Oscar Rabin
Oscar Rabin (born April 16, 1899 in Riga as Oscar Rabinowitz ; † June 20, 1958 in Putney (London) ) was a British jazz and entertainment musician ( violin , later bass saxophone ), who emerged primarily as a band leader.
Life
Rabin, who immigrated to Great Britain with his family at the age of four weeks, studied violin at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before leading a dance orchestra at the Palace Hotel in 1925 . He partnered with Harry Davis, who became the front man and conductor of his bands and remained in that position for 25 years. With the Romany Band he played in the Wimbledon Palais from 1926 to 1928 to dance, then in other London hotels and from 1935 to 1940 in the Hammersmith Palais and then in the Lyceum Ball Room in London. In 1945 he made a troop support tour in Europe with his big band. The band's repertoire consisted mainly of commercial dance music; with Move (by Denzil Best ) they played a jazz number every night.
The band consisted of 15 instrumentalists; For a long time Harry Gold , Laurie Gold , Ken Mackintosh , Cecil Pressling , Arthur Greenslade , Bobby Benstead , Ken Wray , Eric Jupp or Kenny Clare belonged to the formation alongside Rabin, and for a short time also Don Rendell , Ron Simmonds , Pete King , Derek Humble , Danny Moss , Ian Hamer or Jimmy Deuchar . The band always had two or three vocalists like Alan Dean , Bob Dale , Annabelle Lee , Cyril Shane , Marion Williams , Beryl Davis , Terry Devon , Dennis Hale , Marjorie Daw (who married the band's drummer, Kenny Clare), Bernard Manning , Marion Davis , Mel Gaynor , Pattie Forbes and Johnny Worth . In 1950 Don Smith became the conductor of the Oscar Rabin Band ; he was followed in 1951 by David Ede (1926-1965), who led the band even after Rabin's death.
Lexical entries
- John Chilton : Who's Who of British Jazz . Continuum, London 2004, ISBN 0-8264-7234-6
Web links
- Oscar Rabin at Allmusic (English)
- Profile of the band 1950–1956
- Oscar Rabin at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rabin, Oscar |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rabinowitz, Oscar (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British jazz and entertainment musician (violin, later bass saxophone) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 16, 1899 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Riga |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 20, 1958 |
| Place of death | Putney (London) |