The Halfway House Orchestra

Considering what has come to be the normal meaning of a "halfway house," many listeners who are familiar with the lifestyles of the poor and musical could justifiably assume that the Halfway House Orchestra was some kind of entertaining diversion and/or treatment project for recovering addicts with musical talent. While there were New Orleans jazz musicians in the '20s whose carousing could have gotten them stuffed into halfway houses, the one that the orchestra was named after was simply a dancehall located midway between New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. This was where Abbie Brunies of the Brunies family dynasty began leading a group that served several different functions, one of which was to back up classic blues vocalist Alberta Hunter on recordings. Beginning in the mid-'20s, the group cut a series of sides under its own name, the majority for Columbia, the themes including the self-loathing of "I Hate Myself for Loving You" as well as an interpretation of Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag." The group's main vocalist of note was Johnny Saba. Other members of the Brunies family such as George Brunies and Merritt Brunies also led their own bands. ~ Eugene Chadbourne