Art Tatum's accordionist? Who was Ned Ciashine?

[AccordionUprising]

There's an Art Tatum recording that says it has an accordionist, Ned Ciashine, playing with him. I can't find any information on this person. Any ideas?

Live 1949-51, Vol. 4​

by Art Tatum​

I finally got to hear the record on bandcamp (Great place to actually get money to artists when you purchase music. Tatum isn't getting much of a cut today.)

There's no notes though ?, and the little bit it says may have a typo. "The Clib Norman Orchestra." Should that be "Club" Norman?

I've listened once, and a lot of the recordings are from loud club dates and I haven't heard accordion. I wonder if it's a typographical error that got passed down from one discography to another? There's other jazz players listed as playing accordion, when it meant "acc" (accompanied) by some other instrument.

Anyways, Anybody ever heard of Ned Ciashine? (Or the Club Norman Orchestra?) Or does anyone have better information on this record?

I dearly miss album liner-notes, and not just because I might someday be paid to write some.

PS. Art Tatum apparently played accordion as a child and at least once when a club owner wanted him to. But he didn't like it for some reason. Frustrating that biographers didn't ask accordion history questions when these players were still alive.

 

[lordzedd]

Bruce,

I came across this post last night and took it as an opportunity to do some relaxing research before bed.

Ned Ciashine seems to have been a real person who was a working musician as of the late 1930s, as he is listed with membership of the Montreal Local No. 406 of the American Federation of Musicians in 1935 and 1936. Local No. 406 still exists today; maybe they've kept good records! In 1941, he was in Hamilton, and in 1942, he was in Toronto (also 1946). Hopefully that trail is a good start for tracking down more info.

Club Norman was one of the first clubs to open in Toronto in the late 1940s. Tatum played there at least a couple times in that period. I would suspect that it was the Club Norman Orchestra, considering that Ciashine was established in Toronto in that era.

Still no idea if he played accordion.

Best of luck.