, but also because of
snobbery towards this light-entertainment music or, as Hylton and his contem-
poraries termed it, 'modern syncopated music'.7 As with other popular musics
recovered recently, Hylton's case is fascinating for the light it throws on sociocul-
tural conditions - particularly public leisure pastimes of the inter-war years - but
there is also, as I will argue, much musical interest and worth to be found in his
activities.
Setting the stage
Before examining what Hylton can tell us about British-French (and American)
interactions in detail, it makes sense to offer some context: on British dance music
and its bands in general; on Hylton's main band, its personnel (including
Frenchmen) and typical sound; and on its French-related repertory.
The British dance scene was thriving and diverse in the inter-war years, func-
tioning as 'a ritualized leisure pursuit of great social importance',8 and especially
popular among young people keen to enjoy life after the atrocities of the First
World War. It was also a highly profitable cultural industry. Dance music could be
heard in large dance halls ('palais-de-danse'), within vaudeville, music-hall and
variety entertainment in theatres, as well as in restaurants, hotels and clubs. At
some level, it could be listened to either in the concert hall or in the parlour,
courtesy of the newly popularized gramophone. Its players were professionals,
semi-professionals and amateurs, to suit a variety of tastes and pockets.
4 On this, see Derek B. Scott, 'Music, Culture and Society: Changes in Perspective', Music, Culture
and Society: A Reader, ed. Scott (Oxford, 2ooo), 1-19; Simon Frith, Performing Rites: On the Value of
Popular Music (Oxford, 1998); Popular Music: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies, ed.
Derek B. Scott (New York, 2003); and Robert Walser, 'Valuing Jazz', The Cambridge Companion to
Jazz, ed. Mervyn Cooke and David Horn (Cambridge, 2002), 301-20.
5 Derek B. Scott, 'Incongruity and Predictability in British Dance Band Music of the 1920s and
1930s', From the Erotic to the Demonic: On Critical Musicology (New York, 2003), 8o-Ioo.
6 Reception studies also reveal variation in public and critical responses to popular music; as Scott
has made clear, it was not simply a case of 'a mass audience passively consuming the mass-
produced commodities of a "culture industry"': 'Music, Culture and Society', I.
7 Leighton Lucas, 'What I Hate in "Jazz"', Melody Maker and British Metronome (February 1928),
137-9 (p. I37). See too, Hustwitt, 'Caught in a Whirlpool', 15-16. Nott regards 'light music' as
a vague and peculiarly British category' (Music for the People, 60).
8 Nott, Music for the People, 169. Nott offers excellent coverage of this topic.
PARISOMANIA' ?
273
Hylton was no isolated phenomenon, but arguably the most successful of a
number of dance bandleaders, including Jack Payne, Bert Ambrose, Harry Roy,
Joe Loss, Geraldo, Henry Hall and Nat Gonella.9 Like Hylton, Jack Payne under-
took continental tours with his orchestra, but probably became best known as
Director of the BBC Dance Orchestra. One of his best-selling records was an
arrangement for Columbia of Ravel's Bolero.1o Bert Ambrose offered sophisti-
cated, up-market fare; he spent some time in America, and his band also played at
exclusive Riviera resorts and in Paris. Harry Roy toured South Africa, Australia
and Germany, and played briefly in Paris in the early 1920S. Among the band-
leaders developing the British scene were several of American origin, including
Carroll Gibbons, with his Savoy Orpheans and Savoy Havana Band, and Roy
Fox. Others, such as Ray Noble and his Orchestra, became star attractions in
America.11
The main manifestation of Hylton's band was 'Jack Hylton and his Orchestra',
though early forerunners included the Queen's Dance Orchestra, for which
Hylton was the pianist, Jack Hylton's Jazz Band, and Jack Hylton's Kit-Cat
Band. Gradually the ensemble expanded from a small band, through a 1o- and
Is-piece dance orchestra, to the established formula of 20 or so players. Strictly
speaking, its lifespan extended from 1923 through to 1940, when its players were
called up for active service in the Second World War. For the band's membership,
based on the programme for its historic appearance at the Paris Op&ra in 1931,
see Table I.
In addition to its players, the band's arrangers and orchestrators were crucial to
its success, being responsible for recasting instrumental numbers and songs, and
exploiting the virtuoso strengths of individual players while appealing to public
taste. In fact several of these figures emerged from the ranks of the band itself, the
most prominent being William (Billy) Ternent (1899-1977): as a multi-instru-
ment performer, deputy conductor and prolific arranger, Ternent was, musically,
'Hylton's right-hand man' between 1927 and 1939.12 Other player-arrangers
included the pianist Peter Yorke, who was employed during 1929-33, and the
brass player Paul Fenoulhet (c.1930-2). Among the dedicated arrangers, mean-
while, were Leighton Lucas (1903-82, employed 1925-30), 'Major' Williams, Phil
Cardew, Freddy Bretherton, Lew Stone and one Erich Korngold.13
At various times, Hylton's band included French players. The exceptionally
fine jazz trumpeter and sometime vocalist Philippe Brun (1908-94) joined in
9 Ibid., 197: Nott supports this view of Hylton as 'the most popular', and one 'whose success was
phenomenal'.
10 Julien Vedey, Band Leaders (London, 1950), 45.
11 Ibid., 13.
12 Ibid., 152.
13 See the listing of 'JH arrangers' in the JHA, which also contains 120 volumes of press cuttings,
43 boxes of programmes, about 2,000 sorted (and 2,000 unsorted) sets of MS band scores/parts,
printed music, around 200 78rpm records, plus numerous reel-to-reel cassettes (in need of
restoration), and about 5,ooo photographs (mainly unsorted). Although it contains Hylton's
appointment diaries, unfortunately it does not include personal correspondence.
DEBORAH MAWER
274
TABLE I
MEMBERSHIP OF THE JACK HYLTON ORCHESTRA FOR THE PARIS OPERA CONCERT, 1931
player instrument
Jack Hylton
director
violins
Johnny Rosen, Cyril Hellier,
Maurice Loban
violin and dancer
Eddie Hooper
Jack Raine, Philippe Brun
trumpets
Leslie Carew
trombone
Paul Fenoulhet
trombone and trumpet
William Ternent
saxophone, bass clarinet, violin and
Edward Pogson
saxophone, cor anglais, clarinet and oboe
Noel d'Amato
saxophone, guitar and piano
trumpet
Johnny Raitz
saxophone and clarinet
Andre Ekyan
saxophone, clarinet and flute
Sonny Farrar
banjo and cello
Peter Yorke, Billy Munn
piano
Pat O'Malley
singer and guitar
Basil Wiltshire
drum
Clem Lawton
sousaphone and double bass
Harry Robbins
xylophone, vibraphone and timpani
Billy Rey
dancer and singer
Source- Programme: 'Theatre National de l'Op&ra' (17 February [1931]): JHPR970I2z67. This
same line-up of players appeared in a subsequent programme (JHPR970I27) for the 'Unique
concert du plus celkbre orchestre-jazz, Jack Hylton and his boys', at the Palais des Fetes,
Strasbourg (IS March I93I).
January 1930, having been poached from a young Parisian band called Gr6gor
et ses Gregoriens. The talented Andre Ekyan, a saxophonist-cum-vocalist, joined
in November 1930, and was leading the orchestra at the Paris bar Le Bceuf sur le
Toit by the late thirties, before setting up his own nightclub. A month earlier,
Chevalier himself had first appeared with the band, and the French contingent
also included the trombonist, vocalist and would-be composer Leo Vauchant
([Arnaud], 1904-91), employed from 1928 to March 1930.
As for what it was like to work with Hylton and play in his band, there is
relatively little to go on - available testimonies are slightly contradictory, though
seemingly reflect paradoxical traits of his character. Hylton is portrayed as a
generous yet tough employer, and a patient yet sometimes short-tempered
man.14 According to the bass player Andre de Vekey, 'Musicians liked him and
14 Faint, in interview with John Hylton, 'Jack Hylton', 98. Hustwitt, 'Caught in a Whirlpool',
17-18, offers more general insights about playing in a dance band.
PARISOMANIA ?
275
enjoyed being with the band, although some resented his all-in contracts which
meant one salary for everything we did'; for the pianist Billy Munn, 'everything'
included extra-musical skills such as acting and acrobatics, where Hylton felt
these would enliven the theatrical show.15 Although modest about his musical
abilities, Hylton was a workaholic and insisted on the same relentless quest for
perfection and discipline in his players.
In keeping with (though not exclusive to) British tastes, most bands of the
period, including Hylton's, produced a sound and style commonly described
as 'sweet' rather than 'hot'. 'Sweet' denoted an easy-listening style in which
a well-defined melody predominated. By contrast, 'hot' styles of playing were
favoured in America, generally by those whose music was much closer to an
African-American jazz, as an improvised, rhythmically driven - even edgy or
aggressive - timbral art. More unusually, but in common with the bands of
Gonella, Bert Firman and Fred Elizalde, Hylton's musicians had the skills to
effect both styles, in a transatlantic blend.16 They created plausible workings of
'Tiger rag' and 'St Louis blues', as well as selling the 'Hylton stomp', but typically
they operated in the sweet mode.
Individual players apart, what Hylton called the 'Hylton sound'17 was attrib-
utable partly to what became its normal instrumentation (see Table I again): 3-4
saxophones (2-3 altos, tenor, baritone; plus flute, oboe, clarinet), 2-3 trumpets,
2-3 trombones, drums/timpani, piano, 3 violins, cello, banjo, guitar and bass.
This may be compared with a standard British dance band of 3 saxophones,
2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, banjo, I violin, drums and piano.'8 Hylton
tended to maximize strings, with three violins (sometimes also viola) plus cello
and double bass, but it would be unwise to overstate the differences since instru-
mentations for bands were flexible and had much in common: Geraldo, for
instance, employed up to four violins, and Paul Whiteman (see below) used six
when performing at the Thietre des Champs-Elys6es, Paris, in 1926.
Beyond its earliest days as the Queen's Hall Roof Band,19 the ensemble's music
was notated, if sometimes in shorthand. Certain orchestrational traits contrib-
uted to the 'full' sound that Hylton demanded: a doubling of the saxophone
choiring by violins; the combination of brass (sousaphone) and string basses;
15 Chris Hayes, Leader ofthe Band (Blackpool, 1994), 119; Billy Munn, interviewed by Tony Clarke,
The Band that Jack Built (BBC Light Programme, 14 September 1965); see Faint, 'Jack Hylton',
120.
16 Hylton's engagement with hot styles is corroborated by Parsonage (The Evolution of Jazz,
199-zoo), who points out that 'an impression of hot jazz could be created by drawing as
much on the skills of the arrangers as the individual musicians' (p. 199).
17 Faint, 'Jack Hylton', 65. While British bands sounded very similar, each had its quirks. Hylton
rejected Lucas's arrangement of Stravinsky's Mavra because it did not conform to this sound.
18 [Writer unknown], 'Britain Crazy on Dance Bands', The Star (18 April 1925): Jack Hylton Press
Cuttings, 1923-1924-1925 (JHCU970002). Unfortunately missing author credits are a recurrent
issue in this collection, sometimes resolved by comparison with sources elsewhere.
19 See Peter Faint's biography of Hylton at <www.petefaint.co.uk/jackhylton/BIOFULL.HTM>
(accessed I February 2007).
DEBORAH MAWER
276
the showy percussive treatment for the star player Harry Robbins (moving
between xylophone, vibraphone and drums/timpani); and the central function
of the piano. Some of the French arrangements also incorporated and exploited
a pair of accordions, as for Padilla's 'a c'est Paris'. Further details on the treat-
ment of vocals, instruments and timbral combinations are given below, in rela-
tion to specific examples.
The sheer scale and variety of Hylton's French repertory is documented in the
Appendix. As indicated by the broad classificatory letters, these arrangements
comprise contemporary chansons; popular classics by Chopin, Bizet, Massenet
and Ravel; traditional songs; numbers on overtly French themes and non-French
material notably performed in France. The list focuses upon works for which
manuscript band-scores and parts exist (so privileging performed manuscript
arrangements over those of published commercial scores that had not been cus-
tomized by the band), coupled with recordings or reliable recording data. These
data are often courtesy of Brian Rust and Sandy Forbes's painstaking efforts in
British Dance Bands on Record, Ip1 to 1945.20
On the ascendant: Hylton's French activities I921-30
This first span documents Hylton's rise to fame - a dramatic crescendo of activity
and influence - with the late 1920s especially characterized by reworkings of
chansons and French concerts. A chronology of the main tours and recordings
for this period is given in Table 2; for manuscripts and details of recordings, see
again the Appendix.
Establishing British-French-American relations
Although our main concern is with Hylton's cross-Channel relations, it is impos-
sible not to acknowledge an 'elephant in the room': a major American influence -
cultural, commercial and musical- that has sometimes been understated by those
asserting British identity. Thus I propose not a binary opposition here, but a more
complex triangulation of national relations and, by extension, styles which will
meld with our second theme (on classical, popular musics and jazz). In fact, the
complexity is such that at times the argument is truly one of internationalism.
Notwithstanding the inclusion of some French players, Hylton's was first and
foremost a British dance band (as we have seen) with some notion of British style.
English ballroom apart, Nott alludes to a British style that in comparison with
American dance music favoured a gentle, slightly sentimentalized idiom, and
'a more formal, orchestrated delivery'. In essence, in his view, 'British tastes
tended to be simpler'.21 Hylton himself talks of modifying American music for
British consumption - of needing to give it 'the British touch' - and adds that
'symphonic syncopation, which I feel proud to have developed in this country,
20 See above, note 3.
21 Nott, Music for the People, I62, 20oi.
PARISOMANIA'?
277
TABLE 2
CHRONOLOGY OF HYLTON'S FRENCH CONCERT ACTIVITIES AND RECORDINGS (1921-30)
date French activity (concert tours and recordings (R))
28 May I92
'Turque' (R: HMV)
8 July 1921
'Mon homme' (R: Zonophone)
13 Feb. 1922
'J'en ai marre' and 'Palais de danse' (R: HMV)
I5 Sept. 1922
'Pourquoi?' (R: HMV (and below))
6 Oct. 1922
'Carne de cabaret' and 'El tango de amor' (R)
31 Mar. 1924
'Chacun sa vie', 'Quand les femmes' and 'On dit ga' (R)
7, 9 Apr. 1924
'La Javanette'; 'Riviera rose' (R)
I9 Feb. 1926
'Mignonette' (R)
19, 29 Mar. 1926
'Fleurs d'amour'; 'Valentine' (R)
II Nov. 1927
'Les millions d'arlequin serenade' (R)
First European tour: fortnight at the Empire Theatre, Paris (plus
31 Dec. 1927-I2
Jan. 1928
fortnight at the Scala, Berlin)
Mar.-Apr. 1928
Second tour: Empire Theatre; fortnight at the Palace Theatre,
Paris; ten days at The Capitol, Marseille; three weeks back at the
Empire
Citroin New Year Ball, Paris (returning to Paris, 2 January 1929)
31 Dec. I928
Mar. 1929
Third tour: including Palais de la M~diterranbe, Nice (ii March);
ThCitre des Champs-Elyses, Paris (22-23 March)
'A love-tale of Alsace' (R)
4 Apr. 1929
Thfitre des Champs-Elys&es, Paris
17-18 Oct. 1929
25, 30 Oct. I929
'Parisienne doll'; Memories ofParis, Parts I-4 (R, London)
6, 14 Mar. 1930
'The sunshine of Marseilles'; Pot-pourri de vieilles chansons
Mar. -May 1930
European tour: four countries, including France (ThCitre des
(R, London)
Vari&ts, Toulouse; Op&ra Municipal, Montpellier; Marseille (late
March); Theitre des Champs-Elysees, Paris (4-5 April); Salle
Pleyel, Paris (mid-May))
Awarded Officier de l'Instruction Publique, Deauville
c.I4 Aug. 1930
Nov.-Dec. 1930
European tour: five countries, including France
28 Nov. I930
Maurice Chevalier Medley (R, Paris)
is pre-eminently British'.22 Hylton's appeal to national pride certainly embodies
an element of self-promotional talk; but even if most British dance bands only
modified an American basis, that modification still created a recognizably British
'accent'. Conversely, the accent was not so strong as to put off French audiences,
since European traits were also evident, for example in the use of accordions
mentioned earlier and an affinity with Viennese waltz. Perhaps the neatest
way of encapsulating the triangulation and subsequent blend is to quote
22 Jack Hylton, 'The British Touch', Gramophone (September 1927), I46. Hylton's comment down-
plays the role of Paul Whiteman as catalyst: see below.
DEBORAH MAWER
278
Nott: 'Popular music in Britain became more cosmopolitan, originating from
a host of countries from the Mediterranean to Latin America. The greatest
changes [...], however, were brought about by growing Americanization.'23
Hylton did not tour France until 1928, yet an early French enthusiasm
was apparent in commercial recordings he made in 1921-2 for HMV and
Zonophone, a popular-music label of the Gramophone Company (see
Table 2). He secured his break at this time by making aural transcriptions of
recordings (including some with French titles) by his American contemporary,
bandleader Paul Whiteman (1890-1967), who would shortly commission and
premiere George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (1924).24 Hylton's early recordings
were created while he was the unofficial arranger for the Queen's Dance
Orchestra, after Mme Henri, wife of the owner of the Queen's Hall Roof
venue, returned from America with Whiteman's first recording - 'Ilo'.25 'Ilo'
was one of many numbers that Hylton recreated for his own repertory, emulating
Whiteman's polished and fully notated orchestrations, as he openly admitted:
'Well, after a lot of rehearsal, we actually did succeed in making sense of the
parts and getting them to sound more or less, mostly less, like Whiteman's
Orchestra.' 6 Whiteman offered a commercial as well as a musical model,
although Hylton's seven-piece band received just 35 for its first four-song record-
ing session (including 'Turque') in May 1921 - 5 for each player including Hylton
himself.27
'Mon homme' ('My man'), a foxtrot from 1920 by the operetta composer
Maurice Yvain (1891-1965) and the lyricist Albert Willemetz, offers a neat
example of this triangulation in action. This sentimental 'torch song' originated
