[ Ady Rosner Orch. ]
b. 1910, Berlin, Germany, d. 1976 Berlin, Germany
Here's a 1943 photograph (source unknown) of Ady Rosner, who was perhaps the most famous of all orchestra leaders in Poland during the mid-1930's. His was the only Polish group of the period to gain an international reputation, touring extensively throughout Latvia, Denmark, Hungary, Netherlands, and France. Ady Rosner was born in Berlin in 1910, the son of a Polish-Jewish shoemaker. As a child he displayed amazing ability on the violin and was soon enrolled in one of the top music academies in Berlin. To make money on the side, Rosner learned to play the trumpet, and began to sit in with various dance orchestras. Among those whose trumpet sections he graced were the Rosy-Petosy Band and the Marek Weber Orchestra. In 1930 he joined Weintraub's Syncopators, a hot jazz band led by Stefan Weintraub Rosner toured Europe extensively with the Syncopators, and recorded with them for Odeon and Columbia. With the rise of Hitler to power, Rosner decided it would be safer for him outside of Germany, and he emigrated to Poland by way of Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia.

Once in Poland, Rosner formed an orchestra comprised of players who he had known in Germany, as well as players recruited locally. His vocalist was Ludwig Lampel hailed by the critics as "a sensatonal singer of European jazz". By 1936 he was the highest paid musician in Poland, at least according to a 'Melody Maker' article from that year. Rosner's orchestra toured throughout Poland playing in such places as the Adria and Esplanade in Warsaw, Lodz, and resorts in the Zakopane region. Rosner also found time to open a nightclub in Lodz called Chez Adi.

In the mid-30's, Ady led his small combo that toured Finland, Denmark, Sweden and in France, where his band recorded three records for French Columbia records with sides that included "On the Sentiimental side", "Let It Rain, Let It Pour", "Midnight in Harlem", "Caravan", "Take Your Pick and Swing", and "When Buddha Smiles At Me".

In 1938 the Rosner band toured much of Europe, and actually recorded several sides for French Columbia. These sides show the Rosner band augmented with other international players. Tunes such as "On The Sentimental Side, "Caravan, and "Bugle Call Rag", show the fine playing that the band was capable of, although Rosner himself was the centerpiece.

Upon his return to Poland at the end of 1938, Rosner and his band settled into engagements at nightclubs such as "Gold &Petersburski's", which was owned by fellow orchestra leaders Artur Gold and Jerzy Petersburski. At the time of occupation of Poland by Germany in 1939, Rosner and company were playing at the Esplanade. Realizing that both he and his wife, who was also Jewish, were in a perilous position, Rosner and most of his group fled Eastward toward the Russian Zone. Once in the city of Lvov, which had come under Russian control after the partition of Poland, Rosner set about getting an engagement at a local nightclub called "The Bagatelle". During this engagement, Rosner was approached by the Secretary of the Belo-Russian Republic about forming a State Jazz Orchestra. Rosner accepted the invitation, and for the next six years became the most important jazz musician in the Soviet Union.

Rosner brought a much need surge of input to Soviet Jazz, which had suffered terribly from repression following the purges of 1937 and 1938. Between 1940 and 1946, Ady Rosner recorded and toured extensively throughout all of the Soviet Union. His 1944 recording of "St. Louis Blues" for the state owned record company is considered one of the high spots of European jazz in the 40's. As with all "Jazz Bands" in the Soviet Union during that period, a high percentage of Rosner's output is of tangos, waltzes and the like. Many of Ady Rosners Soviet recordings were reissued in 1988 in the "Soviet Anthology of Jazz" series produced for Melodiya.

In the aftermath of World War 2 in Russia, and a swing to a more xenophobic outlook, Ady Rosner and his wife were imprisoned in the gulags. Even in such an environment as this Rosner was still able to put together an orchestra of great ability. And as mind boggling as it may sound, this orchestra was sponsored by the director of the camp where Rosner was imprisoned. The group attained such a polish that it was toured throughout the entire camp system. In 1953, Rosner was "rehabilitated" by the Soviet government, following the death of Stalin. He immediately reorganized his orchestra, and for almost the next twenty years continued to be a force in Soviet jazz. He left Russia in 1973, and died in Berlin in 1976.

Most of the bands the era played many different styles of dance music, and so too Rosner, but what distinguished his band was it's concentration on Swing and Jazz. During his time in Poland Ady Rosner gained the sobriquet of "the King of Jazz Virtuosos". The Polish critics wrote "Ady Rozner, -Jazz sensation!" In the British publication Melody Maker, the president of "Sweet and Hot Club of Brussels", called him "...the Polish Armstrong! His importance to Polish, and European, Jazz is unquestioned. Thankfully he left behind a sizeable number of recordings by which we can document his ability.

The BigBand Database thanks Mr. Peter Doyle for this contribution, including the photograph of Ady Rosner.