The ‘Hottest Man in The Band’ was a gimmick number performed by Walt Roesner and the Capitolians, a west coast band inexplicably named for their long-standing gig at the Capitol Theater in New York. Don’t ask me why. That’s what slim information the internet produced regarding this very fine musical organization. The routine is pretty corny and the solo spots are not ‘hot’ by any definition of the word. But the musicianship is excellent, even if the role of the drummer then consisted of standing behind a symbol and timpani and occasionally performing a paper-ripping bit. (Moe Howard does the paper-ripping in ‘Violent Is The Word For Curley’ during the ‘Alphabet Song’). I believe that’s Jimmy Dorsey on sax and that’s the only player anyone seems to be able to identify. Amazing how just five years later the ‘hot’ label came to mean something truly different, although Duke Ellington was playing serious jazz at the time was shot in 1928. Things change and it’s always interesting to see what one time period regarded as dangerously edgy music/literature/acting/fashion etc. In the case of jazz, things changed for the better (until it got worse forty years later). The fact that the drummer got to sit down was I imagine considered a real innovation in its day. Alas, paper-ripping went away as did the role of the banjo in jazz. Which reminds me of a joke. What is a sentence you’ll never hear spoken? (Pause. Then–) “That’s the Banjo players Porsche.” Jazz humor…