in France (as a hit for Mistinguett), was popularized in America by the comedi-
enne Fanny Brice in the Ziegfeld Follies, and was recorded by Whiteman in 1921,
with Henry Busse on trumpet and Hale Byers on saxophone.28 Hylton first
recorded the piece in July 1921, and then recycled it, including it in his arranger
Peter Yorke's draft of French Medley. Subsequently he revisited it in recordings
entitled Les succes deM. Yvain (1929) and Pot-pourri de vieilles chansonsfrangaises of
1931 (see Appendix, nos. 34, 57, i8). Hylton's contribution lay in re-orchestrating
the number and recontextualizing it within larger collections. (In a similar
23 Nott, Music for the People, 225.
24 Hylton made a rearrangement of Rhapsody in Blue, recorded in November 1933 (Decca F-3673),
which illustrates that British 'accent'. While obviously similar to that orchestrated by Ferde Grof6
and recorded by Whiteman in 1924, Hylton's version has a smoother, more refined and romantic
sound, as well as being significantly shorter. The indisputable advances in recording technique do
not fully account for the differences.
25 Faint, 'Jack Hylton', 12; Vedey, Band Leaders, 7. For Whiteman's general influence on British
dance bands, see Hustwitt, 'Caught in a Whirlpool', 16-17.
26 Jack Hylton, 'The High Finance of Jazz', Rhythm, 13/136 (January 1939), 3-7 (p. 5).
27 Faint, 'Jack Hylton', 13.
28 Joshua Berrett, Louis Armstrong and Paul Whiteman: Two Kings ofJazz (New Haven, CT, zoo4),
62, i68. In turn, this duet inspired Fletcher Henderson's 1924 hit, 'Go 'long, mule'.
'PARISOMANIA'?
279
fashion, he released his rendition ofYvain's 'J'en ai marre' ('I'm fed up with it') in
February 1922, and recycled it later; see Appendix, nos. 28, i6.)
Despite what these beginnings might imply, I dispute Jeffrey Jackson's asser-
tion that Hylton never amounted to more than Whiteman's main European
imitator.29 Although comparisons with Whiteman persisted, and ironically
both have suffered neglect, Hylton developed his own niche and independent
reputation (as will become plain). That said, however, the broader question of
owner/authorship implicit above is an interesting, recurrent one, which bears
probing. On the one hand, Joshua Berrett talks of'a mercurial period of change
for what was primarily an aural tradition', and continues that 'it was within this
general context that rival claims to authorship could erupt'.30 But on the other
hand, although there were undoubtedly instances of opportunism and blatant
appropriation, this was an age of cultural interaction. The proliferation of
versions of a song can make it very hard to establish origins convincingly.
Furthermore, the very concept of ownership and notion of an original was
regarded differently. As Nott acknowledges: 'Unlike today, most popular songs
in interwar Britain were not exclusive to one person or band, and if a song became
popular most dance bands would feature their versions of it.'31 Whiteman was as
much a beneficiary of this approach as Hylton, Payne and others. Indeed, it was
part of the mission of music publishers to disseminate songs widely, to maximize
their own impact and revenue. For much of the inter-war period, publishers
offered their songs for rearrangement to dance bands for free, often benefiting
in return from the dubious practice of song 'plugging' in radio broadcasts that
had the effect of creating hits artificially.32
Returning to Hylton's less well-documented early French activities, some
useful information can be gleaned from the popular British press. An unattrib-
uted piece headed '"Entente cordiale" Band', which appeared in the EveningNews
of 6 December 1923, expands on our theme of British-French cultural relations,
with the notion of common musical understanding despite language issues:
the music at the Queen's Hall Roof is played by an 'entente cordiale' of musicians. Three
of the orchestra are British and three are French. They do not speak the language of the
other nation very well, but in their music they find a medium of expression which they
can both share. I understand that the rehearsals are somewhat amusing.33
The band recorded further well-performed French-related numbers, including
two in October 1922, which were intended for the French market and so billed,
delightfully literally, as featuring the 'Orchestre Reine' (sic; see Table 2). Hylton's
recording and commercial ambitions were more cosmopolitan, however: it was
29 Jackson, Making Jazz French, no--II.
30 Berrett, Louis Armstrong and Paul Whiteman, 185.
32 Ibid., 138, 219.
33 Source: JHCU970002. Given the fluidity of early groupings, it is not possible to identify exactly
which players are referred to here.
DEBORAH MAWER
28o
not simply a matter of Britain and France, but of Europe more broadly. In a
multilingual mix, another clutch of French-titled recordings released in spring
1924 was strategically billed for the Scandinavian market as being by the
'Metropol Orchestern' (sic). One piece, 'La Javanette' - a java or apache music-
hall dance from the seedier side of French life, published in 1923 - was composed
by the accordion aficionado Harold de Bozi (Appendix, no. 26). Another
number, issued for the British market and just composed in 1924, was 'Riviera
rose' by Horatio Nicholls, the pseudonym of music publisher Lawrence Wright
(1888-1964; see Appendix, no. 45). Hylton's ability to seize the moment and
produce music for his band that was absolutely topical was impressive, and in
keeping with the dissemination practices described above. The point is supported
by an article in The Ball Room, applauding
'Riviera Rose', which the best judges of music [...] declare to be a triumph for Mr Nicholls.
The superb orchestra at the Cafe de Paris at Monte Carlo, played this composition as a valse
[sic], with such immediate success that a leading French publishing house at once secured
the publishing rights for France. Since then, it has been played by all the leading English
bands, including the Savoy Orpheans and Savoy Havana, Jack Hylton's, L'Oonie's etc.34
Although he had not yet left British soil, Hylton was becoming known to French
critics through his recordings and in live performance. Gustave Frejaville first
heard him in London in 1925, and, with his music-hall background, felt that
Hylton's fare should be part of a selection of theatrical acts rather than a single
extended event.35
Finally, Hylton's involvement in entente and internationalism encountered
small-scale frustration (but not outright contradiction) with the introduction
of some restrictive national practices. In the wake of the Aliens Restriction Act
of 1920, a less tolerant attitude towards international interaction was evident, for
example in an article entitled 'British Bands for the British' (published in The Era
of August 1924), and Hylton found himself on the receiving end of such treat-
ment, notably when trying to play at the Roxy and Paramount Theatres in
New York in the late 1920s (the musicians of both theatre orchestras threatened
to strike if his planned concerts took place).36 If anything, however, this seems to
have increased his determination to traverse borders.
Classical-popular-jazz relations
Our second interlinked theme similarly concerns a nuanced triangulation - of the
classical, the popular and jazz - rather than a simple classical-popular interplay.
For clarity, since the main aim here is to explicate Hylton's French activity,
national relations have been considered before those of musical type. But
34 'A New Waltz Success', The Ball Room, 5/4 (May 1924): JHCU970002.
35 Gustave Frejaville, 'Chronique de la semaine', Comoedia (31 December 1925), Collection Rondel,
Ro I6443. For more on Frejaville's criticism, see Fry, 'Jack Hylton Il'Op&ra'.
36 See Faint, 'Jack Hylton', 24, 132.
281
'PARISOMANIA'?
although they do not map directly onto each other, these triangulations are
intricately connected. In other words, while the African-American origin of
jazz is not in dispute,37 from the end of the First World War jazz filtered into
Britain, France and elsewhere, and so modified its nature, or was differently
perceived. The terms 'hot' and 'sweet' create complications: while 'hot' tended
to denote an African-American jazz style, it also involved white players; conver-
sely, 'sweet' was not exclusively British or white, nor was it really jazz.38 Popular
music, while frequently commercial, was not solely American, since chanson
comes into this category together with a modest number of truly British popular
songs. And classical music, in theory at least, is neither geographically or nation-
ally restricted. Thus, classical and popular musics and jazz are fluid entities that
develop through time and place.
Dance music may be classified as popular or 'non-serious' music,39 but this
apparent simplicity is compromised by those sweet and hot tags, and associated
oppositions of melodic/rhythmic and commercial/non-commercial. Interest-
ingly, Constant Lambert saw jazz itself as a type of dance music, and there was a
larger blurring between the terms 'dance' and 'jazz' band in 1920s Britain, partly
because relatively little African-American 'authentic' jazz had been heard outside
America.40 Jazz has certainly spawned its share of controversy and resisted cat-
egorization. Lambert attested that 'it is the first dance music to bridge the gap
between highbrow and lowbrow successfully', but then continued, rather contra-
dicting himself: 'jazz is not even a thing specifically to be danced to, let alone
listened to with any discrimination'. Surely this is the point: jazz has meant
different things to different people and to the same people across time, as will be
seen with Hylton. If jazz has any fixity, it is as a symbol of newness, difference or
modernity - an idea presented by Mendl in I1927: 'The energy, industry, the hurry
and hustle [...] of modern American methods find their counterpart in the [...]
jazz orchestra.'42
Jazz was first experienced in Europe courtesy of American troop entertainment.
London highlights included the visit of the white Original Dixieland Jazz Band to
the Hippodrome on 7 April 1919 (and thence to the Hammersmith Palais de
37 Many warmly embraced jazz as American (and therefore not implicated in the war's atrocities),
but a minority of French critics like Arthur Ho&ere and Andre Suares either denied the African-
American origins of jazz, or saw in it a serious threat from degeneracy: see Jackson, Making Jazz
French, 95-6.
38 Constant Lambert talked disparagingly (with anti-Semitic overtones) about 'the sweet nothings
of George Gershwin': Music Ho! (London, 1934), 154.
39 Nott, Music for the People, 59-60.
40 Ibid., 129. For an interesting study of the underpinning black/white perspectives in Britain, see
Catherine Parsonage, 'A Critical Reassessment of the Reception of Early Jazz in Britain', Popular
Music, 22 (2003), 315-36.
41 Lambert, Music Ho!, 150, i66.
42 Robert William Sigismund Mendl, The Appeal of Jazz (London, 1927), 97-8. See also Jackson,
Making Jazz French, 3-4. On defining jazz, see Reading Jazz, ed. David Meltzer (San Francisco,
CA, 1993).
282
DEBORAH MAWER
Danse), which was followed significantly, in terms of limited exposure to African-
American bands, by that of the Southern Syncopated Orchestra in 1920.43 Lew
Davis from Hylton's band talked about this latter visit, and the SSO repertory
included ragtime performances of one of Rachmaninov's preludes,44 a classic that
Hylton would also 'jazz' (as discussed below). Other small African-American
bands were playing in London by 1920, but there was still a legacy of blacking-
up as in the minstrelsy of Al Jolson, and consequently a confused reception.
A decade before Hylton arrived in Paris, Murray Pilcer's American Sherbo Band
featured at the Casino de Paris in Laissez-les tomber! (1917), a show experienced by
the likes of Jean Cocteau and Milhaud; while Louis Mitchell's Jazz Kings, an
influential African-American band, was resident at the Casino in 1918. Within a
rich music-hall context other shows included Pa-ri-ki danse (1919) and Paris qui
jazz (1920-I).46 Billy Arnold's band appeared in December 1921 in one of the
series of Concerts Wiiner,47 though more spontaneous jazz could be heard in the
nightclubs of Montmartre and Montparnasse. The convivial atmosphere of Le
Boeufsur le Toit appealed to Les Six, and Les Ambassadeurs constituted another
important location. Meanwhile, the landmark event in October 1925 was Revue
negre starring Josephine Baker at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees, a venue that
would become a favourite for Hylton.
If early jazz is a feat to define, there was also much potential for musicians in
blending jazz and classical music (or chansons), which pointed up parallels and
problematics: strains and 'incongruities'. Indeed, as Mervyn Cooke argues, rag-
time, as the crucial precursor, was already 'a jazzed up classical genre', based on
marches and duple-metre dances.49 Early stride pianists, often classically trained,
were proud of their knowledge, and some classical references acquired archetypal
status: Grieg's Peer Gynt as incorporated, for instance, in Whiteman's 'St Louis
blues' (1926); Rachmaninov's Prelude in C# minor, as in James P. Johnson's
'Russian rag' or Whiteman's 'Hot lips' (1922); as well as the numerous
New Orleans allusions to Chopin's 'Funeral march' from his B minor
43 Nott, Music for the People, I28-9. See also Parsonage, The Evolution of Jazz, 143-62.
44 Parsonage, The Evolution of Jazz, 143; Berrett, Louis Armstrong and Paul Whiteman, 62.
45 Scott, 'Incongruity and Predictability', 86. On British misconceptions of jazz and especially
blues, see too Hustwitt, 'Caught in a Whirlpool', 1o-I3.
46 See Gustave Frejaville, Au music-hall (Paris, 1923). On the Parisian jazz background, see Jackson,
Making Jazz French, 19-20, III, 120-1.
47 See Jean Wiener, Allegro appassionato (Paris, 1978).
48 For more on art negre and jazz in Paris, see a wealth of recent literature, including: Tyler Stovall,
Paris noir: African Americans in the City ofLight (Boston, MA, 1996), and Jodie Blake, Le tumulte
noir: Modernist Art and Popular Entertainment in Jazz-Age Paris, 00oo-193o (University Park, PA,
2003). On Baker, see Phyllis Rose, Jazz Cleopatra: Josephine Baker in her Time (New York, 1989).
See also Andy Fry, 'Rethinking the Revue negre: Black Musical Theatre in Inter-War Paris',
Western Music and Race, ed. Julie Brown (Cambridge, 2007), 258-75.
49 Mervyn Cooke, 'Jazz Among the Classics, and the Case of Duke Ellington', The Cambridge
Companion to Jazz, ed. Cooke and Horn, 153-73 (pp. 162-3).
PARISOMANIA' ?
283
Piano Sonata.50 For jazz/dance music, engaging with the classics could mean
employing 'symphonic syncopation' to create more extended, harmonically
developed, orchestrated forms from Hylton to Ellington. There was also a timbral
currency, as for Bix Beiderbecke drawing on Debussyesque impressionism in In a
Mist (1927). Jazz as a genre benefited from association with 'high-art' composers,
acquiring thereby a certain respectability or nostalgia, as Hylton himself would do
with arrangements of Massenet, Stravinsky, Ravel and others (see below). Most
commonly, jazz styles parodied and lampooned classical stereotypes for humor-
ous effect, as Hylton also did.51 Conversely, for modernists such as Les Six, Ravel,
Stravinsky and others, jazzing their classical style as a form of eclecticism per-
mitted a novel, if short-lived, means of inflecting their authorial voice. Ravel and
Milhaud especially wrote about the impact of jazz on their practice.52 Archetypal
examples include Stravinsky's 'Ragtime' from L'histoire du soldat and Ragtime for
ii Instruments (1918), Milhaud's La criation du monde (I923),53 Ravel's 'Blues'
from the Violin Sonata (1923-7), and of course the experimental Gershwin-
Whiteman Rhapsody in Blue.
Broader concerns with musical genre - even questioning the viability of jazz in
the face of sweeter waltzes - become more obvious in debates around the mid-
decade. A piece headed 'Britain Crazy on Dance Bands' in The Star (April 1925)
saw the symphonic dance band as crucial to sustaining music-hall performance,54
and argued that its attraction lay partly in its stylistic mix: 'classics turn with
comic'. The following year the BBC, which would later play a major role in
supporting jazz and dance music,55 set up a fundamental debate about 'music
versus jazz'. Hylton's contribution to this debate was that jazz was not unviable or
dead, but 'only in its infancy'.56
50 Examples discussed in Cooke, 'Jazz Among the Classics', I63.
51 Instances include Hylton's use of Grieg's 'Morning' from Peer Gyntin his 'Meadow lark', to point
up an 'incongruity' and assumption that his 'is also our preferred style of music', or Ambrose
quoting Mendelssohn's 'Spring song' in his 'Ho hum': Scott, 'Incongruity and Predictability', 95.
52 See Darius Milhaud, 'Les ressources nouvelles de la musique (jazz-band et instruments m&cani-
ques)', L'esprit nouveau, 25 (July 1924; unpaginated), Etudes (Paris, 1927) and Ma vie heureuse
(Paris, 1974, repr. 1987); and Maurice Ravel, 'Contemporary Music' (1928) and 'Take Jazz
Seriously!' (I928), A Ravel Reader, ed. Arbie Orenstein (New York, 1990), 40-9, 390-2. More
generally, see Nancy Perloff, Art and the Everyday: Popular Entertainment and the Circle ofErik
Satie (Oxford, 1991).
53 See a detailed case study in Deborah Mawer, Darius Milhaud: Modality and Structure in Music of
the ~p92os (Aldershot, I997).
54 Confusingly, 'music-hall' denoted both a location and its entertainment content, essentially the
variety act. Like Klein, I refer primarily to the content of music-hall, but maintain the term for
historical reasons: Jean-Claude Klein and J. Barrie Jones, 'Borrowing, Syncretism, Hybridisation:
The Parisian Revue of the I920s', Popular Music, 5 (I985), 175-87 (p. 175).
55 Vedey, Band Leaders, xi.
56 Arthur Mason, 'The Music v. Jazz Debate', West Bromwich Weekly News (13 August I926; also
printed in several other local papers); '"Jazz Only in its Infancy": Mr Jack Hylton Replies to
Mr Gillespie', Nottinghamshire Guardian (4 February 1927). Source: Jack Hylton Press Cuttings,
I926-7.
DEBORAH MAWER
284
In respect of jazz-classical interaction, Hylton's band adopted an ambiguous
mid-way position analogous to that ofWhiteman, Gershwin and Tin Pan Alley
itself, but which had no French equivalent despite the pioneering efforts of the
bandleader Gr~gor. Hylton's band engaged with occasional hot numbers from
1926, the year of Whiteman's French debut; but he was still circumspect about
hotter American music both in his article 'The British Touch' and in an interview
of 1928, where he deemed 'sweet melody' numbers much more to 'British taste'
