By Uncle Dave Lewis
Irving Aaronson and his Crusaders is simply the early name of Aaronson's band, which may have existed as early as 1923. Aaronson upgraded their rank to Commanders right after their March 8, 1926 session for Edison. The name changed, but the band remained the basically the same until the Summer of 1928, when trumpeter Mickey Bloom and saxophonist Harold Saliers were replaced by Charlie Trotta and, allegedly, Artie Shaw respectively. Saxophonist Tony Pastor and pianist Chummy MacGregor also joined at this time as pianist and arranger. These later additions raised the heat on the band considerably, but they are much less well documented on record than the earlier group.

The Crusaders Edisons are fairly straightforward dance band sides, and one senses the band is holding back a little, perhaps in deference to the Edison Company's standard tastes, although by 1926 this was no longer necessary. In the end, it didn't matter, as their one issued record sold poorly and is today one of the scarcest Diamond Discs. But the Edison company, as was their habit, retained all of the takes. Differences between them are very slight, and listening to them is an interesting case study in just how similar takes of a commercial 1920s dance band's records could be to one another.

Recordings courtesy of Jerry Fabris of the Edison National Historic Site, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior.