Bert Shefter

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Bert A. Shefter (born May 15, 1902 in Poltava , Poltava Governorate , Russian Empire , † June 29, 1999 in Los Angeles ) was an American musician ( piano ), arranger and composer of Russian origin.

Live and act

Shefter came to America on a scholarship to study art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology ; later he studied at the Curtis Institute and the Damrosch Institute . With Morton Gould he formed the piano duo Gould and Shefter , with whom he arranged classical pieces such as Flight of the Bumble-Bee (1933) and Fantaisie-Imprompt (1934) for this line-up. He then became known nationwide through radio broadcasts and theater appearances. Inspired by Maurice Ravel's main theme, the Pavane pour une infante défunte , he wrote the title The Lamp Is Low with Peter DeRose (music) and Mitchell Parish (text) ; Shefter's other well-known titles were Tango in Tempo , Traffic in Times Square and Twilight Serenade . He founded his own band, with which he appeared on the radio and recorded records with jazz-oriented instrumental numbers for Victor and Decca Records , such as Are All My Favorite Bands Playing or Am I Dreaming? / Burglars' Revenge (1937), SOS / Locomotive ( 1937), A Toast to Paganini's Ghost / Wig Wag (1939), Fiddle-Faddle / Jazz Pizzicato and Jazz Legato (MGM, 1948). In his Rhythm Octet in 1937 a. a. Dave Wade , Toots Mondello , Paul Ricci , Artie Bernstein , Adrian Rollini and Herb Quigley . He was active both as a concert pianist and as an arranger of jazz pieces. After 1946 he was a guest orchestra conductor at New York's Carnegie Hall .

From 1950 Shefter worked mainly as a film composer and wrote (partly with Paul Sawtell ) the music for horror, adventure and science fiction films such as Kronos , Lederstrumpf: Der Wildtöter (1957), It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958), Return of the Fly, Danger in Havana (1959), Sunken World (1960), Firebelts , Pirates of Tortuga (1961), The Ruler of Cornwall (1962) and The Last Man on Earth (1964). He was also the musical supervisor for a number of western and crime TV series, such as New Orleans, Bourbon Street (1959-60), Hawaiian Eye (1959-63), Maverick (1957-62) and Bronco (1958) -62). Several of his compositions were used in Russ Meyer's films Die Satansweiber von Tittfield and Motorpsycho… wie wilde Hengste (1965). In 1975 he retired from the music business.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1953: Hunted Innocently (No Escape)
  • 1953: The Tall Texan
  • 1957: Defense intervenes (Five Steps to Danger)
  • 1957: Kronos
  • 1957: Devil in the Neck (Monkey on My Back)
  • 1957: Leatherstocking: The Deerslaver
  • 1957: The die is cast (Gun Duel in Durango)
  • 1958: The Texan's Revenge (Cattle Empire)
  • 1958: Wind across the Everglades
  • 1958: King of the Bandits (Villa!)
  • 1958: The Sierra Baron (Sierra Baron)
  • 1959: The Return of the Fly
  • 1959: Murder Trio (Three came to kill)
  • 1959: The world of sensations (The Big Circus)
  • 1959: Raid on call girls (Vice Raid)
  • 1959: Danger in Havana (Pier 5, Havana)
  • 1960: Five Guns to Tombstone
  • 1960: In Sight (The Walking Target)
  • 1960: Patrasche, my little friend (A Dog of Flanders)
  • 1960: Between the fronts (Frontier Uprising)
  • 1960: The Lost World (The Lost World)
  • 1960: The Ruler of Cornwall (Jack the Giant Killer)
  • 1960: Tomorrow You Shall Die (Noose of a Gunman)
  • 1961: The Big Show
  • 1961: Fire belt company
  • 1961: Pirates of Tortuga (Pirates of Tortuga)
  • 1961: Gun Fight
  • 1961: Focal Point Burma (Operation Bottleneck)
  • 1962: Wild Harvest
  • 1963: Gunslingers of Wyoming (Cattle King)
  • 1964: The Scout of the Black Mountains (Gold, Glory and Custer)
  • 1964: The Last Man on Earth
  • 1966: The Satanswives of Tittfield (Faster Pussycat! Kill, Kill!)
  • 1970: Kills Emilio Z. (Emiliano Zapata)
  • 1971: The Gatling Gun - Das Maschinengewehr (The Gatling Gun)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Don Rayno Paul Whiteman: Pioneer in American Music, 1930-1967 , p. 199
  2. ^ Brian Rust : Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942): LZ, Index . 2002, p. 1533
personal data
SURNAME Shefter, Bert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shefter, Bert A.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician (piano), arranger and composer of Russian origin
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Poltava , Poltava Governorate , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH June 29, 1999
Place of death los Angeles