We do not normally play scarce 78 rpm records on acoustic gramophones, but this one is not in very good condition, so it doesn't really matter! 'I'm Wondering Who' was recorded in New York in 1927 by a band which is usually known, appropriately, as the 'New Yorkers', which was under the leadership of Adrian Rollini. Several of the musicians were from Jean Goldkette's Orchestra, which had just disbanded. Rollini took his band into a night club called the 'New Yorker', but it folded after a couple of weeks or so. In the band were Bix Beiderbecke and Frank Trumbauer, who then went on to join Paul Whiteman. But as Trumbauer already had a recording contract with OKeh, these musicians made a couple of sessions for OKeh. Whose band it actually was is still unclear (at least to me!), but the two sides made on 30th September 1927, this one and 'Just An Hour Of Love' were issued on OKeh under the name of Benny Meroff and his Orchestra. Meroff was a genuine bandleader; how or why his name was 'borrowed' is not known to me.
However, when the sides were issued in the U.K., they were labelled as 'Frank Trumbauer and his Augmented Orchestra', as you can see from the label. This 78 is elusive in the U.K., as I believe the OKeh is in the U.S.A.
The machine on which the disc is played is a cheap, anonymous 'hornless' table top gramophone. They don't usually sound very good; but I like them for some reason, and currently own three examples. I recently cleaned and oiled the motor of this machine. If you would like to see inside this gramophone, you could visit the web-page: http://www.normanfield.com/unknown.htm
