Stefan Weintraub

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Stefan Weintraub (* 1897 in Breslau ; † September 10, 1981 in Sydney ), nicknamed "Steps", was a German jazz musician (piano, drums), band leader of the Weintraub Syncopators and an Australian mechanic.

Live and act

Weintraub began an apprenticeship in the pharmaceutical trade in his hometown of Breslau in 1913 after graduating from school and was drafted into military service in 1916. After returning from the world war, he moved to Berlin, where he worked in the food industry. Jazz, the new American dance music, fascinated him; Weintraub was so talented as a pianist that he could easily replay titles. Together with Horst Graff from Berlin, who was eight years his junior and who played the saxophone and also had organizational skills, he founded the Stefan Weintraub dance band , which was soon named Weintraub's Syncopators . The five-piece band performed for the first time in 1924.

The Weintraubs Syncopators were so successful that their members became professional musicians and the band expanded. Among the members was the chemistry student Ansco Bruinier , who had taken cello lessons, but also played the trumpet, saxophone and saxophone and , in addition to singing, also mastered the art of whistling . His brother Franz S. Bruinier was Bertolt Brecht's first composer . As a pianist and composer, Franz Bruinier participated in musical and literary events, the so-called MA (for “Monday evening”), in which he involved the Syncopators. It was here that Friedrich Hollaender got to know the group and took part in the revues he oversaw, taking on the piano part himself. As early as 1927, therefore, the band appeared in Max Reinhardt's revues “What they want”, “Hetaeric talks”, “That's you”, “That speaks volumes” and “With us around the Gedächtniskirche”. When Hollaender joined, Stefan Weintraub switched from piano to drums. The band name on the big drum was now "Weintraub's Syncopators".

Weintraub's Syncopators were fascinated by their musical and stylistic versatility between classical parody , Latin American dances, Viennese waltzes, French cabaret chansons, swing and Chicago jazz : the individual musicians changed several instruments in one track; Between the pieces they also changed clothes to match the respective topic. They also entertained the audience by imitating animal sounds, using other instruments, unusual equipment such as kitchen utensils as instruments or by taking up unusual positions to play (e.g. lying on the floor). They combined theatrical, grotesque and clownish elements with musical entertainment and jazz in such a virtuoso manner that Weintraub's Syncopators was soon recognized as the most sought-after stage orchestra in Berlin. In the revue "Please join in" they appeared as companions and co-actors of Josephine Baker in the Theater des Westens . The first recordings were made in 1928. The band at that time consisted of Friedrich Hollaender (piano), Stefan Weintraub (drums), Paul Aronovici (trumpet), John Kaiser (trombone), Horst Graff (clarinet, alto saxophone), Freddy Wise (tenor saxophone, bass saxophone and clarinet), Cyril "Baby “School father (banjo and guitar) and Ansco Bruinier (trumpet, tuba and bass). Stefan Weintraub had the skills of a band leader and ensured the artistic and human cohesion between the different musicians.

The Syncopators were also involved in the scandal-ridden world premiere of Walter Mehring's play “Der Kaufmann von Berlin” at the Berlin Volksbühne on September 6, 1929 , for which Hanns Eisler had written the music. They also appeared in the film The Blue Angel , directed by Joseph von Sternberg in 1930. The jazz arrangements were made by Franz Wachsmann , Hollaender's successor as the group's pianist. Hollaender brought the band for some recordings, where they were known as "Friedrich Hollaender and his jazz symphonies". The Syncopators were probably also involved in the recordings of Peter Kreuder and Marlene Dietrich . Also in 1930 they were together with Paul Morgan , Max Hansen and the tenor Carl Jöken in the cabaret sound film Das Kabinett des Dr. Larifari directed by Robert Wohlmuth . In 1933 the Weintraubs Syncopators played alongside Hans Albers in the UFA film “ Today's it depends ”. That was the last of 20 feature films in which they were involved before they were banned from appearing in Germany as so-called "non-Aryans". They went on extensive tours abroad - even to the Soviet Union (1935, 1936) and Japan (1937). The group wanted to emigrate to Australia . With a lucrative contract, the Weintraubs Syncopators arrived in Australia in July 1937, where a tour of several months began in October. The Australian audience reacted enthusiastically, but the musicians' union fought against the successful group, at that time still the most internationally known German jazz group.

Weintraub wrote to the Home Office in Canberra in October 1937 that he wanted to settle in Australia. Since foreign musicians usually did not receive a work permit, Weintraub agreed to return to his old profession. He secretly hoped to continue performing as a musician. Indeed, in December 1938, one of Sydney's finest restaurants Weintraubs hired Syncopators. The musicians' union ensured that a local group was also hired. This reduced the number of appearances for the Syncopators. After the outbreak of war, further restrictions followed: Like other members of the Syncopators, Weintraub was interned as an "enemy alien" in June 1940 because of his German citizenship. It was considered suspicious that he had fought as a soldier on the German side in World War I and received the Iron Cross . In September 1941, Weintraub was finally released from the internment camp. Members of an Australian band criticized Weintraub's "early dismissal" and worked with the leaders of the musicians' union to ensure that Weintraub was not given any opportunity to perform. Weintraub worked as a mechanic in Sydney. It was not until October 1945 that Weintraub received Australian citizenship. He could only make music on the side. In the emigrant scene in Sydney he was regularly seen at German-language performances, at revues and colorful evenings at the Kleiner Wiener Theater, where he played the piano or drums. Willingly and modestly he made himself available here for all musical tasks.

filming

Jörg Süßenbach and Klaus Sander have with their film “Weintraubs Syncopators. Until the end of the world ”( Cine Impuls 2000 , Berlin) a memorial was erected in 2000 for the almost forgotten band Weintraubs.

literature

  • Rainer E. Lotz: Discography of German Dance Music. Volume 3, Birgit Lotz Verlag, Bonn 1994 (pp. Viii, 559-836). ISBN 3-9802656-9-2 / ISBN 978-3-9802656-9-0 (contains a list of all records by Weintraub Syncopators, pp. 769–820).
  • Horst H. Lange: Jazz in Germany. The German jazz chronicle 1900 to 1960 :. Colloquium Verlag, 1966. pp. 43, 48f, 54, 58, 67
  • Kay Dreyfus: Weintraub Syncopators. In: Dan Diner (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture (EJGK). Volume 6: Ta-Z. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2015, ISBN 978-3-476-02506-7 , pp. 334–336
  • Michael H. Kater : A daring game. Jazz under National Socialism. Kiepenheuer and Witsch, Cologne 1995
  • Albrecht Dümling: The missing musicians. Jewish refugees in Australia. Böhlau, Cologne 2011

Web links

notes

  1. ^ Aronovici, * 1906 in Jassy , Romania - August 15, 1966 in Miami. Biography in the LexM
personal data
SURNAME Weintraub, Stefan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Steps (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German jazz musician and Australian mechanic
DATE OF BIRTH 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH September 10, 1981
Place of death Sydney , New South Wales , Australia