Here is an extremely rare very early autographed 7" by 9" photo of the Casa Loma Orchestra, from 1932, signed by all 14 bandmates, including Glen Gray signing as “Spike” Knobloch. Bandleader Glen Gray started out as a sax player in the 1920s in a band called "The Orange Blossoms". It soon changed its name to the Casa Loma Orchestra in 1927, generally considered to be the first swing band of the era. In 1929 the band members picked Gray as their leader, and it was among the most successful of the big-band orchestras until it disbanded in 1950. Six years later Gray, who had retired, oversaw a series of recordings featuring his own band and others from the 1930s and 1940s.The Casa Loma Orchestra was an American dance band active from 1929 to 1963. Until the rapid multiplication in the number of swing bands from 1935 on, the Casa Loma Orchestra was one of the top North American dance bands. With the decline of the big band business following the end of World War II, it disbanded in 1947. However, from 1957 to 1963, it re-emerged as a recording session band in Hollywood, made up of top-flight studio musicians under the direction of its most notable leader of the past, Glen Gray. The reconstituted band made a limited number of appearances live and on television and recorded fifteen LP albums for Capitol Records before Gray died in 1963. The band recorded and released the original version of the jazz and big band standard "Sunrise Serenade" in 1939 with Frankie Carle on piano. Minor corner and edge wear. Extremely rare.