and financially beneficial.57 (His attitude softened somewhat around 1930 in line
with that of his public.)58 A significant proportion of French critics, including
Andre Coeuroy, Andre Schaeffner and Robert Goffin, and the composer Andre
Messager, despite their awareness of jazz's African-American origins, preferred
the smooth and refined, if unspontaneous, arrangements of Whiteman and
Hylton.59
A popular British-French blend, the first chanson highlights were Hylton's
modestly 'jazzed' recordings in 1926 of 'Fleurs d'amour' by Jose Padilla (I889-
1960), arranged by Lucas, and Henri Christint's inimitable 'Valentine' (see below;
both songs featured lyrics by Willemetz). Following his Spanish success, Padilla
had secured his name in France by composing revue songs for Josephine Baker,
and once more Hylton swiftly capitalized on these numbers: 'Fleurs d'amour' had
been published in 1924 and 'Valentine' in I925. Lucas's signed piano manuscript
score of the foxtrot 'Fleurs d'amour' (F25) exists, together with a full set of parts
(see Appendix, no. I5). The addition of the sax players' names - (Noel 'Chappie')
d'Amato, (Jim) Kelleher, (Jerry) Hoey and (Johnny) Raitz - to these parts suggests
a rapport underlined by indications privileging saxophones in the short score.
(The success of these arrangements is attested by their later refashioning in ambi-
tious, large-scale collections.)
Further blurring of boundaries came with the recording of an ostensibly
French number - Lucas's jazzed arrangement of the Italian-Russian ballet com-
poser Ricardo Drigo's 'Les millions d'arlequin serenade' (Appendix, no. 33). This
version included a Wurlitzer organ, played by Claude Ivy at the New Gallery
Cinema in London, and was praised as far away as India: 'Hylton has another
waltz which will be popular, "Les millions d'Harlequin", ([HMV] B-539I) dis-
tinguished by lovely violin passages.'60
57 Jack Hylton (in interview with Perceval Graves), 'Taking or Inflicting Pains', Melody Maker (May
1928), 513-4 (p. 513).
58 See Jack Hylton, 'Naissance et vie du jazz', Le courrier musical et thhdtral (I5 March 1932); Jack
Hylton, 'Jazz! The Music of the People', Woman's World supplement (7 October 1934).
59 Jackson, Making Jazz French, 94, no, nz. See for instance Andr Caeuroy, 'Le jazz', L'art vivant (I5
August 1926), 616. Frjaville was also perplexed by unfamiliar and 'maddening' novelty timbres,
both wind and percussive: 'L'orchestre du Dr Moreau', Dibats (9 June 1924), in 'Le jazz et les
spectacles ntgres', Collection Rondel, Ro 585; for further detail, see Blake, Le tumulte noir, 69.
60 'Waltzes and Blues', The Englishman ([Calcutta], 9 May 1928), in Jack Hylton Press Cuttings,
1928-31.
PARISOMANIA ?
285
First concert activity in France: Paris and Le Midi
Early January 1928 saw the first European tour, for, as Vedey aptly expressed it,
'Britain became too small to hold Jack Hylton'.61 In a climate where the salaries of
top bandleaders including Hylton and Whiteman were public knowledge, a
measure of Hylton's entrepreneurial approach was his decision to walk away
from an annual figure of 40,00ooo, to launch his career abroad. Clearly
Hylton was highly ambitious, craving popular success and insisting on excep-
tional performance standards. And while he looked to conquer Europe and would
travel widely, he went first and most frequently to his neighbour, France. There he
focused on Paris, as Europe's liveliest cultural milieu. France in turn, partly
because it had no indigenous band of the same calibre, was generally most
receptive. Hylton favoured concertizing followed by gramophone recording,
supplemented by other gigs and broadcasts. Between 1928 and 1930, he and his
French clientele established their favourite Parisian venues, including the Empire
Theatre and Thbitre des Champs-Elystes.
The first tour began at the Empire,63 and concluded at the Scala, Berlin.
Hylton (like Whiteman) was referred to as the 'czar of jazz', and an early
review informed by Leighton Lucas declared that 'Jack Hylton and his
[IS-piece] band are repeating in Berlin the phenomenal success they made in
Paris'.64 The French immediately warmed to Hylton's theatrical presentation.65
By March 1928 the band had embarked on a second, exclusively French tour,
being allowed back to the Empire, according to Hylton's interview for Melody
Maker,66 because of their reputation. And this interview immediately clarifies
one benefit of the French connection: 'We have had an enthusiastic public and a
splendid Press in France.' (Although Hylton's publicity machine, akin to Irving
Mills's promotion of Ellington, influenced the British press with multiple pro-
motional puffs in provincial papers, and Hylton's agent in Paris, Marcel de
Valmalite, did his fair share, European reviews were generally, if not always,
more independent.) There is a hint here of the British taking slightly for granted
61 Vedey, Band Leaders, 8.
62 McCarthy, Dance Band Era, 52, 96; quoted in Nott, Music for the People, 137.
63 Contemporary with this is a fascinating review of Milhaud's La creation du monde: 'it was
amusing to watch [Ernest] Ansermet, the conductor, getting worked up into rhythmic fervour
until his back view became more animated than Jack Hylton's. In point of fact, Milhaud's jazz is
rhythmically more ingenious than the authentic brand of that commodity.' 'Broadcast from
Within', Liverpool Post (Io January 1928). 'Jack's back' became a classic pun of the Hylton years;
the comment about the relative rhythmic simplicity of Hylton's style is not unfair, and 'com-
modity' has a significant role, though there was more to the band than this alone.
64 'Czar of Jazz', The People (22 January 1928); 'Jack Hylton's Arranger', The Era (25 January 1928).
On the classic-jazz interaction, Lucas made his views felt in 'What I Hate in "Jazz"'. He conceded
(toeing Hylton's early line) that jazz can be vulgar, but he was much more damning about
pseudo-classics': tear-jerkers lacking musical value. Ironically, he placed Rachmaninov's C#
minor Prelude, later to be arranged by Yorke, in this category.
65 Charles Gombault, 'Le merveilleux Jack Hylton and his Boys', Paris-soir (8 March 1928).
66 Hylton, 'Taking or Inflicting Pains', 513.
DEBORAH MAWER
286
what is on their doorstep, but the comment says more about the strength of
French critical response over stereotypical British reserve. Significantly, Hylton
did not find it necessary to adapt his programmes for foreign tours: 'the best
English numbers go as well [abroad] as they do over here'. But this pragmatism
belies his promotion of French interests by including French arrangements in his
home programmes, as well as on tour. Coverage in Rhythm talked of the band
'having created a furore in Paris', noting perceptively that there was a lack of
decent dance orchestras there; in other words, Hylton filled a performance niche
which could not yet be satisfied from within.67 The band's 'stagecraft' and
accuracy were also applauded, especially since 'no music was used': most likely,
the band was working mainly from memory rather than improvising. As a sub-
sidiary aspect, the impact of radio is apparent: the 1928 hit 'Sunny skies' was
'broadcast from Paris last week by Jack Hylton and his Band. This bright number
[...] has also been very effectively broadcast on several occasions by the BBC
[Dance] Orchestra, under the direction of Jack Payne.'68
By 1929 Hylton was commanding the prestigious Thtitre des Champs-Elysbes.
Playing the public relations game to good effect, he prefaced his March pro-
gramme with a strong review by Louis-Leon Martin.69 As would become a typical
French response, Martin liked the spectacle, humour and imagination: 'Jack
Hylton is marvellously engaging. [...] he brings out and delineates the harmony,
and he keeps this within proportions, with this humour, this momentum, this
fantasy, this nothing-to-excess which music-hall demands.' Interestingly, 'jazz
was already becoming a more sophisticated, flattering term of reference: 'His jazz
evokes or parodies by turns.'70 And in the British press, too:
There is no better exponent ofjazz than Jack Hylton [. . .] in particular 'Bye bye blackbird',
played with geographical variations[,] was irresistible. Every trick of melody, harmony, and
rhythm of which jazz is susceptible has been mastered by this band.71
Arguably, Hylton's critical pinnacle was a highly favourable review of another
Champs-Elystes concert in 1930 by the doyen Emile Vuillermoz, corroborating
the bandleader's claim about the supportiveness of the French press. In keeping
67 [Writer unknown], 'Our Band Room', Rhythm (28 May 1928), 5. This was still the case for Paris-
soir (31 May 1930), when the impact of Gr~gor's band was only just being felt.
68 Notice in The Performer (18 April I928); similar coverage in Encore (5 April 1928).
69 Programme: 'Jack Hylton and his Boys', Theatre des Champs-Elysies (22, 23 March 1929):
JHPR970I279.
70 Louis-Leon Martin, 'Jack Hylton and his Boys', Paris-midi (6 January 1928): 'Jack Hylton est
merveilleusement spectaculaire. A proprement parler, il extriorise et dessine l'harmonie, et il le
fait dans les proportions, avec cet humour, ce mouvement, cette fantaisie, ce rien en excts qu'exige
le music-hall. [. . .] Son jazz 6voque et parodie tour i tour.' By contrast, a minority of critics still
denigrated jazz and engaged in racial prejudice, Hylton himself bizarrely being dismissed as 'le
petit nigre': 'La rentre de Jack Hylton et ses boys h Paris', Volont (14 October 1929). On Hylton
and changing perceptions of jazz, see Jackson, Making Jazz French, 94-5, 109-12.
71 'Paris Notes', Dancing Times (May 1929). For 'Bye bye blackbird', see Appendix, no. 5.
PARISOMANIA' ?
287
with our emphasis on British-French and cross-stylistic themes, it also encom-
passes a review of Ravel's Bolro and Chansons madcasses.72 Vuillermoz identifies
'two evenings of apotheosis' provided by 'this company of virtuosos', from whom
an enthusiastic crowd demanded records. On the perennial jazz-versus-classical
question, he walks a neat tightrope: 'I don't claim to build up the aesthetic of jazz
upon the ruins of so-called serious music. But I think our muso-maniacs have to
see how necessary it is to like music.'73 Provocatively, he asserts that respectable
yet dreary classical recitals may do less for music than 'the superior clowning
of these instrumental acrobats'.74 He applauds the passion, sensuality and com-
mitment of Hylton's band, notably of Lew Davis, Jack Raine and Harry Robbins.
Vuillermoz also rates the musical dimension in articulating the band's 'pranks'
('fac6ties'): 'It's a sonority, it's a rhythm, it's a chord that brings them about.' He
extols 'the ironic and pleasing prolonging of a musical inflection, the timbral
antics [which] often form a shrewd critique of an instrument's character, the
buffoonery of the saxophonists'. His final verdict is consistent with Martin:
'This is musical parody of the first order.'75 Such praise issued from many quar-
ters, including 'L'dition phonographique' of the Semaine musicale ( April
1930), which recognized astutely that 'Jack Hylton is the triumphant man of
the moment' ('Jack Hylton est le triomphateur du jour').76 In this context,
Keith Negus's recent remark that 'dance music was by definition created
[merely] for dancing [...]. It was not performed for people giving musicians
their undivided or even primary attention' would seem to ring false.77 For a
celebratory cartoon of 'Jack Hylton et son orchestre' strutting their stuff at the
new Salle Pleyel, see Figure I.
Conversely, La revue musicale carried a critique by its perceptive editor, Henry
Prunires, for whom, although Hylton on disc did not compare with Whiteman,
Ted Lewis or Louis Armstrong, seeing the band live was a great attraction: 'Jack
Hylton has drawn from his jazz all the possibilities of imaginative spectacle that
72 Emile Vuillermoz, 'La musique: Jack Hylton et ses "boys" au Thb des Champs-Elysbes. Les
concerts', Excelsior (7 April 1930).
73 Ibid.: 'deux soires d'apothose'; 'cette compagnie de virtuoses'; 'Je ne pretends pas edifier
I'esthetique du jazz sur les ruines de la musique dite s&rieuse. Mais j'estime que nos mblomanes
ont besoin de voir comment ii faut aimer la musique.'
74 Ibid.: 'les clowneries sup&rieures de ces acrobates instrumentaux'.
75 Ibid.: 'C'est une sonoritY, c'est un rythme, c'est un accord qui les fait naltre. [. . .] le prolongement
ironique et plaisant d'une inflexion de la mBlodie, les cocasseries de timbres constituent souvent
une critique tras fine de la personnalite d'un instrument, les pitreries des saxophonistes [. . .] Voil:
de la parodie musicale de premier ordre.' This critique strongly echoes a review of Frjaville,
'La semaine au music-hall', Comaedia (7 January 1928), Collection Rondel, Ro 16443.
76 See the array of reviews in International News Cuttings (Jack and Band), I March I930-I5 August
1930 (JHA). Close study of these sources, along with those for 1931, could justify a dedicated
article.
77 Keith Negus, 'Musicians on Television: Visible, Audible and Ignored', Journal of the Royal
MusicalAssociation, 131 (2006), 310o-30 (p. 317).
DEBORAH MAWER
288
Figure I. 'Jack Hylton et son orchestre' at the Salle Pleyel, published in Ami du
peuple (29 June 1930). Reproduced by generous permission of the Jack Hylton
Archive, Lancaster University.
one could think of.'78 More interesting are Prunires's reservations - a perceived
lack of special harmonic and sonic discoveries,79 and, apropos our attention to
French-British relations, a paucity of good material: 'Some really clichd English
or American song choruses, with lots of simple chords and with start and finish
declaimed by full orchestra'80 Although well-used formulas and reduced inno-
vation are indeed noticeable by the mid-thirties, in Hylton's defence the privi-
leging of consonance was part of his aesthetic, even if motivated by a desire to
please mass audiences. Prunires finds Hylton's four violins out of place, but he
78 Henry Prunires, 'Jack Hylton', La revue musicale (May 1930), 462-3 (P. 463). 'Jack Hylton a tire
de son jazz toutes les possibilites de spectacle fantaisiste qu'on puisse imaginer.' The importance
of hearing Hylton live was also stressed in Andre Himonet's review in La libere (28 May 1930).
79 Prunires, 'Jack Hylton', 463. A different view was given in J. B., 'Th itre des Varits:
L'orchestre de Jack Hylton', La dpiche (4 April 193o). 'They also involve a varied sonic palette,
with great diversity of unexpected sonorities [. . .] These procedures are incontestably original,
and most definitely enrich the musical language' ('Ils comportent aussi une palette sonore varie,
avec une grande diversitC de sonorites inattendues [...] Ces procdes sont incontestablement
originaux, et enrichissent tr s certainement le langage musical').
80 Prunires, 'Jack Hylton', 463: 'Des refrains de chansons anglaises ou amricaines d'une platitude
parfaite, clams par tout orchestre pour commencer et pour finir, a grand renforts d'accords
parfaits'. Concerns about predictability and the quality of some material also colour a later review
by Louis-Lon Martin, 'Th6itre des Champs-Elyses: Jack Hylton and his Boys', Paris-midi
(19 October 1930).
'PARISOMANIA'
289
should perhaps have acknowledged that the British dance band was positioned
at some distance from, say, Armstrong. More positively, he applauds Philippe
Brun's jazz prowess, admitting that he had not thought a Frenchman able to
assimilate 'the spirit and [...] the poetry of jazz' ('l'esprit [. ..] et la posie du
jazz').
Within a broader Parisian context: Hylton and Whiteman met up in early
summer of 193O to support their colleague Maurice Hermite, who was directing
the orchestra for Louis Lemarchand's Un coup de jolie at the Folies Bergeres.
Meanwhile, at the rival Casino de Paris the revue Paris qui remue opened, in which
Josephine Baker made famous the slow foxtrot 'J'ai deux amours', written for her
by Vincent Scotto. Predictably, Hylton took up this iconic song in an arrange-
ment by orke, whose initialled, working score (J8) employs shorthand (especially
for repeats) and verbal instruction, with some phrasing and essential dynamics
(see Appendix, no. 25). Imaginative touches include a new introductory melodic
figure set against a chromatic walking-bass. Much is made of the famous chorus
'J'ai deux amours, mon pays et Paris', with an inevitable final tonal shift from F up
to G. Alto saxes are typically doubled by violins and tenor sax at the octave, while
other sonorities include muted trumpets and pizzicato/arco switches; banjo
strumming and string bass; and a change from drums to vibraphone in the
final chorus.
In the Midi too, Hylton's band established a reputation. Performance venues
were in urban centres - Marseille, Toulouse, Montpellier and Nice - but the
band's reception here was slightly different from that in Paris. Critics and public
were even more enthusiastic, as tends to happen where there is less going on, and
somewhat less discerning than Prunieres. The Anglo-Saxon presence was even less
familiar to those in the south, and seems to have acquired the status of a curious
northern 'exoticism'. This had xenophobic potential, however: while they con-
tributed to Hylton's success in France, the southern press and citizens would later
resent a foreigner achieving the Lgion d'Honneur.
Ahead of the first foray, the news reaching Britain (relayed in The Performer of
12 April 1928) was that 'the City of Marseilles is all agog at the coming of Jack
Hylton and his boys, and I'm sure they will certainly "go down well", for the
French know how to appreciate Jack's type of music'. Hylton's sense of style and
spectacle did indeed seem to suit French taste, whether Parisian or provincial. In
spring I929 the maestro took up further opportunities on Provengal soil, featuring
as the finale act at the exclusive Palais de la Mtditerranbe, Nice.82 Interestingly,
this programme was almost identical to that given in Paris some ten days later. It
included the signature 'Hyltonisms' '01' man river (Show Boat)', 'Laughing mar-
ionette', 'Bye bye blackbird (Variations)' and 'I kiss your hand, madame'
(Appendix, no. 24), reckoned in The Era to be 'the most popular tune on the
Continent since the time of the Merry Widow [...] a beautiful, haunting number
81 'Concerts et spectacles', Le matin (2 July I930).
82 'Le Palais de la Miditerranbe: Programme' (II March 1929; cover price 4F): JHA unsorted.
DEBORAH MAWER
290
that relies on its strength of melody and human appealing lyric'.83 With the rising
popularity of film, according to The Stage (30 May I929), the song also began to
feature as an interlude in 'picture houses'.
