Emil Seidel

Emil Seidel – Pianist and bandleader. Emil Seidel came from a musical family that owned a music retail and publishing business in Indianapolis. As a young professional, he played piano in the orchestra pits of Indy’s theatres—notably the Lyric. In the early 1920s, he relocated to New York City, where he made piano rolls and played in theatres. After returning to Indy, he got a regular job playing with Apollo’s house band on Illinois Street and took over the group in 1925. After building up the band into one of the city’s finest, Seidel got a visit from Hoagy Carmichael, who proposed that his group back him on the first recording of “Stardust.” The famous sessions that transpired at Richmond’s Gennett Records on October 31, 1927, also included Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey. In the next few months, the Emil Seidel Orchestra recorded a dozen more sides at Gennett right before the leader returned to New York to become a radio accompanist.