"DANCE AND GROW THIN": JOSEPH C. SMITH AND THE EVOLUTION OF RECORDED DANCE MUSIC by Ryan Barna

The New York Chapter of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections presents its September 2019 program:

"DANCE AND GROW THIN": JOSEPH C. SMITH AND THE EVOLUTION OF RECORDED DANCE MUSIC Presented by Ryan Barna

From 1916 to 1920, Joseph C. Smith was America’s best-selling bandleader on records. Having led his orchestra at the Plaza—one of New York’s most upscale hotels—Smith brought a much-needed warmth and intimacy to 1910s dance music, only to be relegated during the Roaring Twenties to near-obscurity. He introduced key elements that bridged the gap between traditional dances and social dancing: establishing the fox trot; incorporating vocal refrains and jazz-influenced elements; and highlighting individual musicians in his sessions, some of whom went on to become successful bandleaders themselves.

Ryan Barna will present his research for Songs of the Night: Dance Recordings by Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra, 1916-1925, for which he received a Grammy nomination in 2015. Using many visuals and recorded examples, he will explain the history of recorded dance music during the acoustic era, from the earliest days of the phonograph industry to Paul Whiteman and the dawn of the Jazz Age. Having been the first to publish previously unknown biographical details about Smith, Barna will also present on his life story, from his earliest days as a freelance violinist, to concluding his career as a first violinist with Sigmund Romberg’s orchestra in 1945.

RYAN BARNA specializes in early popular music and acoustic recording in America. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Writing from the University of Colorado at Denver. He formerly served as a park guide with the National Park Service, including Rocky Mountain National Park and the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt. His liner notes for Archeophone Records include Arthur Fields Anthology: Singer, Songwriter, Soldier; and Songs of the Night: Dance Recordings by Joseph C. Smith’s Orchestra, 1916-1925, which he was nominated in the Best Album Notes category for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.

THE ASSOCIATION FOR RECORDED SOUND COLLECTIONS (www.arsc-audio.org) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and study of sound recordings, in all genres of music and speech, in all formats, and from all periods. ARSC is unique in bringing together private individuals and institutional professionals—everyone with a serious interest in recorded sound.

Videographer: Joseph Patrych; http://www.patrych.com/index.html
Editor: James Wu; http://video.jameswu.nyc/

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