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Recorded on August 2, 1923. One of the most prolific recording artists of all time, this Schubert makes the classical composer of the same name seem like a lazy hack. Adrian Schubert worked in the capacity of a musical director or bandleader during the '20s, and must have pulled many a double or even triple shift to get everything done that he is said to have done. If one considers a "bandleader" to be the captain at the helm of a somewhat regular group of individuals working together toward a common goal, than Schubert was no bandleader at all. A quick perusal of his discography would result in the conclusion that every record he made came out under another band name; which isn't really true, since some of the names were used twice or more. Many of the same individual players were hired for some of these sessions as well, perhaps giving the music a sense of the camaraderie that is part of a real band's vibe. A real band, though, would have a bit more ambition concerning the recordings it makes than the goal of a typical Schubert production, which was basically no more than to fill the bins at a Woolworth's, where the discs would sell for a dime a pop.

These types of records were extremely common during this era. Most record companies would have several music directors such as Schubert on hire. On a typical day, Schubert would be summoned into an office where a record company fellow would instruct him as to what songs needed to be recorded, and what the budget would be. The next step would be getting the sidemen together, and the resulting band would then gather at the studio, cut the record, and get paid. The song might come out under the name of the leader, or some variation thereof, or it could be issued under a name made up on the spot. Labels such as the modestly titled Perfect, the expansive Banner, the centrally located Plaza, and best of all RCA regularly worked with directors such as Schubert, Nathan Glantz, Ben Selvin, Vincent Lopez, and Lou Gold. To dig deeper into this mine of information inevitably produces a confusing kind of discographical ore. Some bands would be assembled and play different sessions under different names, all in the same day. The Al Alberts Orchestra was a pseudonym for Schubert, for example, part of yet another distinction in these productions that is similar to classic blues and vintage rockabilly recordings; i.e., some of the artists don't really exist.

One thing that certainly did exist was the talented group of players involved in Schubert's bands, a list that includes trumpeter Mike Mosiello, trombonist Tommy Dorsey, saxophonist Jimmy Dorsey, clarinetist Benny Goodman, multi-instrumentalist Andy Sannella, percussion virtuoso George Hamilton Green, and violinist Scrappy Lambert, among any others. Because of their involvement with these recordings, musicians such as these rank as some of the most recorded in music history. In the cases when he wasn't hidden behind a pseudonym, Schubert's dance band releases came out under band names such as Adrian Schubert's Dance Orchestra and Adrian Schubert's Salon Orchestra. But he also released titles as Joe Dubin's Dance Orchestra, Dubin's Dandies, Matty Crawford's Orchestra, Buddy Bartlett's Orchestra, Roy Carlson's Dance Orchestra, Ernie Noble & His Orchestra, the Red Dandies, Al Lynch & His Orchestra, the Pierrot Syncopators, Ted White's Collegians, and needless to say the Dixie Jazz Band. The Imperial Dance Orchestra and the Majestic Dance Orchestra are outfits who records are sometimes Schubert productions, sometimes not. It is thought that just about every music director in the business released titles under these names at some point. With all this going on it is understandable if this Schubert had no time to compose his own symphonies, but he is credited with actually writing a few titles such as "Jazzie Addie," recorded in 1918 for Columbia by the Yerkes Jazzarimba Orchestra -- whoever they are. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi