Roger Wolfe Kahn was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and popular
musicianA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
,
composerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, and
bandleaderA bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
("Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra").
Roger Wolff Kahn (Wolff was his middle name's original spelling) was born in
Morristown, New JerseyMorristown is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 18,411. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown became characterized as "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in the...
into a wealthy German Jewish banking family. His father was
Otto Hermann KahnOtto Hermann Kahn was an investment banker, collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts.-Life and career:He was born on February 21, 1867, and raised in the city of Mannheim, Germany, to Jewish parents...
, a famous banker and patron of the arts. Otto and Roger Kahn were the first father and son to appear separately on the cover of
TimeTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine: Otto in November 1925 and Roger in September 1927, aged 19.
Kahn is said to have learned to play 18 musical instruments before starting to lead his own orchestra in 1923, aged only 16. In 1925, Kahn appeared in a short film made in
Lee De ForestLee De Forest was an American inventor with over 180 patents to his credit. De Forest invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that takes relatively weak electrical signals and amplifies them. De Forest is one of the fathers of the "electronic age", as the Audion helped to usher in the widespread use...
's
PhonofilmIn 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...
sound-on-filmSound-on-film refers to a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying picture is physically recorded onto photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog sound track or digital sound track,...
process. Kahn hired famous jazz musicians of the day to play in his band, especially during recording sessions, for example Joe Venuti,
Eddie LangEddie Lang was an American jazz guitarist, regarded as the Father of Jazz Guitar. He played a Gibson L-4 and L-5 guitar, providing great influence for many guitarists, including Django Reinhardt.-Biography:...
,
Artie ShawArthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
,
Jack TeagardenWeldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:...
,
Red NicholsErnest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
, and
Gene KrupaGene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
.
Recordings were made for:
- Victor 1925-1929,
- Brunswick
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
1929-1930,
- Columbia
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1932.
Kahn always had fun leading and conducting his orchestra. Reportedly, when the band was playing especially well he used to throw himself onto the floor and wave his legs in the air. However, in the mid-1930s, he lost interest in his orchestra and disbanded it. Instead, he preoccupied himself with
aviationAviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
and eventually, in 1941, became a test pilot for the
Grumman Aircraft Engineering CorporationThe Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a leading 20th century U.S. producer of military and civilian aircraft...
, a well-known aircraft manufacturer.
In 1931, Kahn made headlines on the New York society pages when he married musical comedy actress
Hannah WilliamsHannah Williams was an American actress, singer, and comedienne.Hannah Williams was born in Taylor, Pennsylvania and performed as a young child with her older sister Dorothy as "The Williams Sisters", a singing and dancing vaudeville act...
January 16, 1931. The wedding was at
Oheka CastleOheka Castle, also known as the Otto Kahn Estate, is located on the Gold Coast of Long Island, in Huntington, New York. It was the country home of financier and philanthropist Otto Kahn. Built by Kahn between 1914 and 1919, it was and remains the second largest private home in the United States,...
, his family's estate on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, and was kept secret from the public for two weeks, until the
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
show Williams was appearing in,
Sweet and LowSweet and Low is a musical revue produced by Billy Rose and starring James Barton, Fanny Brice, George Jessel, and Arthur Treacher. It features sketches by David Freedman and songs by various composers and lyricists....
, had had its final performances. The couple made headlines again when they divorced two years later and when, after only a few weeks, Williams married boxing champion
Jack DempseyWilliam Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
. Two days after the divorce, on April 7, 1933, Roger Wolfe Kahn married Edith May Nelson, a Maine politician's daughter. That marriage lasted until Kahn's death of a
heart attackMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in New York City on July 12, 1962. By his second wife, he had two children, Peter W. Kahn and Virginia Kahn.
Kahn's popular titles include:
- "Hot Hot Hottentot"
- "One Night In The Jungle"
- "Anything You Say"
- "Crazy Rhythm" (later used in Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
's 1994 film, Bullets Over BroadwayBullets Over Broadway is a 1994 crime-comedy film written by Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath and directed by Woody Allen. It stars an ensemble cast including John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Chazz Palminteri, and Jennifer Tilly....
)
- "Imagination"
- "She's a Great Great Girl" (the closing theme song of WAMU
WAMU is a public radio station that services the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The station broadcasts on 88.5 FM, online at wamu.org, and on HD Radio at 88.5-HD1, 2 and 3. WAMU is on-air 24 hours a day. It is licensed to American University, and its studios are located near the campus...
's Hot Jazz Saturday Night hosted by Rob Bamberger)
Kahn's work on Broadway includes:
- Here's Howe (1928) - musical - co-composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
- Americana (1928) - revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
- composerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
External links
- Roger Wolfe Kahn at the Internet Broadway Database
The Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....
- Roger Wolfe Kahn at the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra