Roger Wolfe Kahn

Biography

Roger Wolfe Kahn was born on October 19, 1907, in Morristown, New Jersey, into extraordinary wealth and privilege as the son of Otto Hermann Kahn, a famous millionaire banker and patron of the arts. Despite his privileged background, Kahn was a genuinely talented musician who began studying violin at age six and learned to play eighteen different musical instruments before his teenage years. At age ten, he purchased a ukulele from a Ditson Music Shop in Manhattan, which sparked his passion for music and led him away from traditional academics at St. Bernard's School toward violins, pianos, banjos, and eventually jazz orchestras.

In 1923, at just sixteen years old, Kahn purchased the Arthur Lange Orchestra and formed his own booking agency, rejecting college in favor of pursuing his musical ambitions. After rehearsing his twelve-piece band for a year in the music studio of the Kahn family mansion on 5th Avenue, Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra made its debut at the Bohemian Cabaret in New York City in 1924. The band played big-time vaudeville from 1924 through 1929 and made numerous recordings for Victor (1925-29), Brunswick (1929-30), and Columbia (1932). Kahn fronted several fashionable nightclubs in New York, including Le Perroquet de Paris, which opened in November 1926 with a five-dollar cover charge after he spent $250,000 of his father's money on decorating it with a silver stage proscenium, mirrored dance floor, and aquariums beneath individual tables. By age nineteen, he had eleven orchestras on his books playing in resorts and hotels from Newport, Rhode Island to Florida, netting him personally an average of $50,000 a year.

Kahn was also a successful composer, co-writing many popular tunes including his best-known work "Crazy Rhythm." His recording of "I'm Sitting On Top Of The World" charted at #9 in February 1926. In the mid-1930s, Kahn left show business entirely and made a second career for himself in the aviation industry, where he worked until his death on July 12, 1962. Both he and his father Otto achieved the distinction of appearing separately on the cover of Time magazine—Otto in November 1925 and Roger in September 1927 at age nineteen, making them the first father and son to accomplish this feat.

Fun Facts

• Roger and his father Otto Kahn were the first father and son to appear separately on the cover of Time magazine—Otto in November 1925 and Roger in September 1927 at age 19.
• At Le Perroquet de Paris nightclub, Kahn gave each female guest a bottle of premier perfume as a souvenir, following the Parisian example of giving expensive gifts to visitors.
• By age 19, Kahn was earning $50,000 per year from his eleven orchestras—equivalent to roughly $850,000 in today's dollars—and commanded $4,200 for five and a half days of booking at venues like the New Orpheum Palace in Chicago.
• Despite being a bandleader and multi-instrumentalist who could play eighteen instruments, Kahn never actually recorded himself playing on any of his orchestra's recordings, instead hiring top musicians to perform while he conducted.

Musical Connections

Key Collaborators

• Jack Teagarden - Trombonist who substituted for Miff Mole and delivered a classic chorus without rehearsal (She's A Great Great Girl (March 14, 1928)) [1928]
• Miff Mole - Regular trombonist with the orchestra (Various recordings with Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra) [1925-1932]
• Tommy Gott - Cornetist in the orchestra (Various recordings with Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra) [1925-1932]
• Leo McConville - Cornetist in the orchestra (Various recordings with Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra) [1925-1932]
• Joe Venuti - Violinist in the orchestra (Various recordings with Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra) [1925-1932]
• Eddie Lang - Guitarist in the orchestra (Various recordings with Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra) [1925-1932]
• Jimmy Dorsey - Alto saxophonist and clarinetist in the orchestra (Various recordings with Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra) [1925-1932]
• Artie Shaw - Clarinetist featured on later recordings (Four titles from 1932) [1932]
• Libby Holman - Vocalist on recordings (Two vocals in 1930) [1930]

Discography

Albums

Top Tracks

1. Exactly Like You (Collection: 1925 - 1932)
2. Crazy rhythm (Piano Derby)
3. Brazil
4. Liza (All The Clouds'll Roll Away) (Collection: 1925 - 1932)
5. On The Sunny Side Of The Street (Collection: 1925 - 1932)
6. Into My Heart
7. Crazy Rhythm (All That Jazz, Vol. 69: Stan Getz & Friends – Boppin' in Studio & on Stage (2016 Remaster))
8. Crazy Rhythm (Icon: Menuhin and Grappelli)
9. Here's Howe: Crazy Rhythm (arr. for organ) (Organ Arrangements - Porter, C. / Rodgers, R. / Olias, L. / Berlin, I. / Kern, J. / Caesar, I. / Hupfeld, H. / Velasquez, C.)
10. A Little Bungalow (Collection: 1925 - 1932)

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia
• MusicBrainz

Tags: #jazz