Ben Pollack was a drummer, vocalist and bandleader born in Chicago on June 22, 1903. He was playing professionally in several bands by his late teens and at the age of 21 was a member of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, one of the most popular of the early jazz groups on record. By the mid-1920s Ben was spending time performing with groups based both in Chicago and in southern California.

In 1926 Ben Pollack formed his first band and recorded using his own name as well as under a number of other group names over the next decade. Those names included Goody’s Good Timers, The Hotsy Totsy Gang, The Kentucky Grasshoppers and The Whoopie Makers. His bands were filled with talented musicians, but there was often discord usually due to what his sidemen considered Pollack’s old-fashioned views. Possessing a fine eye for musical talent over the years many greats of the era cycled through Pollack’s ensembles including Benny Goodman, Frank Teschemacher, Harry James, Jack Teagarden, Bud Freeman, Jimmy McPartland and Glenn Miller.

After a spell as a music agent and a record company executive in the 1940s Pollack returned to directing a jazz group in the 1950s and did so off and on until his death in 1971. Although once having been sued by Pollack, Benny Goodman acknowledged that although he was essentially a Dixieland drummer Pollack was “one of the first to hit all four beats in a measure.” This was an important step in the development of the drumming style that would be prevalent during the Swing Era. Pollack can also be seen in movies playing himself in both “The Glenn Miller Story” and “The Benny Goodman Story.”

Here is a link to Ben Pollack and his Park Central Orchestra from a 1929 short film:

"BEN POLLACK ORCHESTRA"