The Chocolate Dandies

The Chocolate Dandies was a name used by a number of different jazz ensembles in the United States from the 1920s into the 1940s.

The name "Chocolate Dandies" came from a 1924 stage show written by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle. A band led by Don Redman was the first to record with it on the Okeh label in 1928–1929. He also recorded with McKinney's Cotton Pickers and released material with that ensemble under this name.

Benny Carter had several ensembles in the 1930s which he called the Chocolate Dandies. Versions of these groups continued to play into the 1940s and counted among their members Buck Clayton, Coleman Hawkins, Max Kaminsky, Floyd O'Brien, and other members of Carter's and Fletcher Henderson's bands.

Benny Carter ensembles

• 1930 – "Goodbye Blues", "Cloudy Skies", "Got Another Sweetie Now", "Bugle Call Rag" and "Dee Blues" with Bobby Stark (trumpet), Jimmy Harrison (trombone), Benny Carter (clarinet, alto saxophone, vocals), Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophone), Horace Henderson (piano), Benny Jackson (guitar), John Kirby (bass, tuba)

• 1933 – "Blue Interlude", "I Never Know", "Once Upon a Time", "Krazy Kapers" with Max Kaminsky (trumpet), Benny Carter (trumpet, alto saxophone), Floyd O'Brien (trombone), Chu Berry (tenor saxophone), Teddy Wilson (piano), Lawrence Lucie (guitar), Ernest Hill (bass), Sidney Catlett (drums)

• 1940 – "Smack", "I Surrender Dear", "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" with Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Benny Carter (piano), Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophone), Bernard Addison (guitar), John Kirby (bass), Sidney Catlett (drums)

References

• The Chocolate Dandies at Allmusic