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A little-known but fascinating recording act from the 1920s, this group left behind a small slice of early American sound history. Their surviving performances preserve spiritual singing from a period when commercial recordings of Black vocal groups were still relatively rare.
by Hann's Emperors of Song
Hann's Emperors of Song is credited as the performer of What Band Is This?, a recording made on January 4, 1926 and later preserved by Project Gutenberg. The listing there treats the group as the author/performer of the work rather than identifying an individual writer.
The clearest biographical record available in this conversation comes from the Discography of American Historical Recordings, which describes Hann's Emperors of Song as a vocal group with recordings dated to 1926. That same source also has a separate entry for W. A. Hann, active in recordings from 1924 to 1926 as a leader, bass vocalist, and songwriter, suggesting a likely connection to the ensemble, though the exact relationship is not fully explained in the sources we found.
Because reliable published information appears to be very limited, only a brief sketch can be given with confidence. What stands out most is the historical value of the recording itself: a preserved example of early 20th-century vocal performance that helps modern listeners hear a voice from the shellac era.