The Georgians were a subset of the Phil Specht Orchestra. Specht had a gig at the Hotel Alamac in New York City in 1920. The orchestra played music for dancing in the ballroom and afterwards a smaller version of the group that went by the name of the Georgians played in the cocktail lounge. The star and leader of the band was trumpet player Frank Guarente. Guarente was originally from Italy but his family moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1910 and then to New Orleans in 1914.