A year later, having recorded Nicholls's 'Sunshine of Marseilles' (Appendix, no.
50yo), Hylton's band appeared in Toulouse and Montpellier, where the players'
control was much admired: 'The 2o boys are characterized especially by their
strict discipline and their notable sense of timing. Of shaping, one should sav,
because the very foundation of jazz is its respect for this [i.e. for shaping].
Soloists singled out were the singer Pat O'Malley and percussionist Harry
Robbins, while special numbers included that hot classic 'Tiger rag', 'Digga-
digga-do' (sic), 'Jollity farm', 'Bye bye blackbird' and '01' man river', performed
amusingly in the style of Liszt or Wagner.
Recording projects: selling a nostalgic vision back to the French
Concert life apart, Hylton's French activity in the late I920s was distinguished by
a productive intensity; several recordings were made in London and Paris, influ-
enced in turn by American film hits. Here too Hylton was 'highly motivated and
calculating. He wanted to give the public exactly what they wanted.'85 And what
they wanted, it seems, was nostalgia. Where France was concerned, he satisfied
a yearning for the past by revisiting French numbers with the expertise of his
performer/arranger Vauchant, and of Chevalier himself. Maximizing his sales,
Hylton created separate vocal and instrumental versions for the respective French-
and English-speaking markets.
Nowhere is this nostalgia more overt than in the extended collections of music
by Padilla, Yvain, Moretti and Christine, all recorded on 30 October 1929
as Hylton's four-part souvenir of his tours, entitled Memories of Paris. Ternent
produced dance-band versions of 'a c'est Paris', 'Fleurs d'amour' and 'Valencia'
for Part I of Memories - the same material being marketed for the French, with
added vocals sung by Vauchant, as Les succis de Padilla (Appendix, no. 40). This
paralleling was maintained throughout. Part 2 consisted of five songs by Yvain in
arrangements by Yorke (Appendix, no. 57), including 'Dites-moi, ma mbre', used
that same year in Chevalier's American film debut, Innocents ofParis. Five num-
bers by Moretti, as Part 3, were followed by a selection from Christine (Part 4),
including 'Reviens' and the ubiquitous 'Valentine' (also heard in Innocents).
83 'I Kiss your Hand, Madame', The Era (13 March 1929), also reviewed in Sound Wave (March
1929): Jack Hylton Press Cuttings, 23 October 1928-31 November 1929.
84 R. Lelong, 'Le succhs de Jack Hylton et de ses 20 boys i l'Opra municipal', Petit mridional (30
March 1930): 'Les 20 boys se caractbrisent surtout par leur stricte discipline et leur remarquable
sens de la mesure. De la cadence, disons mieux, car c'est son respect qui est le fondement mime du
jazz.' Others remarked on Hylton's brand of sweet 'jazz', favouring melody over rhythm, with
violins and Viennese waltz: G. P., 'Jack Hylton et son jazz', Le bavard ([Marseille], 28 March
1930).
85 Faint, 'Jack Hylton', Ioo.
'PARISOMANIA'
219I
These last two sets were heard in arrangements by Vauchant (Appendix, nos.
35, 23).
The Padilla/Ternent recorded arrangement (Appendix, no. 40), in its vocal
version (K-5768), offers a good example of what Derek Scott has identified as
a general principle (in relation to 'predictability') whereby 'certain musical and
verbal signs are used [...] to evoke a particular sociocultural location in the
imagination of the listener'.86 This rendition is spirited and skilful, with a tight
rhythmic beat provided by piano, bass, banjo and drum. In the opening number
here, 'a c'est Paris', the accordions' dynamic swells signify a nostalgic image of
the French capital, melded with the flavour of the English seaside prom, itself
owing much to chanson. Additionally, the apparently incongruous melodic trip-
lets connote Spanishness, which as Jean-Claude Klein notes had a significant
inflecting presence in Paris,87 though Hylton's eclectic fare strives to go one
better in its blending of French, Spanish and English associations. Vauchant's
high crooning tenor is well suited to the central vocal 'Fleurs d'amour' and
Ternent's reading is characterized by apt timbral variety. Light, high strings bal-
ance the wind solos, such as the trumpet melody at 'Moderato' finished by a
punctuating cymbal stroke. Finally, the chorus from 'Valencia', with its vamping
and swing, links the numbers and creates a brief postlude.88 By contrast, the
instrumental version (B-3273; see again Appendix, no. 40), which in 'Fleurs
d'amour' features a strong trombone solo played by Lew Davis or Vauchant, is
less animated and a bit heavy. Generally these performed arrangements thrive on
diversity of colour and pace, often using slower links and endings. They utilize
tutti 'choired' winds or slightly sentimental string interludes (both with notice-
able vibrato) and effective solos, held in check by rhythmic punctuation. This
souvenir' venture received several British reviews and was deemed 'on the whole,
an excellent selection and well recorded'.89
Vauchant's efforts as arranger were evident again in his large Pot-pourri de
vieilles chansons frantaises (K-59o4) - effectively his swansong with Hylton's
band - which was recorded in spring 1930 (Appendix, nos. 21, 22). His scores
(F4) are neatly signed and dated, with sources and publication copyrights iden-
tified meticulously. These traditional songs included 'Auprs de ma blonde',
'Au clair de la lune' (from Part I; see Appendix, no. 21) and 'En passant par la
Lorraine' (from Part 2; see Appendix, no. 22), whose source is preserved in a
special edition of Vieilles chansons pour les cceurs sensibles, illustrated by Pierre
Brissand and published by Heugel (JHA). The approach was deferential rather
86 Scott, 'Incongruity and Predictability', 93.
87 Klein, 'Borrowing, Syncretism, Hybridisation', 179.
88 'Valencia', to whose vulgarity Ravel related when writing Bolro (see Joaquin Nin, 'Comment est
nt le Bolero de Ravel', La revue musicale, 19 (December 1938), z2I-3 (p. 213)), held much currency
for Hylton. Several arrangements exist: Yorke's version (VI), Williams's reading and Lucas's witty
'Valencia variations' in the styles of Schubert, Mendelssohn, Offenbach and Sullivan (both V3),
plus Ternent's reusage in Jubilee Cavalcade of 1935 (J2). (Whiteman also later arranged 'Valencia'.)
See Appendix, no. 40.
89 'Memories of Paris', City News (7 March 1930).
DEBORAH MAWER
292
than light-hearted. Perhaps seeking to increase its saleability, Hylton incorporated
two music-hall hits in the mix, but in so doing created something of a mish-mash,
which was exacerbated by technical problems, including abrupt juxtaposition,
even overlap, between songs.90
Hylton returned to Paris for his next recording session. The Maurice Chevalier
Medley (Appendix, no. i),91 produced at the HMV studio on 28 November 1930,
was the first of several collaborations with the immensely popular Chevalier.
Generous financial arrangements aside, Chevalier clearly wanted to work with
Hylton and spoke to the press of an 'international understanding and amity';
because of Hylton's tight schedule, Chevalier agreed to produce the medley on a
Sunday around his existing matine and evening shows.92
Manuscript band parts (C5) for Part I of the Chevalier Medley, including piano,
banjo, oboe and three violins, are in Major Williams's hand. Those for Part z
are more sketchy in nature, consisting mainly of material to link the numbers
(even then with recourse to some cuts) and seemingly to be combined with
pre-existing arrangements by Ternent and Vauchant respectively (Appendix,
nos. 36-7): 'New kind of love' (N9) and 'Nobody's using it now' (N2o). More
obviously than in Memories ofParis, the band serves the needs of its star singer.
Part I commences with an instrumental introduction, using 'Livin' in the
sunlight' (from the 1930 film, The Big Pond) and featuring trumpets doubled
by saxes and violins at the octave. It is followed by Chevalier's English rendition of
'Louise' (from Innocents) with a restrained accompaniment, the alto saxes
replaced by clarinets. This instrumental-then-vocal alternation of numbers con-
tinues: 'Paris, stay the same' is scored for brass, softened by strings to create a
symphonic effect, and leads to the climax, comprising Chevalier's punctuated,
rhythmically tight 'Valentine', sung in French. Violin doubling enriches the title
text, while a mellow baritone sax steps in to replace the previous oboe sonority.
Part 2 adopts a similar alternating formula, but with a vocal start. It ends with
that lively number ('Dites-moi, ma mtre') which curiously, given the French-
American link, maintains an English seaside sound, by virtue of its jaunty, light-
hearted rhythms and brassy instrumentation. But the highlight is 'Mon cocktail
d'amour', from the sophisticated comedy film The Love Parade (1929), sung in
French with subdued accompaniment.93 Chevalier was confident in his Hylton
90 Gaston Mouren, review, Cabhiers du Sud (i September 1930) and Ren Marcel, 'Les disques',
Journ industrielle (26 August 1930), in International News Cuttings, i March 1930-15 August
I930.
91 Parts I and 2: HMV B-3686/K-6o58 (Souvenirs de Chevalier); Parts 3 and 4: HMV K-3065.
92 'Chevalier's Smile', Eastern Daily Press (29 November 1930) bills this as a '4,ooo a week
engagement'. Chevalier's views are quoted in 'Chevalier and Hylton: A "Record" Event',
Daily Mail Paris (24 November 1930). The schedule is described in 'M. Chevalier Arrives in
Manchester: Paris Meeting with Hylton', Manchester Guardian (29 November 193o).
93 Judging by a piece headed 'Audition par disques', Le Figaro (9 June 1930), Chevalier singing in
French (as in 'Mon cocktail d'amour') had become quite a rarity because his career was increas-
ingly film-based in America. Contemporaneously, the rise of film is reflected in Hylton's record-
ing of Moretti, 'Under the roofs of Paris' (the title song from Ren6 Clair's innovative musical film
Sous les toits de Paris) on 21 December 1930.
'PARISOMANIA'?
293
collaboration, concluding: 'it will be a success - those two names together'; British
critics concurred, believing the medley 'worthy of a place in every record
library'.94
Having witnessed the onset and deepening of Hylton's obsession, we return
now to those playful accusations of 'Parisomania'.5 Flying to an engagement at
the Casino de Deauville in summer 1930, en route between Britain and Germany,
the ever-active Hylton paused briefly to receive the first recognition by the French
State of his contribution to its cultural well-being: the Officier de l'Instruction
Publique. This decoration was conferred by the Ministry of Public Instruction for
highly commended service to public education and cultural expansion - an award
made not only to teachers, but also to scholars, writers and performers.96
The high-point and after: Hylton's French activities 1931-40
This second span secures the climax of Hylton's achievement. Balancing the first
decade, with its chanson focus, the second decade is characterized by 'jazzed'
re-readings of Stravinsky and Ravel. It is framed by historic appearances at the
Paris Opera and the bestowing of the Legion d'Honneur, but there is a sense
that having reached these remarkable heights there was nowhere else for Hylton
to go. A chronology of Hylton's main concerts and recordings for the period is
given in Table 3.
Hylton, Stravinsky and the Opera
Hylton's appearance at the Opera on 17 February 1931, at the start of another
major European tour, was a first, not just for the band but for popular music itself.
In terms of popular-classical interaction, its symbolic significance cannot be
overstated, yet vis-i-vis broader cross-Channel comparisons Covent Garden
had already taken this momentous step in 1925 at Hylton's instigation.97 The
band posed proudly for a picture outside the Op&ra (see Figure z; these players,
including Brun and Ekyan, are listed in Table I). The programme, prefaced by
Vuillermoz's rapturous review (quoted above), offered a selection of the current
season's repertory and some older items - truly international fare. It included
hot American numbers such as 'Saint-Louis blues', Ternent's arrangement
of 'Limehouse blues' and Fenoulhet's 'Bye bye blues (symphonique)'; nominal
French songs such as 'Dites-moi, ma mere' and the medley Memories; as
well as other American, British and German items. It also listed classical
94 'M. Chevalier Arrives in Manchester'; 'Maurice Chevalier Medley', Daily Mirror (14 December
1930); 'Chevalier Records HMV's Latest Issue', Kinematograph (in December 1930).
95 L. R., 'Deux artistes'.
96 See <www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/chan/chan/pdf/caran/47.pdf> (accessed 3 January
2007).
97 'From Opera to Jazz: Covent Garden as a Dancing Palace - 2,000 Revellers', Daily Mirror (26
February 1925), in JHCU970002. Hylton had also played to an estimated 7,000 in the Albert
Hall on 19 December 1926.
DEBORAH MAWER
294
TABLE 3
CHRONOLOGY OF HYLTON'S FRENCH CONCERT ACTIVITIES AND RECORDINGS (1931-40)
date French activity (concert tours and recordings (R))
Concert, including Stravinsky's Mavra, at the Opera, Paris
17 Feb. 1931
Feb.-mid-Apr. 1931
European tour (including Lyon, Marseille, Monte Carlo, Nice,
9 Apr. 1931
Nos bons vieux airs; Pot-pourri de vieilles chansons (R: HMV,
Cannes)
Paris)
'By the river Sainte Marie' (R: HMV)
6 May 1931
6 Nov. 1931
Padilla, 'Ca c'est Paris' (R: Decca)
Palais des Fetes, Strasbourg; Empire Theatre, Paris; Legion
Nov. 1931-Jan. 1932
d'Honneur
Feb.-Mar. 1932
Empire Theatre, Paris; Salle Prat, Marseille (20 February)
'How are you?' (R: Decca F-3204 - Brun singing in French)
4 Oct. 1932
Fortnight's residency at the Rex Cinema, Paris (including
20 Jan. 1933
broadcasts)
Feb. 1933
Grand-Theatre, Lille (early February; broadcast on 5 March)
27 July 1933
Hylton introduces Duke Ellington at the Salle Pleyel, Paris
Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue (R: Decca F-3763); Ellingtonia
Nov. 1933
(Decca F-3764)
Rex Cinema, Paris
Dec. 1933- Jan. 1934
Rex Cinema and Gaumont-Palace Cinema, Paris (featuring
Dec. 1934-Jan. 1935
Coleman Hawkins)
'Roses of Picardy' and 'Valencia' (R: HMV-Jubilee Cavalcade)
26 Apr. 1935
She Shall Have Music (film: Paris finale)
Summer 1935
Ravel, Bolro (R: HMV)
13 Nov. 1936
Feb.-Mar. 1938
Final (I6th) European tour
L'entente cordiale Medley
14 July 1938
'Bon voyage, ch&rie' (R: HMV)
9 Oct. 1939
'Somewhere in France' and 'We'll meet again' (R: HMV)
29 Nov. 1939
Chopin, 'Tristesse' (R: HMV, 'So deep is the night')
22 Dec. 1939
6 Mar. 1940
Last HMV recording session
16 Apr. 1940
Farewell concert at the Opera, Paris
arrangements: Yorke's version of Rachmaninov's Preludes in C# and G minor,
and Ternent's reading of music from Lehir's operetta Friederike. Topping the bill,
and heavily promoted by Hylton's Paris agent, Valmalkte, was a portion of
Stravinsky's one-act opera buffa, Mavra, originally premiered at the Opera on
3 June 1922.98 This latter undertaking represents the ultimate melding of national
identities and jazzing of a classic (and is the subject of a separate, dedicated study
98 Programme: 'Theatre National de l'Opera, mardi 17 fevrier [1931], en soiree, a 21 heures':
JHPR970I267.
'PARISOMANIA'
295
Figure 2. Jack Hylton and his Band on the steps of the Paris Opera, 1931.
Reproduced by generous permission of the Jack Hylton Archive, Lancaster
University.
by the present author)." The background to these high/low cultural hierarchies
and intersections was discussed in the first part of this article; for Mavra,
important precedents had been set by Stravinsky's ragtime endeavours and
Milhaud's explorations of blues.
The curious project apparently began when Stravinsky heard and was intrigued
by the band in spring 1930. Hylton stated that 'Stravinsky sent for me while I was
in France and offered to write a composition we could play."'l Stravinsky's
99 This study was delivered as a research seminar entitled 'Hylton and Stravinsky's Mavra at the
Paris Op&ra: Jazzing a Classic?', in the series 'Directions in Musical Research' hosted by the
Institute of Musical Research (IMR), London (October 2007), and will be published in due
course.
100 Quoted in 'Jack Hylton's 9,000 Mile Tour', Daily Sketch (29 May 1930). Stravinsky and Hylton's
band appear to have met up in May 1930.
DEBORAH MAWER
296
account, however, seems to reflect a repositioning and distancing, on his
part, after what was to prove a frosty public response. 01 Even before the prem-
iere, what had first been reported as an exciting compositional opportunity- 'Igor
Stravinsky, modernistic composer, is going jazzique in collaboration with Jack
Hylton's band' - was reduced to the composer simply having granted the band
permission to rearrange part of Mavra.10 Thus Hylton did not get the chance
to do what Whiteman had done with Gershwin, and it would be 1945 before
Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto for Woody Herman materialized. Stravinsky's vocal
score of Mavra, signed 'Pour Monsieur Jacques Hylton en bon souvenir. Igor
Strawinsky, Paris, le 17 v 30',103 was duly dispatched to Hylton, though possibly
not until late 1930. And Stravinsky was photographed, baton in hand, with
Ansermet, Hylton and band members at a rehearsal in the Small Queen's Hall
recording studio,104 although the material was not in fact recorded or published.
The Times critic of 29 January 1931 was broadly supportive:
The general effect, however, when played with the subtlety of which Mr Hylton's band
is capable, is satisfactory, and as a piece of music it stands securely on its own feet [...].
M. Stravinsky [...] ought therefore to be gratified by the result of this experiment in
rescoring.
Even so, Stravinsky's supposed tribute to Hylton had effectively been reversed:
instead of the composer becoming attractively 'jazzique', Hylton was struggling
to be taken seriously - a much more difficult act to pull off. Doubtless Hylton
continued to see this association with a giant of modern classical music as a unique
chance for greater fame and, perhaps, respectability.
The very notion of attempting to re-read Mavra is a curious one. On the one
hand, Stravinsky had adopted an idiosyncratic score layout divided into melody
and rhythm-bass sections (with upper strings above the brass) and put melodic
emphasis on winds - features consistent with the jazz-band influence that he
admitted105 - and so had already rather played out its jazz/dance-band creden-
tials. On the other, although it involves minimal events and characters (Mother,
the Neighbour, Parasha and 'Mavra', the cook), Mavra is an esoteric and intellec-
tually complex work. It is layered with irony and parody, both musical and lit-
erary, through Boris Kochno's libretto after Pushkin. It embodies several national
