By David "Chet" Williamson Sneade
He was a member of city’s first generation of jazz musicians.
His name was Oscar Werme, who was born in Worcester on December 3, 1893. He played
bass horn, trombone, and tuba, with such local groups as the Fidelity Orchestra
and Swan Serenaders.
The later was led by the talented young multi-instrumentalist,
composer, and arranger, E. A. Swan. The Serenaders were first organized in 1922
with the specific intent to play the new “hot music,” of the day, jazz.
In an interview in an April 24, 1927 edition of the Worcester Telegram, Swan is quoted as
saying, “Jazz is coming and a perfectly legitimate development of modern music.
All musicians are turning to it, some more, some less. The modern way of
syncopating the classics is extremely popular and is bringing the best things
in music to people who never heard of them before. Jazz is now firmly
established, the music of the future, and already has become classic in a
certain way; the only difference being that it is more alive than the older
type of music.”
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In the 1950s, James Lee, entertainment columnist for the Telegram ran this item: “Oscar Werme of
12 Heard St. has brought to the Main Stem [Lee’s column] a locally-historic
picture, the first edition of Swanie’s Serenaders, which is reproduced
herewith. The leader was the late Einar Swan, the Worcester boy who (as any
Main Stem reader knows) composed the deathless song, ‘When Your Lover Has
Gone.’"
Lee also noted that the orchestra “played together in 1922,
first in Worcester, then in Webster. Three of its members, Werme, Swan, and
Benny Conn, previously played together in the Fidelity Orchestra of Worcester.
The instrumentation of the Serenaders was typical of the day: Piano, drums, sax
(and clarinet), violin, banjo, trumpet, and trombone.”
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| Swanie’s Serenaders, 1922: Front row, from left, Joe Toscano (banjo), Ernest Pahl (drums), Einar Swan (saxophone). Back, Julius Levinsky (violin), an unidentified man, Oscar Werme, and Benny Conn. |
Werme told Lee that pianist Swenson did not show up for the
photo and an unidentified man stood in as a replacement (man in glasses). Other
early local jazz musicians in this circle included Sammy Swenson, George Trupe,
and Leo Kroll. Toscano was the teacher of the notable Worcester banjo player
Paul Clement, and his brother, guitarist Pete Clemente.
Lee says that a couple of years later, Werme switched to tuba
and joined Paul Whiteman’s Leviathan Orchestra. He spent for four years with
the band. “Swanie went on the New York where his genius with practically any
musical instrument won him solo spots with several famous orchestras.”
An early business card of the band read: “Swanie’s Serenaders.
Have played Keith and Poli’s Circuits – Our engagement – Your Success.”
Keith was Benjamin Franklin Keith, one of top vaudeville
agents in the country at the time. Poli, as in Poli Theaters, was Sylvester
Zefferino Poli. In the late 1880s into the 1920s, he was recognized as the
“largest individual theatre owner in the world.”
In New York, many of the Serenaders appeared under that name
Palais Royal Players, which is not to be confused by Paul Whiteman’s Palais
Royal Orchestra. Evidently, the Players were like a minor league team of
Whiteman’s stable. The Palais Royal, located at Broadway and 48th Streets in
New York City, was a large café and nightclub in Times Square. Whiteman started
playing the venue in 1920.
A September 7, 1923 edition of the Norwalk Hour mentioned a Palais Royal Players gig in Connecticut.
Under the heading: “Night of the Big Dance of Craftsmen’s Quarry” and subhead
of “Will be Marked by Presence of the Palais Royal Orchestra in Pavilion,” the
piece stated: “Following their
appearance here, the Palais Royal players will play for an Allington, Penn.,
syndicate. During the coming winter they will play at the Ormond Hotel, Fla.
The orchestra is making a big hit on its stay here, especially the quartet
selections.
“The members of the orchestra are: Sam Swanson [sic], piano;
Julius Levinsky, saxophone [sic]; Ernest Pahl, drum; Oscar Werme, bass horn;
Leon Kroll, cornet; George Trupe, trombone; Edward Patrowicz, cornet; Joseph T.
Tuscano [sic], banjo; Einar Swan, saxophone [sic], and leader.”
The dance was held at Roton Point in Norwalk and the reviewer
went on to say that audiences at the venue were “listening to the best music in
its history, is the consensus of opinion of all who have been attending the
park since the Palais Royal Orchestra, Paul Whiteman’s unit came here. Everyone,
including even those who do not dance but merely come to hear, says that
manager Neville Bayley of the park should have had the players here earlier in
the season. Much hope is being expressed that the players will be here next
year.”
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| Einar Swan |
Swan’s entrée to the Big Apple was with Victor Lopez and after
receiving the call, he moved to New York. Of the Serenaders, Werme and
Patrowicz soon followed. Patrowicz hitched his horn to Eddie Duchin. Werme
landed a gig with Paul Whiteman, where he played in the orchestra leader’s
ensemble then known as the Levithan Orchestra. It was named after the S.S.
Levithan (Vaterland), an ocean-liner that at one point in its storied career,
was considered the largest ship in the world. According to the 1927 Telegram
article, the band ran its course after its leader’s talents were recognized
nationally: “The Swannie Serenaders’ were all right but Einar Swan stuck out
from the rest of them like a bar of soap in a coal scuttle, and it wasn’t long
before he received an offer from the famous Roseland Gardens in New York city,
an offer which he accepted.”
A cutline from the dining room publicity photo reads: “The world's
largest steamship when built, luxury liner Vaterland boasted elegant
architecture and furnishings. It featured a winter garden, swimming pool and
therapeutic spa rooms, smoking rooms, and a glass-roofed social hall with
theatrical stage. The 800-seat dining room (above), a replica of New York
City's Ritz-Carleton's, was finished with mahogany, walnut, gold, and bronze.”
 |
| Marlboro, MA, July 1923 |
As mentioned, Werme spent four years with Whiteman. The Telegram reported that after returning
to Worcester, he was a “50-year member of the Athelstan Lodge of Mason, a past
grand monarch of the Aletheia Grotto and member of Aletheia Grotto Band. Werme
died at the age of 77 in 1971. Werme left the Swan Serenaders in 1922. Given
this information, the best guess of his tenure with Whiteman is probably from
1923-26.
That means Werme played in the Levithan band on their first
trip abroad and with the Palais players and orchestra thereafter -- which means he enjoyed some primetime with Whiteman.
It was at a time when Whiteman was first crowned, “King of
Jazz.” It means, Werme may have been in the band when the Whiteman orchestra
premiered, Rhapsody in Blue, with
composer George Gershwin at the piano. It also means, that the Worcester tuba
player sat in the horn section with such early jazz greats as Bix Beiderbecke,
Frankie Trumbauer, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang.
After his roaring ‘20s tour with Whiteman, Werme returned to
Worcester and became a cost accountant at Avco-Thompson Steel Division, where,
until his retirement in 1958, worked for 30 years.
He married and settled down
in modest home at 112 Heard Street, near the Auburn line. As mentioned, he was
active in the local Masons and played in the organization’s band for 50 years. Werme died on August 27, 1971. He was 77.
Note: This is a work in progress. Comments, corrections, and
suggestions are always welcome at: walnutharmonicas@gmail.com. Also see:
www.worcestersongs.blogspot.com Thank
you.
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