Raymond Ventura, 16 April 1908, Paris, 30 March 1979 Palma de Mallorca (Spanish) was a French jazz leader. Ventura played an important role in the popularization of jazz in France during the 1930s. Ventura was a pianist in The Collegiate Five, which recorded under Ray Ventura and His Collegians on Columbia Records in 1928. The group was led by Ventura from 1929 to 1930. It recorded for Decca Records, as well as other labels throughout the 1930s. They were a popular French dance ensemble during that decade. Philippe Brun, Alixcombelle, Guy Paquinet were his sidemen. His 1936 hit song “Tout va totres bien Madame la Marquise” was a favorite. In it, the servants tell the Marquise that everything is fine at her home, but for a series escalating disasters. It is a metaphor for France’s inattention to the approaching war. From 1942 to 1944, he led a large band in South America. He then returned to France to lead a group from 1945 to 1949. Henri Salvador (1917-198) joined him on his Brazil tour during the Second World War. After having been released from the Lecuona Cuban boy Lecuona, Georges Henry, a French trumpet player, joined the group in Argentina two years later. Georges Henry worked later on TV Tupi, a Brazilian television network. From Wikipedia