styles and periods - not just interplay between American popular/jazz elements
101 Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, Expositions and Developments (London, 1962), 82zn.
102 'Jack Hylton's Jazz Guiding Stravinsky', Variety ([New York], 4 June 1930); Lew Davis, 'Warned
against Music!', Melody Maker (July 1930). By late summer seemingly nothing had happened,
which prompted Hylton to write to Stravinsky (o10 September 1930) requesting an update: see
Stravinsky: Selected Correspondence, ed. Robert Craft, 3 vols. (London, 1982-5), ii (1984), I23n.
103 JHA holdings; annotations inside are in Ternent's hand.
104 Our special correspondent, 'A Gramophone Rehearsal, Stravinsky and Hylton', Daily Telegraph
(29 January 1931).
105 Stravinsky and Craft, Expositions and Developments, 82.
PARISOMANIA'?
297
and nineteenth-century Russian opera - since subtle popular influences are also
implicated via a show in Paris entitled Le theatre de la chauve-souris a Moscou.'16
As Stephen Walsh has argued, 'Mavra is an essentially artificial product, almost
a statement about art'.o'
Equally, this dramatic piece is notoriously difficult to perform. Walsh
notes that its Opera premiere had not worked and, not mincing his words, that
Stravinsky's own later recording (from 1964) is 'a travesty'. Hylton's flawed
performance continued this tradition, and further ironies and distances resulted:
here, the mock-sentimental Mavra was attempted as a serious art-work by a light-
music outfit, slightly out of its depth.109 We have Hylton quoting Stravinsky,
quoting Glinka's Russian and Lyudmila, Tchaikovsky and Russian popular song:
opera within opera at the Opera! It is a nonsense, but intriguing all the same.
Two manuscript arrangements exist (JHA; see Appendix, no. 31). First, there is
Lucas's extensive and intricate reading (Figs. 44-92; 97-112), more akin to
Stravinsky's style, which was billed in the programme for the Palais des Fetes in
Strasbourg on 15 March 1931, but not performed. Hylton rejected this version for
not conforming to the typical sound of his band." Secondly, there is Ternent's
more circumscribed and pragmatic rearrangement (Figs. 44-92 only), as given at
the Opera, where on the final page the arranger still felt sufficiently wearied to pen
'Thank God!' Ternent's instrumentation conforms to the fulsome sound that
Hylton sought, with block scoring and doublings. It comprises 3 alto saxes (doub-
ling flute and clarinet), tenor and baritone saxes, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass,
cello, 3 violins, drums/timps and Stravinsky's piano reduction. Like Stravinsky's
original, Lucas's score had also included oboe, together with an independent
piano part and xylophone. In both readings the four vocal parts are assumed
by winds. Essentially, Ternent's reading is a simplified version of Lucas's. Though
less elegant, it emboldens the sound profile - rather like fashioning a cartoon
outline - as well as exhibiting some new touches (as in the treatment of Figs. 54,
68 and 73).
The press and audience response to Mavra, given early in the second half of the
concert, was almost uniformly hostile. The band had necessarily resorted to music
stands for this item, which most likely had a stultifying effect on the players, and
Hylton had lost his place conducting music beyond his experience. For the
Continental Daily Mail, the effect was 'rather disappointing. The music was
dull.' Similarly, for Excelsior: 'Stravinsky's Mavra [...] provoked only a quite
visible boredom' in the bewildered dance-band fans who came to hear the con-
cert. Le monde musical was more extreme - 'This performance was a total failure.
106 Richard Taruskin, Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions, z vols. (Oxford, 1996), ii, i539ff.
107 Stephen Walsh, The Music of Stravinsky (Oxford, 1988), 115.
108 Ibid.
109 Band member Les Carew described his experience in rehearsing the piece as 'nightmarish': 'How
are the Mighty ...?', Nostalgia, 10/40 (October 1990), 19-21 (p. 19). For the saxophonist
'Chappie' d'Amato, it was also 'a bit nerve-wracking'; see Faint, 'Jack Hylton', 122.
110 Faint, 'Jack Hylton', 67.
DEBORAH MAWER
298
A failure that was perfectly deserved' - while L'dition musicale used the occasion
as a pretext for confirming its prejudice: 'The mixing up of genres always ends in a
bad result.'111
Despite Hylton's major faux pas, the band was nonetheless at the peak of its
popularity, and the extensive press reaction to the concert and tour as a whole was
much warmer. After all, the programme was scheduled to finish at n pm, but had
continued until close to midnight, its 4,000 seats sold out. Moreover, it had been
broadcast by Radio-Paris, and had netted 1,400 in box-office takings.112 On
French responses to British-American 'jazz' invading the sanctity of the Op&ra,
however, it is worth quoting from a sketch that headed the satirical journal
Cyrano:
VERDI: What's that I hear? What is that awful uproar? [...]
GOUNOD: It's the Sabbath... Mephisto is at the pulpit.
SAINT-SAENS: Do you not find that it's rather like Reyer?
MASSENET: My dear Saint-Saens, is it yours, this delightful music here?
BIZET: Gentlemen, they profane the temple... It's sacrilege!113
Continuity and honour, but changing times
The next few years saw Hylton continue his established formulas (further French
recordings and tours), but in a world - especially in America and Europe - that
was changing rapidly, economically (following the 1929 Wall Street Crash) as well
as technologically and culturally (with the rise of sound film). Hylton's own
fortunes were contingent upon this broader socio-historical context.
An intensive day in April 1931 resulted in Hylton's Paris recordings of four sets
of French Popular Tunes. These collections were grouped in pairs and then retitled
for the French market: the first pair as Nos bons vieux airs (HMV K-6230) and the
111 The Concert-Goer, 'Jazz at Paris Opera', Continental Daily Mail (18 February 1931); Emile
Vuillermoz, 'Jack Hylton a l'Op&ra', Excelsior (21 February 1931): 'Le Mavra de Strawinsky
[...] ne provoqua qu'un ennui assez visible.' On the jazz crowd, see especially Emile
[Vuillermoz], 'Jack Hylton a l'Opera', Excelsior (24 February 1931). 'Jack Hylton a l'Opera',
Le monde musical (28 February 1931): 'Cette ex&cution fut &chec total. Un &chec parfaitement
mrit6.' (See too Emile Vuillermoz, 'La musique: Les concerts', Excelsior, 23 February 193L)
Pierre Leroi, 'Jack Hylton a l'Opera', L'dition musicale vivante, 37 (February 1931), 12-13: 'La
confusion de genres aboutit toujours a un resultat mauvais.' Sources: Jack Hylton Continental
Tours, 1930-1935 and Collection Rondel, Ro 586. A thoughtful, balanced response is found in
Ray Ventura, 'Le triomphe du jazz: Jack Hylton a l'Opera', Jazz- Tango, 2/6 (I March 1931), n.p.,
where it is suggested that Jacques Rouch6, the Opera's director, may have urged for the band's
programme to depart from its norm.
112 'Sixteen Hyltonisms: Jack Hylton and his Orchestra', Gramophone (March 1931).
113 Clement Vautel, 'Le jazz a l'Op&ra', Cyrano, 350 (i March 1931): 'VERDI: Qu'entends-je? Quel
est ce vacarme affreux? [...] GOUNOD: C'est le sabbat... M6phisto est au pupitre. SAINT-
SAENS: Vous ne trouvez pas que cela ressemble a du Reyer? MASSENET: Mon cher Saint-
Saens, c'est de vous, cette ddlicieuse musique-li? BIZET: Messieurs, on profane le temple ...
C'est un sacrilege!' The Frenchman Ernest Reyer (1823-1909) was an overrated Wagnerian opera
composer. Interestingly Hylton had already arranged Massenet's 'Meditation'.
PARISOMANIA'
299
second pair as (yet another) Pot-pourri de vieilles chansonsfranfaises (K-6378), both
featuring Andr& Ekyan as vocalist (Appendix, nos. I7-zo). The first part of Nos
bons vieux airs enabled Paul Fenoulhet to make his mark as arranger (Appendix,
no. 2o), and the numbers selected again demonstrated that Hylton's band had
its finger on the nostalgic pulse: 'Valse brune' and 'Frou-frou' dated from around
1900 (these songs were, for instance, later celebrated in a recorded collection
which recalled La belle ipoque).114 Its second part was arranged by Yorke
(Appendix, no. 17) and showcased a sentimental waltz, 'Quand I'amour meurt'
by Octave Crimieux, set against a lively chanson in polka style by Scotto
and Christine, 'La petite Tonkinoise', which had been popularized by Baker
(an implicit American influence). The accompanying two-part Pot-pourri
(Appendix, nos. 18-19) featured Yorke's further repackaging of 'Mon homme'
and 'J'en ai marre', mixed with new items and followed by Fenoulhet's set of love
songs, including 'Tout ga n'vaut pas l'amour', 'Bonsoir mam'zelle' and 'Au r'voir
et merci' (see Table 3). Several of these items were not very 'old' at all.
In the middle of a full year-end schedule, including more engagements at the
Empire Theatre, Hylton, 'le roi du jazz' ('the king ofjazz'), was presented with the
much-coveted red ribbon of the Legion d'Honneur, primarily in recognition of
his many concerts in support of charitable causes.115 Hylton's press image at this
point was remarkably strong, surpassing even his previous glories. According to
Candide, a weekly Parisian literary newspaper, the French public had adopted him
to such an extent that they expected all songs to be in French (which a significant
number were, though Hylton's own linguistic grasp was decidedly limited).
Meanwhile a review for the theatrical paper Comedia stressed that 'the repertory
is very well put together, without any lack of taste and with infinitely varied
musical discoveries. [...] it's jazz itself that comes to life before our eyes, that
analyses itself ironically'.116" Here we have further appreciation that there was a
musical dimension to the success of Hylton's band, not just the performances, but
also the instrumental groupings, figurations and timbral effects - in short, the
orchestrations. We also have a continuing misconception, or at least a looseness in
referencing jazz, since, strictly speaking, Hylton's performances did not involve
'jazz itself.
A minority of opinion still noted repetition. In part this was a matter of positive
constancy - 'the same technical qualities, a sure m&tier, a sense of the astonishing
114 An advertisement placed by the Parisian record company Le Chant du Monde promoted La belle
cpoque: r4 Chansons Ip9oo, in a programme for 'Le Ballet du Moulin Rouge' (18 April-I May
I954): JHPRIN9700I3. The precise nature of Hylton's involvement here is unclear.
115 Photograph of Hylton captioned 'Dans la Lgion d'Honneur', L'ouest (12 January 1932). See too,
Le Loup de Den[tell?]e, 'Cours et lemons', Comedia (14 January 1932); 'Jack Hilton a le ruban
rouge', Indpendant ([Pau], 14 January 1932). The honour was reported in papers such as the
Rtipublicain orlkannais (20 January 1932), Dtpiche de Rouen (12z January 1932) and Petit
Dauphinois ([Grenoble], 20 January 1932).
116 'Le music-hall: Jack Hylton a l'Empire', Candide (7 January 1932); 'Spectacle de musique et
th~itre chantb', Comcedia (5 January 1932): 'Le ripertoire est fort bien compos&, sans aucune
faute de gofit et avec des recherches musicales variies h l'infini. [...] c'est le jazz lui-mime qui
s'anime sous nos yeux, s'analyse ironiquement'.
DEBORAH MAWER
300
rhythm and, especially, this humorous invention' - but there were hints too of
distrusting Hylton's calculatedness- 'It was always perfection, but it was always a
coldperfection.'" '17 This may be seen as a return of the idea of a northern otherness
(discussed above), but with a negative spin indicative of a growing harsh element
within the French press - a sign of changing times. Hugues Panassit, author of Le
jazz hot (1934), would become Hylton's most outspoken critic of the 1930s, deni-
grating him whilst upholding Armstrong as his foil.118
These challenging times were shaped partly by rising unemployment, and,
adding a further dimension to our theme of British-French-American relations
and politics, Hylton showed canny sensitivity in declining private dance engage-
ments in Paris, where 4,00ooo French musicians were unemployed while 1,500oo
foreigners held jobs.11"' Even so, Marseille press coverage (previously favourable)
of the award of the Legion d'Honneur openly begrudged Hylton's success as a
foreigner: 'The news that the chief ofjazz Jack Hylton had got the red ribbon gave
hope to all musicians and music-hall artists, on condition that they were not
Frenchmen.'120 Nevertheless Hylton went on to play at the Salle Prat in Marseille
in February 1932.
Another sign of the times was the sad demise of the Paris Empire, which had
seen Hylton's first music-hall success. Consequently, and as an indication of
increased Americanization as the public were lured to the new talkies, Hylton
took up a fortnight's residency at the impressively equipped Rex Cinema in
January 1933, presenting five 40-minute shows per day, some of which were
broadcast via the Eiffel Tower.121 The Rex was to become one of Hylton's
favourite new venues, even if less illustrious than the concert halls. His itineraries
also reveal a need for widened provincial activity, notably in eastern and northern
France. Having played on various occasions in Strasbourg, Hylton's band was to
be heard in the northern city of Lille in February 1933, his shows alternating with a
staged version of Ravel's La valse, and later broadcast by Lille Radio-PTT-Nord.
Undoubtedly the highlight of this period was Hylton's organization of Duke
Ellington's visit to London in June 1933. And at the Salle Pleyel a month later,
it was Hylton who warmly introduced the Duke and his band to the Parisian
public. Ellington's hot Harlem jazz was hugely successful, or, to put it in the
117 L.-R. Dauven, 'A l'Empire, la rentrbe de Jack Hylton', Ami du peuple (ddition du soir, 3 January
I932): 'Les m~mes qualits techniques, un m6tier sir, un sens du rythme &tonnant et, surtout,
cette invention humoristique. [...] C'&tait toujours la perfection, mais c'&ait toujours lafroide
perfection.' JHA and Collection Rondel, Ro 15718. At this time, Hylton reduced the visual
component of his shows, which proved a mistake.
118 For detailed discussion of Panassit's campaign of detraction, see Fry, 'Jack i l'Opbra'.
11S 'Hylton's Tactful Rule Pacifies Musicians', Variety (19 January I932).
120 [G. P], 'Un jazz qui fait jaser', Le bavard (i6 January 1932): 'La nouvelle que le chef du jazz Jack
Hylton avait le ruban rouge a donn$ I'espoir 1 tous les musiciens et les artistes de music-halls, I
condition qu'ils ne soient pas Frangais.
121 'Hylton Scores New Success in Paris: A Super Kinema Engagement', Melody Maker (February
1933), in Jack Hylton Press Cuttings, May 193I-June 1933; 'Au Rex', Lepetitjournal (25 January
1933), in Foreign Press Cuttings, 1932-3.
PARISOMANIA' ?
3OI
vernacular, it 'went over big'.122 Capitalizing on this American association,
Hylton recorded a medley entitled Ellingtonia for Decca and, despite the growing
anti-Semitic climate, an arrangement of the Gershwin-Whiteman Rhapsody in
Blue. Moving with the times, he also incorporated the authentic sound of'le Hot'
within his band, featuring the legendary 'Hawk' (Coleman Hawkins) in his
multiple Christmas shows of 1934 back at the Rex and at the Gaumont-
Palace.123 But increasingly his innovation revealed itself in his work as an
impresario rather than as a creative artist, and concurrently he was moving into
the cinema business.
In a contemporary piece on 'Christmas with the Band' for the Loughborough
Echo, Hylton offered insight into his cultural attraction to France, adding to
our sense of what the country 'gave' to him. Generally he spent the year-end
abroad, sometimes in Berlin or Vienna, but, he observed, 'most of my recent
Christmastides [...] appear to have been celebrated in France. They have been
very happy ones.' Hylton argued that the public image at home of a France
dominated by political manoeuvring and financial dealing hides the sincere 'sim-
plicity of French folk'. Small cultural differences are noted - the putting out of
shoes not Christmas stockings - and he recalls with pleasure the boulevard market
stalls and Parisian caf&s which remain open through the night: 'Christmas Day is
ushered in with a good deal of revelry throughout the city's West End.'124 This
suggests Hylton was drawn to France by what he presents as the genuine French
people, with their traditional activities (here perhaps involving a further dose of
nostalgia), their Parisian cafr culture, and their capacity to enjoy themselves.
Apparently seeking to move with ever more Americanized times, Hylton's
innovation in summer 1935 was to release an autobiographical film, She Shall
Have Music, which featured his band on a virtual continental tour. As a British
representation of Paris it is a fascinating document, since its finale comprises one
of several renditions within Hylton's output of the 'Can-Can' from the Moulin
Rouge, where he had first signed a residency contract back in 1928. Most
importantly, later in the year, Hylton finally fulfilled his dream of touring
America, though he had to leave his band behind because of foreign labour
restrictions. While Hylton had welcomed Ellington's band, the Musicians'
Union had lobbied to change the law to protect British jobs and ban visiting
American musicians; predictably, the American Federation of Musicians retali-
ated (though it had in fact prevented Hylton's first intended visit as early as May
1929). Hylton returned to England in July 1936.
122 Gilbert Chase, Ellington review, Continental Daily Mail (31 July 1933), in Jack Hylton Press
Cuttings, 1933-4. On Hylton, Ellington and politics, see Parsonage, The Evolution ofJazz, 252-3.
123 'Le hot Feast for Frenchmen', Melody Maker (I5 December 1934); 'Hylton Conquers Paris
Again', Melody Maker (January 1935), in Jack Hylton Press Book, 1934-5. Hawkins was not,
however, allowed into Germany with the band: evidence of the increasingly intolerant Nazi
regime. For Hylton's later views on jazz, see Hylton, 'The High Finance of Jazz'.
124 Jack Hylton, 'Christmas with the Band', Loughborough Echo (14 December 1934).
DEBORAH MAWER
302
Hylton and Ravel's Bolero
A second notable instance of Hylton's jazzing a classic took its inspiration from
indigenous French repertory. Hylton's appetite for rethinking French classics had
been whetted by Massenet's 'M ditation' from Thais and Chaminade's 'Pas des
charpes', but in autumn 1936, back with HMV, he recorded that most malleable
balletic candidate, Ravel's Bolero (Appendix, no. 2). Bearing in mind Bolro's
close association with its 'sister' (Viennese-inspired) ballet, La valse, we may
regard as rather apt the coupling of Bolro on Hylton's record with Ternent's
