The Mound City Blue Blowers was an American novelty jazz group, founded in St. Louis, Missouri, and named after its founder. Red McKenzie and Jack Bland co-founded the group and it was active in the 1920s, 1930s. The original members of the group were Red McKenzie, Dick Slevin, Jack Bland, and Red McKenzie, who played comb and tissue and Jack Bland played banjo. In place of a drum set, the band used a suitcase for travel, which was played with whisk brooms and foot. Their debut album, “Arkansas Blues” (b/w “Blue Blues”) was a huge success in the Midwest. Twelve tunes were recorded by the group in 1924 and 1925. Eddie Lang and Frankie Trumbauer played on several of the tracks. The group made two performance films in 1929-1931: The Opry House (1929), and Nine O’Clock Folks (311). These included “I Ain’t Got Nobody”, “Let Me Call You Sweeheart,” and “My Gal Sal”. McKenzie began recording under his own name after 1925 as a singer, but he returned to Mound City in 1929 for sessions with jazz stars such as Jack Teagarden and Coleman Hawkins. The group recorded in 1931 with McKenzie and Hawkins, Muggsy Espar, Jimmy Dorsey, and Muggsy Spanier. 25 songs recorded between 1935-1936 that bear the Mound City title, which included appearances by Nappy Lamare and Spooky Dickenson as well as Bunny Berigan, Yank lawson, Yank Lawson, Billy Wilson, Bunny Berigan and Bunny Wilson. Wikipedia
