Eddie Rosner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adolph Eddie Rosner (born 1910 in Berlin–died August 8, 1976 in Berlin) was a Polish Jazz musician called "The White Louis Armstrong" or "Polish Louis Armstrong" in different sources. This is in part because of his rendition of the St. Louis blues.
He was born of a Polish Jewish family in 1910. He initially studied classical music, but became drawn to jazz by the age of fifteen. By 1934 he had gained acclaim for his trumpet playing and ability to play two trumpets at once. In his tour of Europe in the 1930s the French celebrated his work and he was featured on many magazines. In 1939 he married Ida Kaminska's sister Ruth. His career could have been in jeopardy after the invasion of Poland by the Nazis, but he fled to the Soviet Union which at that time embraced jazz. Hence he initially achieved an equally glowing reception in the USSR as he had in France. Josef Stalin even called to say he enjoyed his performance for him. This led to his being made the head of the Soviet Jazz Orchestra for a time. After the war this changed.
By 1946 Stalin became increasingly hostile to Jewish people and also foreigners. In that year Rosner fell into disfavor and was sent to a Gulag on charges of treason with a ten-year sentence. He continued to perform in the Gulag, however, and was allowed to use, or be used, to lift the spirits of those interned. He was released in 1953 after Stalin died. He returned to his native Berlin in 1973 and died there in poverty three years later. Although during the war he had gained widespread popularity with many of the Allied troops, not just the Soviets, he has since fallen into near obscurity. However, in 1999, a documentary on him was released, leading to something of a revival of interest.
[edit] External links
- Jazzman from the Gulag
- Pullitzer site on Soviet Jazz
- International Herald Tribune
- European Big Bands Database Plus
- Soviet discography