reading of 'Vienna, city of my dreams' (HMV BD-393). That Hylton was well
aware of Ravel's significance is apparent from an article he had penned five years
earlier, which declared that 'dance musicians lean hard on the teachings of the
modernistic school. Ravel, Delius, Stravinsky are some of the masters who influ-
ence the harmonic character of dance band orchestration.'125 There is, though, no
evidence that Ravel was ever involved in Hylton's enterprise and, although he
lived until December i937, he was already seriously ill.
Conceptually, while Mavra and Bolero share similar notions of construction
and distancing, the latter's popular, melodic aesthetic with hints of exoticism
proved much more promising. Its brand of mechanization suited Hylton's slick
machine, and of course his version exists within a rich tradition of transcriptions.
Ravel's inclusion of three saxophones, trombones and trumpets, playing glissan-
dos and grace notes and generally indulging in showmanship and turn-taking,
lent itself readily to dance-band rendition, even if it reduced the interpretative
potential. In fact the two different arrangements (B39) ordered by Hylton derive
from another version for small symphonic or jazz orchestra made by 'Roger
Branga'126 and published by Durand in the same year as the Ravel original,
1929. Ravel must have known of and presumably endorsed this version, at least
in principle, though it entails extraordinarily dramatic cuts that almost halve its
length from 340 to 198 bars (making it potentially even shorter if repeats are
omitted) and a crescendo rather than his careful dynamic terracing.
Surprisingly perhaps, the first (short, piano) score of Hylton's arrangements,
which is in Williams's hand, restores the terraced dynamics and some of the
length. It echoes Ravel's orchestration with solos for tenor sax followed by
soprano (Williams, letter B-B2; Ravel (orchestral score, Durand, 1929),
rehearsal figs. 6-7), plus a duo for sax and violin, but the notation of ties is careless
and, crucially, it removes the dissonance within the climax.
As was the case with Mavra, the second score, undertaken by Ternent, is the
more pragmatic and bold. Closely modelled on 'Branga', it reduces the music
to io8 bars and adopts a forthright dynamic trajectory: pp, mf, f Some
sonorities recall Ravel's original: the opening muted trumpet solo (cf. Ravel,
125 Jack Hylton, 'Jazz Music: Is the Expression Objectionable?', Midland Daily Telegraph (6 March
1931).
126 As kindly pointed out to me by crossword enthusiast Nigel Simeone, 'Branga' is an anagram of
Ravel's friend Lucien Garban. That Garban might have been the arranger of this somewhat
compromising version is most intriguing.
3PARISOMANIA' ?
303
at rehearsal fig. 5), the four-part block violins (Ternent, letter C; Ravel, fig. 16) and
the blending of saxophones and violins. Unlike Branga, however, Ternent
includes a clarinet and reinstates the guitar (in preference to banjo) that Ravel
had sought to evoke through violin strumming.
Interestingly, Hylton's recording is very similar but not identical to Ternent's
arrangement. Such gaps, or small differences, between scores and recordings are
fascinating for what they can reveal about performance practice of notated
arrangements and the potential for some improvisation, or 'jazzing it up'. As
Scott comments more generally, 'while the score may appear predictable, the
performance may not be so [...] even for dance band records with little or no
improvisation, the score is an inadequate representation of the music'.'27 Most
astounding is the tempo: Ravel's original has a metronome mark of crotchet = 72
(though his recording is as slow as approximately 63),128 the 'Branga' version has
76, but Hylton's performance (as recorded on HMV BD-393) adopts a slick 94.
Even given the disc restrictions of approximately 3V2 minutes per side, this is
dramatic, and creates perhaps the shortest Boldro ever, at around 3' 20". (The pitch
is only fractionally sharp.) In performance, the oboe is the initial melodic protag-
onist: an apt change in relation to Ternent's score, since the trumpets already have
a high profile with the ostinato. The oboe sonority is followed by the effective
block violins with overt vibrato and the saxophone/violin blend (see above), true
both to Hylton's doubling practices and to Ravel's original. By virtue of the guitar
and radical tempo - which Ravel surely would have deplored, as he did Arturo
Toscanini's liberties with the New York Philharmonic in May 1930129 - Hylton
succeeds in renaturalizing this piece as a Spanish bolero dance. In the melody's
second section, this sonic image is sealed in performance by a tripletizing of
notated semiquavers, both emblematic of Spanishness and analogous to the prac-
tice of swinging quavers.
'Entente' and the war
Fittingly, and bringing us full circle in our discussion of Hylton's activities,
British-French accord was rekindled in the run-up to the Second World War.
In the summer following the sixteenth and final European tour of spring I938,
Hylton's arranger Freddy Bretherton, who created repertory for the Bungalow
Club venue, completed a manuscript score entitled L'entente cordialeMedley (B48;
see Appendix, no. 14). Included were Padilla's recurrent 'Ca c'est Paris', another
nostalgic iteration of the French-Spanish theme, and a more ceremonial,
patriotic 'Marziale', which coupled 'Land of hope and glory' symbolically to
the 'Marseillaise'. This self-conscious adoption of political themes is evident
127 Scott, 'Incongruity and Predictability', 87.
128 See Ronald Woodley, 'Style and Practice in the Early Recordings', The Cambridge Companion to
Ravel, ed. Deborah Mawer (Cambridge, 200ooo), 213-39 (p. 236).
129 See A Ravel Reader, ed. Orenstein, 305-6.
DEBORAH MAWER
304
elsewhere in the final HMV recordings. Just a month after the Allied declaration
of war on Germany, Hylton recorded in London a valedictory 'Bon voyage,
ch&ie' (Appendix, no. 4) and, with some inevitability, two other songs were
released (arranged by Ternent): 'Somewhere in France with you' and the
Parker/Charles classic-in-the-making 'We'll meet again' (BD-554o; Appendix,
nos. 49, 56). All three recordings were sung by Hylton's sister Dolly Elsie. As a
final jazzing of a French classic, the darkness of winter 1939 was mirrored in Phil
Cardew's arrangement of Chopin's so-called 'Tristesse', to the lyrics 'So deep is
the night', sung by the respected Sam Browne (BD-5554; Appendix, no. 52).
Further entente and symmetry are apparent in Hylton's return to the Op&a for
his farewell concert in April 1940. Because of nightly curfews this was a charity
matin&e to raise funds for and boost the morale of the allied forces. About 3,00ooo
tickets were sold at the princely sum of 200oo francs each. On the stage itself were
mock-ups of the type of fortifications to be seen along the Maginot Line.
Strategically, the programme's first half was given by British artists and second
half by the French. With Hylton's band appeared Jack Warner and the already
legendary Gracie Fields, who dominated the press coverage.130 Hylton's pro-
gramme included 'Somewhere in France', 'We'll meet again' and Ternent's
arrangement of one of the most popular British theatrical songs, 'Run rabbit, run!'
(by Gay/Butler), with its provocative interpolation: 'Run Adolf, run!' (Appendix,
no. 47). Accustomed to entertaining royalty and VIPs, Hylton played before the
French President, Prime Minister (M. Paul-Reynaud) and War Minister
(Daladier), the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and the British Ambassador.131
Meanwhile the second half featured Chevalier again, and the highly contrast-
ing popular-classical dance styles ofJosephine Baker and Serge Lifar, the Op&ra's
premier danseur. Reviews commented on how the French-British audience appre-
ciated the other country's contribution, despite not understanding Gracie Fields's
Lancashire accent or Chevalier's French quips, which were so extended that he
had no time to sing!132 In a reciprocal gesture, a second broadcast concert took
place at the Drury Lane Theatre on 30 April, with Hylton, Fields and Chevalier.
Subtly and poignantly, according to the Listener, the applause of the army-officer
audience gave the wireless-listener the effect of being there at the concert; in this
way, the soldiers 'reflected the performers for us so that we caught their [the
soldiers'] vision of them as well as our own; and in their vision they revealed
themselves'.133
130 See 'Gracie to Sing at BEF Again', Manchester Dispatch (5 March1 940), in Jack Hylton Cuttings,
1938-40.
131 'Concert in Paris', Edinburgh EveningNews (i2 April 1940); 'Duke ofWindsor will Hear Gracie',
Nottingham News (i3 April 1940).
132 Daily Mail reporter, 'Gracie was "Entente" Hit', Daily Mail (17 April 1940); Ernest Betts, 'This
was Gracie's Night at the "Op&ra"', Manchester Daily Mail (17 April 1940).
133 Grace Wyndham Goldie, 'Critic on the Hearth. Broadcast Drama: The Troops - Gracie',
Listener (2 May 1940).
'PARISOMANIA'?
305
Closing the show
Having chronicled Hylton's main French activities, it remains for me to conclude
commentary on our two sets of interactions and offer a final response to percep-
tions of Hylton's so-called 'Parisomania'. This topic has opened up a revealing
window on historical conditions and sociological attitudes during the inter-war
years, at home, in France and across the Atlantic. It confirms the importance, in
the age preceding television, of the general public's engagement in diverse, new
leisure pursuits: dance halls, light concert music, evenings with the gramophone,
variety acts and early sound film. Equally, the growing blight of unemployment
from the late 1920s onwards is reflected in xenophobic attitudes to British musi-
cians, with Hylton's band denied a chance to visit America even before the tit-
for-tat legislative changes of the mid-I93os, and the Marseille press resentful of
Hylton receiving the red ribbon. 'Le cas Hylton' offers wider insights into British-
French cultural relations, including how one nation's musicians, concert critics,
journalists and public perceived the other's. But the 'elephant in the room' is
surely the profound American influence upon popular music of this period and
ever since, which resulted in the triangulation of relations discussed above.
The most tangible manifestation of some kind of cultural difference is Hylton's
constructed French repertory - itself a strong resource for probing performance
practice. This comprehensive collection is proof of a balanced appreciation of
what constituted French mass musical culture, embracing chansons of Scotto,
Christin&, Padilla and others - as sung by Mistinguett, Baker and Chevalier;
traditional folk tunes; selected classics; and foreign perceptions of France in
song form. The process of arranging that material was not, however, neutral.
Despite French lyrics and accordion-like quirks of instrumentation, the trans-
formation of this music for the dance-band machine required it to be 'Hyltonized'
within a British tradition - conforming to that particularly sweet sound, with
three or more 'sugars': the violins. In its eclectic quest, Hylton's orchestra acted as
a vehicle for transmogrifying diverse musics and reconstructing (that is, orches-
trating) them in its image. In turn this image, especially at first, owed much
to Whiteman and so resulted in a British-French-American blend. While the
trail may have been partially obscured, many songs had American links, such
as Chevalier's hits from the film The Love Parade, and songs alluding to France
that were promoted by American publishers. As James Nott notes, until 1935 at
least an astonishing 75% of the most popular songs were of American origin.134
Ultimately we might argue that what emerges (despite some xenophobia) is an
international blended music, albeit one with a British accent. After all, Hylton
himself maintained a multipurpose 'one size fits all' stance, declaring that his
repertory worked equally well at home or in Europe,135 and not just in France,
but in Holland, Austria and Germany.
135 Hylton, 'Taking or Inflicting Pains', 513.
DEBORAH MAWER
306
Equally, Hylton exploited the flexible positioning of his band, as part of a
second triangulation of popular music, classical music and jazz. Essentially,
Hylton's band occupied a popular locus between classical music and strict notions
of jazz - but, confusingly, his music was sometimes viewed (even by himself) as a
kind of'jazz'. Although early on Hylton had distanced himself from (American)
jazz, maximizing his (British) sweet brand, his attitude towards hot jazz gradually
warmed. There were pragmatic reasons for this. Whatever the fluid, evolving
definitions of jazz, and European lack of experience of African-American jazz,
Hylton's mass French public, upon whom he depended, came to view him posi-
tively in jazz terms. The situation was compounded by French critics with a
classical knowledge-base who labelled him the 'king' or 'czar' of jazz (as also
happened with Whiteman). Furthermore, given the fickleness of fashion, hot
American styles came to be seen as more desirable, so Hylton was happy to cater
for that taste too. Conversely, he was on secure territory in his restrained jazzing
of accessible classical products like Ravel's Bolero or Massenet's Thais, even if
Mavra proved a step too far. In this way, Hylton's early twentieth-century French
practice contributes to a central, ongoing debate about the nature, boundaries
and (con)fusion between so-called classical and popular musics, and, in these
terms at least, his 'jazz' re-readings of a classical repertory definitely warrant
more attention.
Undoubtedly this story has a fairy-tale quality, but it is much more than a rags-
to-riches cliche. France offered Hylton the opportunity to rise through his own
efforts, from a humble childhood close to the cotton mills of northern England, to
directing the first dance band ever to tread the hallowed boards of the Paris Opera.
France provided prestigious new concert venues - the Theatre des Champs-
Elystes and Salle Pleyel, as well as palatial cinemas. As a further benefit, music-
hall entertainment thrived much longer in France than in Britain.136
Additionally, France bestowed recording and broadcasting opportunities, and
by 1932 had offered its ultimate national accolade, awarding Hylton the L6gion
d'Honneur that the perhaps overly fastidious Ravel had declined in 1920.
During the later 1920s and early 1930s, the French press gifted Hylton much
publicity and artistic approbation, emanating especially from the highly
respected pen of Vuillermoz and, with some qualification, from Prunieres and
Louis-Leon Martin. Through the thirties, however, there was a sense that Hylton
had reached his limits, both musically (as shown by Mavra) and in terms of
novelty effects. Despite striving for new repertory each season and maintaining
high-quality performances, a lapse into repetition and stylistic predictability was
inevitable. It is, after all, hard to remain 'le triomphateur du jour' indefinitely.
That Hylton realized this himself is perhaps apparent as he redirected his energies
into impresario work in theatre, film and television. But in 1940, soon after the
outbreak of the Second World War, he concluded his activities triumphantly with
a return to the Op&ra, playing for the President.
136 See Ean Wood, The Josephine Baker Story (London, 2ooo), 103.
PARISOMANIA'
307
For his part, Hylton, to a much greater extent than his compatriots, offered
dance-band performance to France of a calibre that did not exist in its home-
grown produce. It was theatrical entertainment which respected and appealed to
French, notably Parisian, values of consummate professionalism, sophistication
and the 'fantaisie' ('whim') of spectacle, with a light touch. Most cleverly, Hylton
succeeded in creating an updated yet nostalgic musical vision of France, which he
packaged and sold back to the French in a process that Jackson has observed more
broadly: 'by playing chansons in a jazz style, for instance, some musicians used a
nostalgia for French music as a way of rooting a modern sound in the French
heritage without losing the best qualities of either'.137 Hylton was arguably the
most skilful of these tightrope walkers, as evidenced by his extensive repertory in
the Appendix, though a significant portion of the creative musical credit should
go collectively to his arrangers and players. He also had a role in educating the
French in the pleasures ofjazz, which led to an acceptance of the art of figures like
Sidney Bechet and Ellington.
What of the 'Parisomania'? Certainly Hylton held a very strong, simple affec-
tion for France - primarily Paris but also the provinces - and its people, evidenced
by his article of Christmas 1934 (discussed above), and his professional relations
with the country were intense. But then, wherever he operated, it was as a work-
aholic fuelled by a canny drive for success and an excess of nervous energy. If these
were symptoms of a mania, then there was reason in his madness. France opened
its doors to Hylton in a way that America, ironically, would not, and he would
have been foolish not to capitalize on its generosity and enthusiasm. The special
long-term relationship between Jack Hylton and France might neatly be summed
up in his band's arrangement, at its peak, of Vincent Scotto's song, as immor-
talized by the African-American Josephine Baker, 'J'ai deux amours, mon pays
et Paris'.
ABSTRACT
Like many figures in popular music, the British dance bandleader and entrepreneur Jack
Hylton (1892-1965) has been largely forgotten. Through concert tours of France and
nostalgic recordings with Chevalier, Hylton forged a connection which peaked at the
Paris Op&ra. Despite his large French-related repertory, which included 'jazz' arrange-
ments ofStravinsky's Mavra, Ravel's Bolro and chansons, his American-influenced style
was ultimately international. If his obsession justified the quip of'Parisomania', there was
reason in his madness.
Deborah Mawer (D.Mawer@lancaster.ac.uk) is Senior Lecturer in Music at Lancaster
University. She works on twentieth-century French music, especially music-dance and
classical-jazz interactions. From 1996 until 200ooo, she was Vice-President of the Society for
Music Analysis. Books include Darius Milhaud (1997), The Cambridge Companion to
Ravel (2000), The Ballets ofMaurice Ravel (2006) and Ravel Studies (forthcoming); articles
have appeared in journals such as Music Theory Online, Opera Quarterly and the British
Journal ofMusic Education.
137 Jackson, Making Jazz French, I0o.
DEBORAH MAWER
308
unless specified)
Hylton and his Orchestra);

