Robert De Kers
Robert De Kersmaker (born August 10, 1906 in Antwerp , † January 16, 1987 in Brussels ) was a Belgian jazz musician ( trumpet , also vibraphone , piano , vocals ) and arranger , who was primarily known as a band leader .
Live and act
De Kers began his musical career in 1922 as a pianist in amateur formations; He broke off a medical degree in favor of music. He had his first professional appearances in the winter of 1924/25 at the Palais de la Danse St. Sauveur in Brussels with the Bing Boys . He then went on a tour of Italy with Jeff Candrix and his original Berkeley’s . In the late 1920s he played in Paris with the David Bee and His Red Beans orchestra , then with the dancer Harry Flemming and in his revue The Flemming Blue Birds , which - with Josephine Baker - toured Europe.
In the 1930s De Kers led his own formations with all-star cast ( Robert De Kers and His Cabaret Kings , with Isidore Rooms, David Bee, Ernst van't Hoff , Fernand Fonteyn, Bob Bosmans), with whom he regularly in Was heard on the radio, made records for Decca Records from 1938 to 1943 (including Begin the Beguine and Down Argentine Way ) and had a long engagement at the Antwerp Century Hotel. He also worked with Jack Kluger , Gus Clark and Eddie Tower . In the post-war period, De Kers led an orchestra that included Toots Thielemans . In the field of jazz he was involved in 25 recording sessions between 1928 and 1956. He presented a textbook on orchestration ( Harmonie et orchestration pour orchester de dame ).
Lexical entries
- Grove Music Online: The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (2nd Edition)
- Emile Henceval Dictionnaire du jazz à Bruxelles et en Wallonie Liege 1991
Web links
- Entry at jazzinbelgium.com
- Robert De Kers at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Flemming hired European and American jazz musicians, in addition to Robert De Kers also the Belgian trombonist Jules Testaert and the saxophonist Ray Butler. See Paulina Alberto, Eduardo Elena: Rethinking Race in Modern Argentina . 2016, page 81
- ↑ Hilton R. Schleman Rhythm on record (1978), 138
- ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed April 14, 2016)
- ^ Bruxelles: Editions musicales C. Bens, 1945. Cf. James E. Perone: Orchestration Theory: A Bibliography . 1996, p. 136
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | De Kers, Robert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | De Kersmaker, Robert (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian jazz musician (trumpet, also vibraphone, piano, vocals) and arranger |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 10, 1906 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Antwerp |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 16, 1987 |
| Place of death | Brussels |