Emerson 10157 A Plantation Jazz Orchestra RAILROAD BLUES

“Railroad Blues” is an early jazz fox-trot composed by C. Luckeyth Roberts (often associated in discographies with lyricist William H. Washington). The Plantation Jazz Orchestra was an Emerson studio ensemble, probably drawn from Harry Raderman’s Orchestra. The recording has the energetic, syncopated dance-band character of transitional jazz around 1920, when ragtime-influenced orchestras were increasingly adopting the sounds and rhythms of early jazz. It was recorded in New York around March 1920, as matrix 41027-6. Release date: May 1920. Emerson issued it on Emerson 10157, backed with the Plantation Jazz Orchestra’s “Ching-a-Ling’s Jazz Bazaar.” Original audio and label courtesy of Internet Archive (https://archive.org). Surface noise removed to improve audio clarity.