Tommy Kinsman & His Ciro's Club Band - Tom Thumb's Drum (1931) (Sterno 845 mtx S 2067) (78rpm)

Tommy Kinsman was born in Liverpool in 1901. In his youth he learned to play the banjo, subsequently taking up the clarinet and the saxophone, upon which he became an accomplished performer. He began his bandleading career in 1928, directing what was initially called the London Frivolities Band in Weston-super-Mare. For a while he played at the Florida Club, graduating to the famous Ciro's club before taking up residency at the Ritz Hotel in 1932.

By the mid-thirties he was playing at the exclusive Fischer's Restaurant in Bond Street, performing for a discerning clientele. During the first ten years of the band's existence over 250 'sides' were cut for the record labels Sterno, Piccadilly, Metropole, Phonochord, Edison Bell, Winner and Octacros, for which Tommy Kinsman later became Musical Director. In addition, he recorded under pseudonyms such as The Bond Street Swingers and Eddie Harding and his Night Club Boys on the Piccadilly and Metropole labels.

Tommy Kinsman & His Ciro's Club Band - Tom Thumb's Drum