2 Wonderful Pictures for Saturday

                                                                                Tomorrow is Ella Fitzgerald's birthday. To celebrate this wonderful woman's career is a photo of her with Marilyn Monroe. The Mocambo club refused to book Ella Fitzgerald because of her race, until Marilyn Monroe said she'd reserve a front row.

                                                                                       Louis Armstrong plays trumpet for his wife, Lucille, in front of the Great Sphinx of the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt.

You Cannot Stop The Good Song From Being Played

In the early 1900's,  jazz music was not always played so freely.  For quite some time, black and white jazz musicians were forbidden to play together in public. After playing on Mississippi Steam Boats, Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke began playing late night, after hours shows in Chicago in the 1920's. This was a big deal because Bix was a white man. But, you cannot stop the good song from being played! As we discovered through our  research, Great Grandpa, Bob recorded with Armstrong and Beiderbecke during this period.


Photo credits: Louis Armstrong "Satchmo" and Bix Beiderbecke - approx. 1921
(photographer credits to follow)

As we all know, Louis Armstrong is an American Jazz legend.  In our  family he is considered a friend. His warmth and kindness towards Jewish people is remembered and outstretched to this very day.  I  believe that jamming with men like Great Grandpa Bob and Bix Beiderbecke cemented Armstrong's belief the music should not be segregated.   Stay posted for music recorded by these great trumpeters!

P.S. Fun fact: Louis Armstrong  spent  part of his childhood with  a  Jewish family, the Karnofsky's of  New Orleans.  Armstrong's Jewish influences and music like "Go Down Moses" remains a key song at  Passover Seder meals.  

Sources:
 Hentoff, Nat. "How Jazz Helped Hasten The Civil Rights Moment." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
"Louis Armstrong." 2014. The Biography Channel website. Apr 06 2014, 09:13http://www.biography.com/people/louis-armstrong-9188912

Integration, Segregation & Jazz Part 1

My Grandpa Bob always shared stories about becoming close friends with Louis Armstrong and W.C. Handy on the Mississippi River Boats.  During the early 20's, Black and White Musicians were segregated.

Socially they often jammed together when the river boats docked in cities along the "Great River". Eventually, (and more will be shared), the talented Jazz and Dixieland musicians were allowed to perform together - BUT only for White audiences.

We have been researching Grandpa's chronology. We know he started  performing in his teen years with Armstrong, Handy and Bix Beiderbecke and countless other talented Jazz musicians. They met on Mississippi river steamboats, traveled trains to New York, Chicago, Hollywood and Culver City -(our current home town).

 By the early 20's Grandpa Bob, Louis and Bix played  together and separately with Big Band Orchestras of Vincent Lopez , George Gershwin, Paul Whiteman, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Benny Goodman. (1)

  As Louis Armstrong said " many people don't realize that the Mississippi River does not flow up to Chicago!"  

 

(Image 1879-Public Domain)

Music from 20's and 30's never ceases to amaze me!  We are discovering  family members of  Jazz musicians and performers also archiving and sharing this brilliant, historical and upbeat period.
Jazz Radio, Concerts and Journalists are doing a magnificient job keeping Jazz music alive!  Thank you!

References:

1."Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong"  Terry Teachout, Author

2. The New York Times, Feb 15, 1987 "The Whiteman Concert of 1924 Lives On" John Wilson, Author

3. "Bix Beiderbecke - Wikipedia" 

4."Bix, Man & Legend" Sudhalter and Evan, Authors

5."Vincent Lopez Speaking" Autobiography, Vincent Lopez, 1961

Effros the Prankster

Below is an excerpt from Vincent Lopez's autobiography. In Lopez Speaking: An autobiography, the following passage entails one of the infamous pranks Bob Effros would often play on his pals. In this prank, Xavier Cugat the famous violinist, is the victim of one of Bob's practical jokes.

       "Cugie had developed quite a crush on a showgirl who often came into the Grill with her escort. Bob Effros, our first trumpeter, who knew her, persuaded her to give Cugie the ever-lovin' eye one evening. Then he fashioned a note which a waiter delivered to Cugat as the girl was leaving, giving a fictitious name and apartment number and saying she'd love to have him play the violin for her the next afternoon!
Cugie just couldn't keep the good news to himself.
"I know that girl quite well," Bob Effros confided. "The way to make a hit with her is bring her a strawberry shortcake. She's crazy about them."
So Cugat took both his violin and a big Lindy cake with him the following afternoon. The apartment the boys had picked for their joke was two flights up a dark stairway, on Tenth Avenue, in Hell's Kitchen! As Cugie stumbled up the last few steps, trying to see in the gloom, he suddenly heard a very angry masculine voice shout, "So you're the crumb who's been visitin' my wife I'm woikin!"
With that, prankster Effros smashed a couple of electric light bulbs, and the echoes in the narrow hall sounded like revolver shots. Cugat took the stairs three at a time as he reversed direction. He sprinted a full block before he realized that the footfalls and shouts following him belonged to Bob Effros and his practical joke pals."

