Bobby Sherwood (1914-81) isn’t well-known as a jazz guitarist today, but in the early Thirties he was so deeply respected that he was Bing Crosby’s accompanist on 1934 recordings (MOONBURN and SOMEDAY SWEETHEART); he recorded with the Boswell Sisters, Cleo Brown, and Joe Venuti. (In 1940 he was guitarist and one of the arrangers for Artie Shaw.)
To me, this means he was viewed as a player equal to the late Eddie Lang, and his beautiful sonority and chordal subtleties — and swing — don’t disappoint.
A few years earlier, violinist Harry Bluestone (1907-92) was recording with hot dance studio bands, Connee Boswell, the Boswell Sisters, Lee Wiley, the Dorsey Brothers, Glenn Miller, Bill Challis, Casper Reardon, and again Artie Shaw . . . .
While Sherwood eventually led his own band (playing a variety of instruments, composing, and singing), Bluestone became the first-chair violinist and concertmaster for many many recordings with everyone from Peggy Lee to Quincy Jones.
But this Decca 78, recorded in November 1938, shows them quietly and wittily evoking Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti — to great effect — while sounding like themselves.
First, the punning KIDDIN’ ON THE STRINGS:
Then, a sweet AM I BLUE?:
The moral? Great music is made by people you might not have heard of except as side-people on more famous people’s record date.
May your happiness increase!
JAZZ LIVES 
“Great music is made by people you might not have heard of except as side-people on more famous people’s record date.” If I was shopping for a URL, that would be it.
These recordings probably stand in the shadow of the Venuti/Lang duets (not that they should), but I hear a much more subtle humor and lyricism here. They sound more modest (if that makes sense), and that’s not necessarily a statement comparing any of these four players’ technical abilities; I mean it as a real compliment.
And for whatever it’s worth, these records were recorded on the day Robert Johnson died!
Thank you for sharing these great recordings!