Vic. 25533
recording record no./title

date/place (ensemble: JHO
materials and comments
13 Nov. 1936 HMV BD-393

London
(reissued,
EMI SH-269: Jack
MS parts including pf.;

stamped 'Campbell Connelly & Co', London MS small parts (including
pf. part (short score));
MS large parts, score
APPENDIX
band
JHA
file no.
HYLTON'S FRENCH REPERTORY (SELECTIVE LIST)
composer/
arranger
categorization)
Fred Neville ( 1930) B8
Branga'
2 arrs.: I in Major
Maurice Ravel (arr. 'Roger
B39(Lucien Garban))/
'Back to gay Paree' (D)
Boldro (B)
Dance
Orchestra;
JHJB
Hylton's
Jazz song;
Band;
JHO
= Jack
MO
=
Metropol
Orchestern
(sic);
QDO
= jackhylton/index.html>.
Queen's
Dance
Letters
are used to
notably
performed
thefollowing
items: in
(A)
France.
= following
French
chanson;
(B)
= Classical
music;
(C)Orchestra.
==Jack
traditional
French
Recordings
(D)
song
located
on Hylton
French
in
the(and
topic;
British
(E)Orchestra;
Library
= song
Sound
Archive
are
*Not
(BLSA).
Rust
and
Forbes;
information
usually
from
78rpm
record
(JHA),
or on
occasion
from Peter
Faint's website: <www.petefaint.co.uk/
I
Thanks
arehis)
due
to
Adam
945,
Greig
for
Supplement
his
contribution
(2nd,referenced
rev.
to
edn,
compiling
Harrow,
this
1989),
listing.
for Credit
much
of
is owed
the recording
to Briandirectly
detail.
Rust and
No.
Sandy
JHA
Forbes,
title
(and
British
Dance
Bands
on Record,
1911 to
This Appendix is arranged
alphabetically
bycategorize
music
title,
The
the
Jack Hylton
abbreviations
Archive
(JHA).
are used
Recordings
for record
sometimes
labels and
have
ensembles:
alternative
Ar.
titles.
= =Ariel;
HMV
= His
Master's
Voice;
Vic.
=and
Victor;
Zon.
= marked
Zonophone;
ADO
=inAriel
Williams's hand (but nosignature); Billy Ternent
PARISOMANIA? 309
continued
(BLSA)
Decca F-2678 (no vocals)
HMV rejected
6 May 1931 HMV B-6oi6

(voc. Pat
London
O'Malley)
9 Oct. 1939 HMV BD-5526

London
(voc.Dolly Elsie)
(Williams's neat hand)MS score, parts

bars in full, Billy?'), parts
MS score (including Yorke's blue crayon; final
page: 'Will you write these
MS pf. score (dirty), national

many variations;
'Blackbirds in France':
MS score, named parts

MS score (with com-
ments),
3 May 1928
Middlesex
6 Nov. 1931
London
HMV K-I744 ('For
6 Oct. 1922
Paris':* QDO, as
Middlesex
Orchestre Reine)
31 Mar. 1924
Middlesex
7 Oct. 1931
O'Malley)
London
MS score, parts
variant: 'a c'est Paris inChina')
parts
HMV B-6o83 (voc. Pat
HMV X-I967 (as MO)
(see MS parts, including

348,
foraccordions
2
(also Lucas
B74
B29
Arr. Peter Yorke(?)
(unsigned)
B7
Art Noil, Don Pelosi
'Bon voyage, ch&rie'
( I939)/arr. Ternent
Ray Henderson (
'Bye bye blackbird'/
Francis, Day & Hunter)/

arr. Leighton Lucas, 1929
'Blackbirds in France' (D)
Harry Warren ( Robbins

Publ. MGM,
M39 I93I)/arr. Ternent
'(By the river Sainte) Marie' (D)
1926; original sung byMistinguett)/arr.

also i
Lucas P2)
Jose Padilla ( Salabert, C26
'Ca c'est Paris' (A)
P. V. Lambertucci (1920)/
arr. Hylton
'Carne de cabaret'
Arr. Hylton
'Chacun sa vie'
Hunter,
(unsigned)
Noel Gay ( Francis,&Day
C37 I93I)/arr. Yorke
'Chrie, c'est vous'
IO0
3 'Bonjour'
310 DEBORAH MAWER
unless specified)
HMV B-3686 (voc.
Chevalier) (BLSA);
HMV K-6o058:* rec. asSouvenirs de ChevalierPts

- I & 2; also HMV K-
3065 - Pts 3 & 4
(much messier hand)

I in
hand; Ptmainly
2: Paris
links, cuts marked
MS parts, including pf.;
PtWilliams's
28 Nov. 1930
band
JHA
composer/
C5 (see
also LI8,
N9,
parts (including pf., conductor)
MS score, parts
B48 (see MS score, inscribed:

also C26) 'Bungalow Club no. 6';
C6I
Nzo)
score), named
F25 MS parts (including pf.
MS score (skeleton),
signed 'P. Yorke'
F2zo
(see also
YI, F3o)
file no.
arranger
categorization)
No. JHA title (and
19 Mar. 1926 HMV B-5041

(BLSA)
Middlesex
15 Mar. 1923 HMV B-I594

Middlesex

new kind of love'; ThePond,

Big 1930); Whiting ('Louise'), Christine
Al Sherman ('Livin", 'A
(Maurice) Chevalier
II
('Valentine') and Yvain ('Dites-moi'; Innocents of

Paris, 1929); Victor
Schertzinger ('Paris', 'Nobody's using it', 'My

love parade'; The Love Parade, I929)/arr. Ternent,
Vauchant et al.
Pt 2: 'You brought a new

using it now', 'My loveparade (Mon cocktail d'amour)', 'Dites-moi, ma
mere' (A)
kind of love', 'Nobody's
sunlight',
'Louise', 'Paris
stay the same', 'Valentine';
Medley - Pt I: 'Livin' in
the
Hylton
cree par Pills et Tabet',sung
as by Mireille)/arr. Maurice
?
Yvain (i92o)/arr.
les motifs de la chanson
Jean Nohain ( 1932, 'sur
'Couches dans le foin' (A)
12
'En douche'
'3
Jose Padilla et al./arr.
Freddy Bretherton and dated '14 July 1938'
('Land of hope and glory',

'Marseillaise')
'(a c'est Paris', 'Marziale'
L'entente cordiale Medley:
'4
Jose Padilla, Albert
'Fleurs d'amour'
Willemetz ( Salabert, I924)/arr. Lucas)
(foxtrot; A)
'5
Maurice Yvain songs
(perf. Mistinguett;
'Dites-moi' perf.
Chevalier)/arr. Yorke
French Medley: 'Billet doux', 'J'en ai marre', 'Java', 'Mon homme', 'Dites-moi'
'5
PARISOMANIA? 311
continued
chansonsfrancaises- Pt I (voc. Ekyan)
(voc. Andre Ekyan)
9 Apr. 1931 HMV K-6378:

Paris Pot-pourri
rec. as
de vieilles
Paris bons
vieux
9 Apr. 1931 HMV K-6230:
rec. as
Nos airs - Pt 2
MS score (skeleton), initialled 'P.Y.'; parts
(different hand)
(Yvain, initialled 'P.Y.'; parts

'Mon (different hand) homme')
F30, F2o MS score (skeleton),
Octave Crimieux ('Quand

l'amour');
F3o
Vincent Scotto,
arr. Christine ('La petite
Tonkinoise') and other
composers/all arr. Yorke
(MS score title: Popular

du Missouri', 'Je sais
quetes jolie', 'La petite Tonkinoise', 'Quand
French Songs I: 'Le long
French Popular Tunes I
vous
17
de l'amour'; C)
Tunes II: 'Elkanore', 'C'est

(MS score title: French
'Mon homme',
ai marre',
'Mes parents',
French Popular Tunes 2
jeune et ga ne sait pas',
'J'en
18
9 Apr. 1931 HMV K-6378:

Paris Pot-pourri
rec. as
de vieilles
Paris Nos
9 Apr. 1931 HMV K-6230:
rec.bons
as vieux airs - Pt I
MS score (skeleton);
MS score (skeleton);
parts (different hand)
parts (different hand)
F3o
Maurice Yvain/arr. Yorke
'Ah, si vous voulez

l'amour meurt' (waltz),
(voc. Ekyan)
chansonsfrancaises - Pt 2(voc. Ekyan)
Arr. Paul Fenoulhet
'Fernande'; C)
(MS score title: Record j,

Face A: 'Tout ga n'vautpas l'amour', 'Bonsoir mam'zelle', 'La fifille asa mbre', 'Au r'voir et merci'; C)
19
Arr. and signed Fenoulhet F3o
(MS score title: Record

'Amoureuse', 'Valse
No. 3, Face B: 'Frou-frou',
20
brune', 'Fascination',
'Valse bleue'; C)
312 DEBORAH MAWER
unless specified)
chansons frangaises - Pt I

14 Mar. 1930 HMV London

K-5904: Pot-pourri
rec. as
de vieilles
'London March the 8th [1930]'; composers,

MS score (signed, dated
Christin
HMV K-5769: voc. rec.Vauchant as Les succts de
chansons franaises - Pt 2
14 Mar. 1930 HMV London

K-5904: Pot-pourri
rec. as
de vieilles
MS score (signed, dated'London, March the 9th
publishers, titles listedback),

at
parts
[1930]'); composers,
30 Oct. 1929 HMV B-3314:

London inst.
Memories
rec. asofParis - Pt 4;
(marked 'no basse' (sic))

MS pf. part only,French
headed Tunes by Christin
publishers, titles listedback),

at
parts
band
JHA
IHA
composer/
(concert) Browne as 'Fantasie

uber:Ich kiisse
27 Nov. 1928 HMV C-i6i6;
BerlinVic.
36172: voc. rec. Sam
13 Feb. 1929
London
Ihre Hand,
Madame' HMV B-56o2
MS score, parts
MS score (rough), neat
Davis'
parts (including pf.), original marked 'Lew
logued
file no.
arranger
categorization)
No. JHA title (and
uncata-
(BLSA)
L. G. Desormes, Helmer
and
F4Georges Krier, Robert Planquette/arr. Vauchant
Berat, Ganne et al.Iarr.

