Vintage Ludwig 'Jazz Age' Drum Set circa 1926 - Rare

Description

Ludwig 'Jazz Age' Drum Set circa 1926
Original and complete set - Rare
This completely original and rare set of drums has been in storage for decades, this is only the second time it has been offered for sale.  This set was purchased new in 1926 and was in constant stage use until 1930, during the height of the jazz age.  The drums, traps and hardware are shown in the 1926 Ludwig catalog, with the exception of the sizzle cymbal which was available in 1926 but did not appear in the catalog until the following year.  The small brass bell attached to the chinese wood block is unique to this set and does not appear in the Ludwig catalog.  Some pieces are shown in Ludwig catalogs as early as 1922.  The calf skin and pig skin heads appear to be original, the top snare head may be slightly newer (late 1920's) as the patina on the outer ring is slightly lighter than the bottom head.  The bass drum heads are original, the front was painted with the band logo and the beater head was repaired before the set was retired.  Every logo, part, head, drum etc is period correct, as purchased by the original owner Mr. Tony Briglia.  Briglia actively played this set at the Graystone Ballroom in Detroit with the band 'The Vagabonds' (see below) from 1926 to 1930, when it was replaced by a more modern set and stored in his London, Ontario home.  Briglia continued to perform with a variety of bands, most notably 'Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra' throughout the 1930's to 1947, when that Orchestra disbanded.  Mr & Mrs Briglia moved from London, Ontario to Edmonton, Alberta where in 1986, Mrs. Briglia (elderly & widowed) sold the set to a family owned music store.  As she recalled, this particular set held fond memories for her and her husband, the reason why they had cherished it for so long; with no children to pass it along to she finally had to part with it.  The set was never offered for sale or displayed, and stored in the basement vault of the music store until now.
This extraordinary Ludwig drum set should be on display behind glass, ideally in a museum.  It is historically important to American music and to The Jazz Age in America.
The Vagabonds
Detroit & The Jazz Age
The Jazz Age was a period in the 1920s and 1930s in which jazz music and dance styles rapidly gained nationwide popularity in the United States. The Jazz Age's cultural repercussions were primarily felt in the United States, the birthplace of jazz. The Jazz Age is often referred to in conjunction with the Roaring Twenties and in the United States it overlapped in significant cross-cultural ways with the Prohibition Era. American author F. Scott Fitzgerald is widely credited with coining the term, first using it in the title of his 1922 short story collection, Tales of the Jazz Age.
Detroit Jazz Age bands took the country by storm. They went head to head with the other great orchestras of the day and showed them all that Detroit could stand and play with the best.
Jean Goldkette was at the center of the 1920’s Detroit jazz scene. He was co-owner of the Graystone Ballroom, owned talent agency Jean Goldkette’s Orchestras & Attractions, and Detroit radio station WJR employed him to represent and broadcast popular dance bands.  He organized and managed over 20 bands including his own Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra, Glen Gra
y
's Orange Blossoms (later known as Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra,) and The Vagabonds* (also known as The Goldkette Vagabond Orchestra, Freddie Bergin’s Vagabonds, and other variations of orchestras including the name Vagabonds.) The cleverly and aptly named Vagabonds could be considered  ‘The House Musicians’ of the Graystone Ballroom, with some members reaching new heights by crossing over into other orchestras with different bandleaders, and also performing with famous touring musicians. The word Vagabond literally means a person moving from place to place without a permanent home or job, or in this clever instance from orchestra to orchestra.  WJR & WWJ Radio stations broadcast the Goldkette bands live from the Graystone Ballroom, with listeners in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Washington D.C., New York, Cincinnati and beyond.  Goldkette is important to early live radio broadcasting and to Detroit’s jazz age, but mostly to jazz as a bandleader.  His Victor Recording Orchest
ra
, Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra (1924–1929) defeated Fletcher Henderson in a battle of the bands contest. The head arranger was Bill Challis and the musicians included Bix Beiderbecke, Steve Brown, Hoagy Carmichael, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Eddie Lang, Chauncey Morehouse, Don Murray, Bill Rank, and Speigel Willcox. Rex Stewart, a member of Henderson's band, wrote that “It was, without any question, the greatest in the world, the original predecessor to any large white dance orchestra that followed, up to Benny Goodman.” Brian Rust, the famed jazz discographer called it “the greatest band of them all.”
There was no place quite like the Graystone Ballroom.  Billed as ‘Detroit's Million Dollar Ballroom,’ it opened its doors on March 7, 1922.  With a floorplan designed to hold 3,000 people, it was the largest and most elaborate ballroom in Detroit.  Its vertical marquee towered above Woodward Avenue, and the venue quickly became nationally known as Detroit’s ultimate hot spot for jazz, often crowding beyond its 3000-dancer capacity.  It operated during the era of racial segregation and Monday night was known as ‘colored night.’  From 1922 until the end of the Jazz Age, it stomped, swayed and broadcast live the music of Bix Beiderbecke, The Dorsey Brothers, Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Jean Goldkette, The Vagabonds, Cab Calloway, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Glen Gray’s Orange Blossoms and many others. World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis, the pride of Detroit, held a huge birthday party under its roof. Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker dueled there in a battle of the bands. Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records, described the Graystone he knew: “Wall-to-wall people inside and out, not letting the hot, sticky summer weather keep them from wearing the finest clothes possible, moving and grooving to the live music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie or one of the other top colored bands.”
The Jazz Age came to an end, and after decades of decay and neglect the Graystone Ballroom was demolished in 1980.
A photograph of the 13 piece orchestra ‘Fred Bergin and The Vagabonds at The Graystone’ is preserved at the Smithsonian Institution as part of the Duncan Shiedt photographic collection.
Fred Bergin and His Vagabonds are featured in the book ‘Images of America - Detroit, Ragtime and The Jazz Age’   Arcadia Publishing 2009
*The Vagabonds band members: Slim Branch (Trombone,) Bill Snodgrass (Guitar,) Chris Fletcher (Guitar/Violin,) Skeeter Palmer (Accordion, also with Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra,) Theodore ‘Steve’ Brown (Stand-Up Bass, also with The Jean Goldkette Orchestra & The Paul Whiteman Orchestra,) Les White (Trombone,) Fred Bergin (Bandleader/Piano, also with Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey,) Herb Fischer (Saxophone,) Hilly Edelstein (Saxophone/Composer, known for writing ‘Here Comes The Night’/Frank Sinatra,) Tony Briglia (Drums, also with Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra & The Jan Garber Orchestra,) Wally Urbanski (Clarinet,) Babe Russin (Saxophone, also with Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra) and Frank Zullo (Trumpet, also with Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra.)