Casper Reardon

Casper Reardon (April 15, 1907 – March 9, 1941) was an American classical and jazz harpist. He studied classical harp at the Curtis Institute of Music and went on to play for the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Later on, he played jazz.

The harp had been used in dance music for occasional flourishes before Reardon, but he is considered a first for using harp as a jazz instrument for solos and performances. By 1936, he was described as the "World's Hottest Harpist". During the following year he played "Cousin Caspar" in the film, You're a Sweetheart. In 1938, he played harp for the Broadway musical, I Married an Angel.

As a jazz musician he can be heard on albums by Jack Teagarden and Paul Whiteman. He recorded a handful of records for Liberty Music Shop Records and Schirmer Records.

He died in March 1941, in New York, at the age of 33 from kidney failure.

Birth and Death Data: Born April 15, 1907 (New York, New York), Died March 9, 1941 (New York City)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1933 - 1941

Roles Represented in DAHR: piano, harp

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BS-75226 10-in. 2/15/1933 Tap dance routine—No. 1 Edna Holdt ; Casper Reardon Dance instruction, with tap dancing and piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75227 10-in. 2/15/1933 Tap dance routine—No. 2 Edna Holdt ; Casper Reardon Dance instruction, with tap dancing and piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75228 10-in. 2/15/1933 Tap dance routine—No. 3 Edna Holdt ; Casper Reardon Dance instruction, with tap dancing and piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75229 10-in. 2/15/1933 Tap dance routine—No. 4 Edna Holdt ; Casper Reardon Dance instruction, with tap dancing and piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75230 10-in. 2/15/1933 Tap dance routine—No. 5 Edna Holdt ; Casper Reardon Dance instruction, with tap dancing and piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75231 10-in. 2/15/1933 Tap dance routine—No. 6 Edna Holdt ; Casper Reardon Dance instruction, with tap dancing and piano instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75232 10-in. 2/15/1933 I'm getting myself ready for you Casper Reardon Piano solo, for dance instruction instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75233 10-in. 2/15/1933 My one and only Casper Reardon Piano solo, for dance instruction instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75234 10-in. 2/15/1933 Loveless love Casper Reardon Piano solo, for dance instruction instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75532 10-in. 3/16/1933 Accompaniment for soft-shoe Casper Reardon Piano solo for dance instruction instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75533 10-in. 3/16/1933 Accompaniment for advanced tap Casper Reardon Piano solo for dance instruction instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75534 10-in. 3/16/1933 Accompaniment for professional routine Casper Reardon Piano solo for dance instruction instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75542 10-in. 3/20/1933 Accompaniment for waltz clog Casper Reardon Piano solo for dance instruction instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75543 10-in. 3/20/1933 Accompaniment for beginners' tap Casper Reardon Piano solo for dance instruction instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-75544 10-in. 3/20/1933 Accompaniment for beginners' advanced tap Casper Reardon Piano solo for dance instruction instrumentalist, piano  
Victor BS-011654 10-in. 8/5/1937 Can I forget you Jean Sablon Male vocal solo, with orchestra instrumentalist, harp  
Victor BS-060621 10-in. 2/5/1941 Moments like this Yvette Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble instrumentalist, harp  
Victor BS-060622 10-in. 2/5/1941 Twilight dance of the flowers Yvette Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble instrumentalist, harp  
Victor BS-060623 10-in. 2/5/1941 Las chiapanecas (While there's music there's romance) Yvette Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble instrumentalist, harp  
Victor BS-060624 10-in. 2/5/1941 It's always you Yvette Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble instrumentalist, harp  
Decca 60337 10-in. 1/15/1936 Moonburn Bob Terry Orchestra instrumentalist, harp  
Decca 60338 10-in. 1/15/1936 My heart and I Bob Terry Orchestra instrumentalist, harp  
Decca 60339 10-in. 1/15/1936 It's been so long Bob Terry Orchestra instrumentalist, harp  
Decca 60340 10-in. 1/15/1936 Sing an old-fashioned song Bob Terry Orchestra instrumentalist, harp  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Reardon, Casper," accessed November 2, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/109744.

Reardon, Casper. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 2, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/109744.

"Reardon, Casper." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 2 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/109744

External Sources

Wikipedia: Casper Reardon

Discogs: Casper Reardon

Allmusic: Casper Reardon

Linked Open Data Sources

LCNAR: Reardon, Casper, 1907-1941 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no93028469

Wikidata: Casper Reardon - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1048150

VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/29731865

MusicBrainz: Casper Reardon - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/b31bdfae-1d88-4750-9c54-45dee254b717

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

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