Hit Radio 1920's "Singing in the Rain"

Bob Effros,trumpeter - Anoomi - Online Music Playlists   (credit)

"Singing in the Rain"  widely disputed whom actual composed.  Grandpa performed the
great hit with the The Philco Orchestra and continues to be a hit through the decades!

"Let A Little Pleasure Interfere With Business from The Philco Hour, 1931 ... songs mentions Billy Artz as director and Bob Effros as one of the trumpet players"

Beautiful album cover of "Boswell Sisters"  - performed and played often with Bob Effros The Boswell Sisters (Martha, Connie & Helvetia) Accompanied by:

(a) Victor Young And The Brunswick Orchestra. Personnel according to the CD-booklet
Bunny Berigan, Bob Effros (tp), Tommy Dorsey (tb), Jimmy Dorsey (cl, as),. The trumpeter who plays solos is Mannie Klein.
Credit:  Boswell Sisters.com

Quarters

I have always wanted to meet my Great-Grandfather. From the time I was born, I became fascinated with the man playing the trumpet in multiple pictures throughout my home. As I got older, I began to research more into the music that made Bob Effros the man he was. I can understand more about who my great grandfather was through the recordings he made within his lifetime.

Several years ago, I was visited by my Great-Grandfather in a dream. He had come to visit me in my sleep to show me a magic trick with quarters. The man appeared in a pin-stripe corduroy brown suit with a quarter in his palm. My Great Grandpa showed me how to make a two faced quarter look as though it only has one side. I'll explain the trick aspect of it all at a later point in this blog. 

When I awoke, I grabbed a quarter from my bedside and ran into the kitchen. The last thing I wanted was to forget how to do the magic trick. I approached my mother and immediately showed her what Grandpa Bob had taught me in my dream. My mother's face filled with joy and surprise as she told me that was the same magic trick Bob had showed her when she was a kid. 

I do not share this story to promote a belief in ghosts or the supernatural. This not a depiction of some special phenomena or spirituality. Instead, I share this story because it sparked a connection between my Great-Grandfather and I. The magic lives on throughout his music and that is why we want to share his legacy with the world.

Future Posts : Famous Musicians and Bands - music links, stories & interviews

"The Memory of this Dance"
Composers: Bob Effros - Ben Selvin

Anyone Can See With Half An Eye That I'm Crazy Over You"

Orchestra   Alto Saxophone – Jimmy Dorsey – Sam Lanin & His Famous Players*Trumpet – Bob Effros

from the Bing Crosby Collection

This blog was put together by Barbara Effros, (the granddaughter of Bob Effros), and myself, Bob's great grandson. As a family, we have always been interested in Bob's music. Whether it be his trumpet playing on the beginning and end of the "Looney Tunes" credits or his work with Bing Crosby, Bob's music continues to remain timeless. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.                                                                                                      - Jonathan Schwartz *Above is a song Bob recorded as a part of the Vincent Lopez Orchestra in 1926

A Brief Biography of Bob Effros

Robert "Bob" Effros was born December 6th, 1900 in London, England. At the age of three, his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Moving to the South was important to the foundations of Jazz trumpet playing that would influence Bob throughout his illustrious career as a musician. Bob ran away from home at age eleven and getting job on a Mississippi river boat. On the river boat he learned to play the coronet leading him to his true love; the trumpet. His course of trumpet playing began by following the leads of "King Oliver".


Between 1917 and 1919, Bob served as a bugler in the United States Army. After the war ended, Bob settled down in Baltimore playing under big band leader Bea Palmer.Throughout the 20's, Bob played the trumpet as a member of the Vincent Lopez Orchestra. The trumpeter flourished in this environment which lead him to write several hit songs such as: "Why The Twenties Roared", "Tin Ear" "Cornfed" and "Why Don't You Get Lost?" Much of Bob's success can be attributed to the songwriting he did for recording artists such as Fletcher Henderson, Red Nichols & Ben Selvin. Bob returned to England to play shows with beautiful and popular singer, Annette Hanshaw.


The Vincent Lopez Orchestra toured Europe extensively. The most infamous trip being in 1925 on the Ship Leviathan. By 1929, Bob decided he wanted to stay in the States for the remainder of his career to start a family. The Vitaphone label hired Effros as a house musician where he joined a group of up-and-coming performers including banjo player Harry Reser. Within a ten year period Bob Effros appeared on more than 125 different recordings. By 1929, Bob was leading his own orchestra and churning out hits such as "Sweet and Hot", an ode to Chinese soup. Bob was a staple in the studios through the 40's and made a home for himself in Queens, NY. It was here that he met his wife Selma Sternick. They had two sons, George and Alan Effros.