Trocadero Orchestra --History - Fletcher Henderson

THE TROCADERO ORCHESTRA
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

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JAZZ CERTAINLY WAS HOT IN EDMONTON BEFORE THE "UP-START" TROC BALLROOM!

[2002 Jan 3 -- An anonymous "old-" timer (Jack) writes:]

Anybody given you hell yet for the suggestion jazz didn't reach Edmonton until 1946?
Don't forget this was a swingin' town during the Second World War! Lots of American flyers and GIs, with the Alaska highway underway and Blatchford field setting records for landings and takeoffs by Lend-lease aircraft.
The Trocadero was a Johnny-come-lately in all that. Jazz was pretty much over before it opened - the Troc prospered because the town was ready for a slightly higher-class dance hall.
Ask some of the older guys in the band what it was like
then. You'll enjoy the stories!

ART BLAKEY

... performing with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra

EDMONTON

OCT 16, 1943

Long before the Troc Ballroom, JAZZ was a staple of Edmontonians, and the military.

Here's the FLETCHER HENDERSON ORCHESTRA performing at 'THE BARN' (around 103 Street, North of Jasper Ave (North of Hudson Bay)

(Photos courtesy of Harlan Green)