Paul Ash & His Granada Orchestra - Japanese Sunset

Paul Ash (né Aschenbrenner, 1891-1958) worked for many theaters and discovered a lot of new talent playing in one of his orchestras. As a son of German immigrants, he grew up in Milwaukee and eventually settled in New York. He was in show business 47 years before retiring as a bandleader in 1951, at a moment when he was performing at the Roxy Theater in New York City. Five decades earlier, at the age of 14 he had made his first steps in music as a theater pianist and performing at the old Star Theater in his hometown. Mr. Ash formed his first band in 1910; around 1918 he was conducting at Oakland, California and he definitively won acclaim in the early 20s as the conductor and master of ceremonies at Chicago's Oriental Theater. A notable fact is that around 1920, Paul Ash hired for his band Paul Whiteman, who back then was a young viola player. Mr. Ash also toured with many different bands and was highly successful. He became an idol of popular music lovers and his jazz style was widely copied. This exotically sounding record is one of his earlier sides, recorded in 1923.