Sharkey Bonano & His Kings of Dixieland EARLY PETE FOUNTAIN Arcadia Records 107

$

20

Up for sale is a really rare 78 rpm shellac 10 inch record, from an obscure New Orleans, Louisiana label.  It features a couple of great Dixieland Jazz songs, by a talented band that included, very early in his career, the legendary PETE FOUNTAIN.
Record Label:  Arcadia Records (PO Box 2415, New Orleans 16, Louisiana) Record Number:  107 Year of Release:  Not stated, but likely from the mid-1950s. Artist:  Sharkey and his Kings of Dixieland A side:     A-107                 Abbeville Our Abbeville (Art Petivan), Vocalist Sharkey Bonano                 Wax matrix mark:  R-1107 B side:     B-107                 I Didn't Know You Then, Like I Know You Now (Art Petivan), Vocalist Art Petivan                 Wax matrix mark:  R-1108
The members of Sharkey and his Kings of Dixieland are stated on the label.  I have listed them below, along with what I could find out about each one:

• Sharkey Bonano, Trumpet (He was born in 1904 in the suburbs of New Orleans.  He gained fame as a jazz trumpeter who was able to play technically demanding hot jazz pieces with beautiful tone.  None other than Arturo Toscanini invited Bonano to play at a rehearsal of the New York Philharmonic, after which the conductor berated his own trumpeters for not being able to play as well.  He recorded as early as 1925 and had a band of his own shortly thereafter.  He spent extensive periods with top flight bands (including his own) in New York City and also toured worldwide.  He returned to New Orleans after World War II, and was a Bourbon Street fixture.  Bonano died in 1975.)
• Armand Hug, Piano  (He was born in 1910 in New Orleans and had a long career as a jazz pianist, including as a soloist.  He began playing with Sharkey Bonano in 1936.  Hug specialized in Dixieland jazz and had his own TV show.  He died in 1977.)
• Paul Ferrara, Drums (The youngest of this ensemble, he was born in 1938 and was playing professionally in the French Quarter as early as 1951.  He played drums for the Dukes of Dixieland, Al Hirt, Louie Prima, and Pete Fountain.  He also appeared regularly in Las Vegas.  He had a distinctive style and was a master of the left handed shuttle.  Ferrara died in 2014.)
• Pete Fountain, Clarinet and Sax (He needs no introduction.)
• Jack Delaney, Trombone (In addition to Sharkey Bonano, he played with Johnny Reininger and Tony Almerico in the late 1940s and 1950s.  He recorded with Almerico's Parisian Room Band and worked the Roosevelt Hotel Blue Room with Leon Kellner.  Later on, he would reunited with Pete Fountain.)
• Dan Le Blanc, String Bass (Couldn't find too much on him.)