Louisiana Five

Louisiana Five
Left to right: Anton Lada, Karl Berger, Yellow Nunez, Joe Cawley, Charles Panelli
Background information
Origin	New Orleans
Genres	Dixieland
Years active	1917–1920
Labels	Emerson, Edison, Columbia
Members	Anton Lada, Karl Berger, Yellow Nunez, Joe Cawley, Charles Panelli

The Louisiana Five was an early dixieland jazz band that was active from 1917–1920. It was among the earliest jazz groups to record extensively.

The Louisiana Five was led by Anton Lada, who played the drums.

The Louisiana Five which is known to posterity was formed in New York City. Lada recruited the other four members, pianist Joe Cawley, trombonist Charlie Panelli (often spelled "Panely" in contemporary material), and banjoist Karl Berger. Clarinetist Alcide "Yellow" Nunez was in New York with Bert Kelly's band in 1918 before joining the Louisiana Five.

The band recorded extensively for various companies including Emerson Records, Columbia Records, and Edison Records. They went on to produce such hits as "Clarinet Squawk" and "Slow and Easy." On one recording session they were joined by multi-instrumentalist Bernard "Doc" Beherendson on cornet.

The band was popular in the New York City area in 1919, and also made tours of Texas and Oklahoma.

After Nunez left the band, the group made one more pair of recordings in 1920 with a violin replacing the clarinet.

"Louisiana Five" on RedHotJazz with audio samples