Lbo Vauchant
A. Renard, Lulli, Fridric F4
French Pot-pourri - Pt I:
21
'Le temps des cerises', 'Au clair de la lune', 'Ma

'Auprbs de ma blonde',
Normandie', 'Marche
Lorraine' (C)
French Pot-pourri - Pt 'En

2: revenant de la Revue','En passant par la
22
'Les montagnards', 'Le regiment de

Lorraine', 'Le rave passe',
Henri Christin6/
(including 'Reviens',
Sambre-et-Meuse' (C/A)
French Tunes by Christined
23
Ralph Erwin Vogl,Rotter/arr.

Fritz I44 Ternent
arr. Vauchant
'Valentine'; A)
'I kiss your hand,
( Salabert, 1930)/arr.
Vincent Scotto, as sung J8by Josephine Baker
Yorke
'J'ai deux amours' (A)
madam [e]'
24
25
PARISOMANIA'? 313
continued
HMV X-1970 (as MO)
7 Apr. 1924
Middlesex
17 Oct. 1924
HMV B-I330 (QDO)
HMV B-5442 (BLSA)
HMV B-I9o08
Middlesex
14 Feb. 1928
London
13 Feb. 1922
HMV B-5663 (voc.
Middlesex
31 May (?),
Browne; intro: 'Wait
or 17 June
until you see ma cherie')
1929*
Small
HMV K-6058,* rec. in Souvenirs de Chevalier -Pt i (voc. Chevalier)
Queen's
Hall,
'London June the 12th (cf. recording date)

MS score, parts, including
MS/printed pf., dated
(see Fzq
F30)
Connelly & Co., London,1929), as sung by Chevalier/arr. Vauchant
26
'Je cherche apres Titine'(waltz)
27
'J'en ai marre' (waltz; later

Arr.
'Louise' (see also Chevalier Richard A. Whiting (Leo
version
in Hylton
French Medley)
Medley) Robin, lyrics; Campbell
28
28 Nov. 1930
Paris
Pt I in Williams's hand
4 Apr. 1929
MS score, parts
(voc. Browne)
Small
HMV B-yoi6
Queen's
(including pf.)
Hall,
London
17 Feb. 1931,
perf./broad-
MS score (Parts I, II: Lucas, Figs. 44-92;
cast from
Opera, Paris
97-112), parts; MS score
19 Feb. 1926
Middlesex
(Ternent, Figs. 44-92),parts; Mavra: 2 x vocalscore (I signed Stravinsky:

'le 17 v 30'), orch. score MS parts (including pf.)
C5 MS parts, including pf.;
Li8
Harold de Bozi ( Enoch

et Cie, 1923)/arr. Hylton
Arr. Hylton
'(La) Javanette'
London
HMV B-5628
29
lyrics; Spier & Coslow,

1928)/arr. Yorke
J. Fred Coots (Lou Davis, Ly8
'(A) Love-tale of Alsace-(Lorraine)'
30
de Separate
musique)/2 arrs.:
box& Ternent (1930-1)
Igor Stravinsky ( russe
Edition
Lucas
Mavra (Parts I, 2, 3) (B)
31
arr. Lucas (2 arrs.)

J. B. Weckerlin, A. Leroux/ M29
'Mignonette' (waltz)
32
DEBORAH MAWER
314

composer!
No. JHA title (and
11 Nov. 1927 HMV B-539I

London (also Zon. 6049)
MS parts (including
band
JHA
K-6o58:* rec. in Souvenirs

de Chevalier - Pt 2
(Souvenirs de Moretti);HMV K-5768: voc. rec.Vauchant as Les succes de Moretti
unless specified)
8 July 1921 Zon. 2155

(rec.as JHJB);
Middlesex
Ar. 298 (as ADO)
30 Oct. 1929 HMV B-3314:

London
inst.Memories
rec. as of Paris - Pt 3
M4
28 Nov. 1930 HMV B-3686

Paris (voc. Chevalier); HMV
(see F2o,
F3o)
28 Nov. 1930 HMV B-3686

Paris (voc. Chevalier);
(including pf.);
'London 21st of January,
What a lousy tune!!!', parts
(see also Pt 2: basic linksC5)

& cuts
N9 MS score (skeletal,
M7 MS score (draft, collaged
22 Jan. 1930 HMV B-5769

London (voc. Browne)
(including pf., 3 x MS parts

vocal & lyrics);
fragmented), signed parts
(including lead sheet)

with printed music), parts
Wurlitzer organ (for Claude Ivy), pf./score)
HMV K-6o058:* rec. inSouvenirs de ChevalierPt

- 2
N20 MS score, inscribed
(see also Pt 2: basic links,Cs)

cuts
marked
file no.
arranger
tire du ballet, publ. J.W.

& Chester)/arr. LucasMaurice Yvain, Albert Willemetz/arr. Hylton
Ricardo Drigo (Serenade:
categorization)
'(Les) millions d'arlequin

serenade' (waltz; B)
33
Raoul Moretti/arr.
Vauchant (inscribed
'28th October 1929')
Sammy Fain, Irving
(Paramount Pictures), I930)/arr. Ternent

Kahal, Pierre Norman ( Chappell: The Big Pond
'Quand on a pas', 'Quand

'Mon homme' (see too French Popular Tunes Pt
te je
demande', 'Quand onaime on a toujours vingt
of love to me' (see
on est deux', 'Est-ce que
ans', 'La caravane' (A) '(You brought a) new kind
- 2; French Medley) Moretti - French Tunes:
34
35
36
Chevalier Medley) (A)
Victor Schertzinger
(The Love Parade, 1929)/

arr. Vauchant
(see also Chevalier Medley)

(A)
'Nobody's using it now'
37
PARISOMANLA?
315
continued
HMV K-5768: voc. rec. Vauchant as Les succisPadilla

HMV B-3273: inst. rec. as
de
Memories ofParis - Pt I;
HMV X-I967 (as MO)
31 Mar. 1924
30 Oct. 1929
Middlesex
26 Apr. 1935
London
(including pf.)
Arr. Hylton
'On dit Ca'
38
Arr. Yorke 03 MS score, neat parts
Opera selections (including

from Carmen) (B)
39
HMV B-1329 (QDO)
HMV C-2744
13 Feb. 1922
London
HMV B-573o
Middlesex
( Salabert, 1926; and

parts; 2 x1924;
MS pf.;
VI, V3 MS
scores,
Salabert,
I MS and
pasted,
Salabert,
printed
I925)/arr. Ternent
part forTernent)
Jack (signedArr.
by Ternent J2 MS score (skeleton), parts, Earlier arrs. by Yorke, Williams
and
Lucasparts
Arr. Hylton Psi MS parts (including lead
Jose Padilla P2 MS and pasted, printed pf.
40
'Valencia' (A)
'Valencia' (from Jubilee Cavalcade - Pt 2)
London
15 Sept. 1922
'Valencia', 'Valencia
variations'
'Palais de danse' (waltz)
41
HMV B-I808
HMV X-I966 (as MO)
HMV B-I402 (QDO)
Middlesex
31 Mar. 1924
Middlesex
(Publ. Lawrence WrightMusic

PI9 Typed
lyric sheet,
MS
Phil
Cardew
Maurice
Co., London)/arr.
score,
parts (including
pf.) Yvain/arr. Hylton -
'Parisienne doll' (D)
42
9 Apr. 1924
HMV BD-5523 (voc. Sid Buckman, Arthur Askey)
HMV C-2744 (BLSA)
Middlesex
26 Apr. 1935
14 Sept. 1939
London
London;
16 Apr. 194o
perf. Op&ra,
Printed score only
sheet and pf.; no strings)
including pf.
Padilla: 'a c'est Paris', 'Fleurs d'amour',
25 Oct. 1929
(voc. Browne)
'Pourquoi?' (waltz)
43
Horatio Nicholls (1924)/ arr.

Hylton(?)
'Quand les femmes font

comme les enfants'
44
'Riviera rose' (waltz; D)
Haydn Wood (Frederick

J2 MS score
(skeleton),
arr. Ternent
parts,
lyrics;
Vc. for
partshow
found
The Dog
Little
unsorted
arr. Ternent
Laughed,
Oct. 1939)/
Weatherley,
lyrics,
1916)/
including pf. Noel Gay (Ralph Butler, JHA
'Roses of Picardy' (from
(D)
'Run rabbit, run!' (E)
Jubilee Cavalcade - Pt i)
45
46
47
Paris
316 DEBORAH MAWER
unless specified)

Munn)
28 July 1933 Decca rejected

Pat
London(voc.
O'Malley,
pf. Billy
MS parts (including pf.

and vibraphone)
HMV BD-5540
29 Nov. I939
(voc. Dolly Elsie)
London;
HMV B-5798
16 Apr. 1940
perf. Opera,
Paris
6 Mar. 1930
(voc. Pat O'Malley)
London
MS score (15 instruments),

MS score and materials(nI instruments), 2 x MS
parts
chorus arranged; see pf.)

MS parts inside printed
ones (only intro. and last
lyrics;
Peter Maurice Music Co. Ltd)/2 arrs.:I by Ternent
W. Johnson (Michael Carr,
SI4I
Horatio Nicholls & Jos.

Geo.
SniGilbert
'Somewhere in France (with you)' (waltz; D)
'(The) sunshine of
MS green booklet (sketch);

MS score (skeleton), 2 sets
of parts (including pf.)
band
JHA
composer/
No. JHA title (and
file no.
arranger
Gaston Claret S48
categorization)
'Si petite' (waltz; A)
48
(C Salabert, 1932;
& Crew, 1933)/arr. ? (signature unclear)

Ascherberg, Hopwood
49
50
Marseilles' (D)
( Lawrence Wright
Music Co., 1930: GrandParade)larr. Yorke(?)
1922, 'transcription pour

pre-1930; stamped
piano seul')/arr. Williams
Jules Massenet ( Heugel, T47
'Mackey and Lowing: Orchestrators &
Arrangers'
Thais: 'Meditation' (B)
5'
PARISOMANLA? 317
(voc. Pat O'Malley)
HMV B-I236 (QDO)
22 Dec. 1939 HMV BD-5554

London (voc. Browne) (BLSA)
2 x MS score, 2 x MS parts
T95
28 May 1921
'Tristesse' (B)
52
(including pf.)
2 x MS parts
'Turque'
53
Hylton arrs.
C5 MS parts, including pf.;
Raoul Moretti (Rena Clair,

Sous les toits de Paris,
arr.
1930)/
Yorke
'Under the roofs of
54
Paris' (waltz; D)
29 Nov. 1939 HMV BD-554o

London;
(voc.
Dolly Elsie)
16 Apr. 1940
perf. Opera,
Henri Christine, AlbertWillemetz ( Salabert, 1925), as sung by
'Valentine'
55
Chevalier/arr. Lucas(?)Later arr. in Williams'shand
Paris
30 Oct. 1929
London
(initialled P.Y.), MS parts

MS skeleton score (messy),
MS and pasted, printed pf.
Pt I in Williams's hand
U6 MS score, parts
T33
deep is the night') Pierre de Caillaux, PaulWyer ( Fred AllandaleMusic Publ. Co.); 2
Frederic Chopin, EtudeE,inop. 10/3 ( Max Eschig,
Paris, 1939, as Cardew 'So
arr.,
28 Nov. 1930 HMV K-6o58:*

Paris Souvenirs
rec. in
de Chevalier -
29 Mar. 1926 HMV B-5o54

Middlesex (voc. Monty Woolf)
21 Dec. 1930 HMV B-5949
Middlesex
HMV B-3273: inst. rec. as

HMV K-5769: voc. rec. Vauchant as Les succes M.
de Yvain
Memories of Paris - Pt 2;
Pt i (voc. Chevalier)
YI, F2o
W65 MS score, parts
Ross Parker, Hughie Charles ( Irwin Dash Music, 1934)/arr. Ternent
'We'll meet
56
again' (E)
(French
Medley
acts
as draft)
Maurice Yvain/arr. Yorke
Yvain (Medley):
'Billet doux',
57
'J'en ai marre',
'Java', 'Mon
homme',
'Dites-moi' (A)

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'Parisomania'?

Jack Hylton and the French Connection

Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 133 no. 2 270-317

'Parisomania'? Jack Hylton and the

This is absolutely justified... and very Parisian.1

first honoured the extraordinary achievements of Jack Hylton (1892-1965), chris-

Lancashire. This article aims to reconstruct Hylton's rich and va d French

with wider resonances. The first, concerning British-French (anc ,imerican)

was it sufficiently extreme to justify that journalistic quip about 'Parisomania'?

theme, which is intricately entwined with the first, considers classical-popular

how it engaged with 'jazzing' the classics.

ideas presented here.

With little formal training, but undeniable aptitude and entrepreneurial

standards exceptional.2 Hylton was credited for bringing Duke Ellington to

I935-6. By virtue of his frequent so-called 'continental' tours, he was regarded as a

tours he undertook with his band encompassed high-profile concerts in French

was wide-ranging and multi-purpose, Hylton championed numerous French

and arrangers. As an adept businessman with an eye for a niche, he released

to the public in the concert-hall foyer following an evening's entertainment to a

innovative use of radio broadcasting to maximize the band's impact.

trum of popular musics (dance music, easy-listening music, entertainment, even

music should be viewed in privileged isolation or recontextualized within a deeper

(D.Phil. dissertation, University of Oxford, 200oo3).

understanding of history, sociology, ideology and (mass) culture.4 Derek Scott

Setting the stage

Frenchmen) and typical sound; and on its French-related repertory.

heard in large dance halls ('palais-de-danse'), within vaudeville, music-hall and

variety entertainment in theatres, as well as in restaurants, hotels and clubs. At

courtesy of the newly popularized gramophone. Its players were professionals,

semi-professionals and amateurs, to suit a variety of tastes and pockets.

produced commodities of a "culture industry"': 'Music, Culture and Society', I.

Hylton was no isolated phenomenon, but arguably the most successful of a

arrangement for Columbia of Ravel's Bolero.1o Bert Ambrose offered sophisti-

Is-piece dance orchestra, to the established formula of 20 or so players. Strictly

exploiting the virtuoso strengths of individual players while appealing to public

most prominent being William (Billy) Ternent (1899-1977): as a multi-instru-

'Hylton's right-hand man' between 1927 and 1939.12 Other player-arrangers

Cardew, Freddy Bretherton, Lew Stone and one Erich Korngold.13

At various times, Hylton's band included French players. The exceptionally

10 Julien Vedey, Band Leaders (London, 1950), 45.

appointment diaries, unfortunately it does not include personal correspondence.

Johnny Rosen, Cyril Hellier,

violin and dancer

Jack Raine, Philippe Brun

trombone and trumpet

saxophone, bass clarinet, violin and

saxophone, cor anglais, clarinet and oboe

saxophone, guitar and piano

saxophone and clarinet

saxophone, clarinet and flute

banjo and cello

Peter Yorke, Billy Munn

singer and guitar

sousaphone and double bass

xylophone, vibraphone and timpani

dancer and singer

Strasbourg (IS March I93I).

et ses Gregoriens. The talented Andre Ekyan, a saxophonist-cum-vocalist, joined

([Arnaud], 1904-91), employed from 1928 to March 1930.

relatively little to go on - available testimonies are slightly contradictory, though

seemingly reflect paradoxical traits of his character. Hylton is portrayed as a

generous yet tough employer, and a patient yet sometimes short-tempered

17-18, offers more general insights about playing in a dance band.

perfection and discipline in his players.