LEW STONE
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London native Lew Stone
was an extremely popular
bandleader, arranger, and
pianist throughout the'30s.
The self-taught musician also authored Harmony and Orchestration for the Modern Dance Band, a book that was the standard in its field against which all others were measured for several decades. In his late '20s, he spent a brief period playing piano for Bert Ralton, but this association ended when Ralton passed away while he was hunting in Africa. Stone farmed himself out as a freelance arranger for numerous bands for a period of four years, beginning in 1927. By 1931, Stone was working with Roy Fox in Piccadilly, enchanting audiences from the stage of the Monseigneur Restaurant. Stone stepped into the leader's position the following year, when Fox decided to move on.
As he formed his own outfit, Stone continued to utilize some of Fox's musicians, among them popular singer Al Bowlly, drummer Bill Harty, saxophone players Ernest Ritte and Joe Crossman, trombonists Lew Davis and Joe Ferrie, bassist Tiny Winters, and trumpeters Alfie Noakes and Nat Gonella. Stone's band, which played on the radio once a week, recorded a number of songs. These included "Call of the Freaks," "Tiger Rag," "White Jazz/Blue Jazz," and "Milenbourg Joys." Bowlly stayed with the band for two years, during which he was featured on "Isle of Capri," the bandleader's only hit on the other side of the Atlantic. He also sang on "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming," "Just Let Me Look at You," and "I'll Never Be the Same." Although Bowlly left Stone's band in 1934, he returned later in the decade for a short period.
Stone went on to lead the Stonecrackers and the Novatones during the '40s. For a period of two years later that decade, he led the orchestra at the London Coliseum during the staging of Annie Get Your Gun. He and his band continued to play across England and Scotland during the '50s. By 1959 he was leading a sextet, which he continued to do through 1967. He also established the Lew Stone Entertainment Service at this time. During the course of his career, Stone served as musical director for more than three-dozen films and a number of theater productions.
~ Linda Seida
All Music Guide
*NOTE:
Many of the images on this page are from the out of print book Lew Stone - a career in music by Kenith Trodd, published by Joyce Stone.
I am trying to reach Joyce Stone. I would like very much to let her know that this site for Lew Stone exists. Any assistance in contacting her would be kindly appreciated!
best
~confetta
TABLE OF CONTENTS
IMAGES
VIDEOS
WHITE JAZZ
by LEW STONE AND HIS BAND. IT'S AMAZING TO THINK THAT THIS DECCA RECORDING IS OVER 70 YEARS OLD!
Lew & Joyce Stone
MUSIC
SPOTLIGHT
I'll B.B. C-Ing You
Amazon Price: (as of 09/06/2008)
List Price: $15.98
Used Price:
A fine selection of mid-late thirties Lew Stone recordings. Perhaps there is little that has not been reissued before, but you will have to buy the CD to believe the lifelike quality of the digital remastering. Michael Dutton has made these 78s come up like recordings made only yesterday and should be recognised as one of the finest sound engineers ever to apply his expertise to British Dance band music. Never mind that you've got the tracks already - you'll go wild over these. Turn the hi fi up loud and never mind the neighbors. You will want to dip into this collection whenever you wish to remind yourself of the expertise of Britain's finest musicians of the thirties in almost high fidelity sound quality. No surface noise, and - a rarity - no distortion. I cannot recommend this CD too highly.
~Amazon.com
SPOTLIGHT
Dinner & Dance
Amazon Price: $11.98 (as of 09/06/2008)
List Price: $11.98
Used Price: $9.48
Lew Stone: a career in music
Amazon Price: (as of 09/06/2008)
List Price:
Used Price: $88.61
Release Date: 12/31/1969
Avg. Customer Rating: 
BOOKS
GUESTBOOK
Hi,
I enjoyed reading your tribute page, most informative. I think one comment I would make is to recognise the importance of Lew's arranging talent. Lew Stone's 30's bands remain some of the most popular bands, not just because of Al Bowlly, but because Lew was such an inventive and versatile arranger and this element for me
allowed the musicians and singers to shine as perhaps they would not have done otherwise.
The Monseigneur band that Lew Stone led between 1932-1934 holds a very special place in dance band history in the main because of the wonderful arrangements and the quality of the musicians.
Kind regards
Tony
Posted August 17, 2008
eBAY
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
LINKS
- Lew Stone Group
- An active discussion group where you can talk about Lew Stone and other bands:
- Lew Stone & his Orch on the Big Band Database
- Biography.
- Lew Stone
- Lew Stone Blog Entry.
- Lew Stone
- Biography.
- Let Me Tell You About... Lew Stone
- A Lew Stone biography by John Wright.
OTHER SITES OF INTEREST
- Mellotone Records
- Resource for great recordings of 20's & 30's British Dance Bands.
- British Dance Band Encyclopedia
- British Dance Band Encyclopedia.
- Memory Lane
- Home Page of Memory Lane.
- Past Perfect CDs
- Great Resource for music of the past!
- Hot Dance & Vintage Jazz
- Glen Richards great site dedicated to hot-dance and jazz music of the 1920's and 1930's. There are recordings here in MP3 format, many pictures of well-known (and not so well-known) musicians and radio stars, scans of various popular music and radio publications.
- Welcome to the Dutton Vocalion website
- Dutton Vocalion
