Rudi Appendix

Rudi Annex (born December 6, 1905 in Berlin ; † 1998 in Buenos Aires ) was a German jazz musician ( guitar , banjo ) and restaurateur.

Live and act

Appendix, although he was self-taught as a guitarist and banjo player , became a professional musician. He learned to read music with the help of the pianist Franz Grothe during an engagement with the Dajos Béla Orchestra in Berlin. Together with Hans Schmeddeshagen , he founded the Original Atlantik Band in 1925 , with which he performed in the North Sea baths. He later played in Ernst Rüding's band, then with Fritz Freed. Between 1929 and 1933 he was a member of the leading dance orchestras of Billy Bartholomew , Louis de Vries , Dajos Béla and Bernard Etté . With Theo Mackeben's band , he was seen in the music film Die 5 by the jazz band in 1932 . On the banjo in particular, he was a sought-after orchestral and studio musician and was often used for recording sessions.

The banjo player, who, like all Jewish musicians , was banned from the profession by the Reichsmusikkammer , was initially employed (illegally) by Bernard Etté. Appendix was able to evade persecution by the Nazi system and emigrated into exile in Argentina in 1936. There he was employed in Dajos Béla's radio dance orchestra. At the end of the 1940s, Appendix gave up music and opened a bar where celebrities like Max Schmeling frequented.

literature

• Günter Boas : Rudi Appendix. A musician in the background. Der Jazzfreund, Menden 1986, ( Jazzfreund-Publication 29, ZDB -ID 2195112-3 ).
• E. Dieter Fränzel , Jazz AGe Wuppertal (ed.): Sounds Like Whoopataal. Wuppertal in the world of jazz. Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2006, ISBN 3-89861-466-2 , pp. 14-18.