Adolph Ignatievich Rosner was also known as Ady Rosner or Eddie Rosner. He was born 26 May 1910 in Berlin and died 8 August 1976 in West Berlin. His rendition of the St. Louis Blues is a major reason for this. He was a Gulag prisoner under Joseph Stalin in the former Soviet Union. Childhood He was born in Berlin to a Polish Jewish family. He was six years old when he was admitted to Stern’s Musical Conservatory. At the age of 15, he discovered jazz and switched to classical music. He graduated from the conservatory in 1920 as a violinist, and enrolled at the High School of Music Berlin on the Kantstrasse. It is near the Opera. He discovered jazz and switched to trumpet in the 1920s. He adopted the name Eddie and began playing with fellow Polish musicians in Marek Weber’s orchestra. Musicianship Eddie Rosner combines his classical music education and the latest jazz beats to create musicianship. After playing in several Berlin bands, he joined the “The Syncopators”, which was led by Stephan Weintraub. He toured throughout Western Europe with them. He was in Eddie Rosner’s band and with “The Syncopators” during the 1930s. He was well-known for his ability to play two trumpets simultaneously and his excellent trumpet playing skills by 1934. His work was celebrated by the French during his 1930 European tour. He was also featured in numerous magazines. America During the 1930s, Eddie Rosner worked as a transatlantic steamer captain with “The Syncopators”. While cruising between Hamburg, America’s seaports, Eddie Rosner entertained passengers. Rosner had already recorded several recordings of himself playing trumpet with the band and was planning to start a new career in America. He also contacted Gene Krupa, the American drummer and bandleader. Eddie Rosner, at that time, was considered to be the greatest European jazz trumpeter and was often compared with Louis Armstrong. Escape from Nazis He fled Nazi Germany to Poland. He married Ruth Kaminska in Warsaw in 1939. She was the daughter of Ida Kaminska, a Polish actress. After the Nazi German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, his career and life were in danger. But he fled Poland quickly and was freed from the Nazis at the start of the Second World War. Eddie Rosner, along with a group from his band, crossed the newly-established German-Soviet frontier and arrived in Bialystok, the western part, of Belarus. This city became part of Soviet Union. The Soviet authorities initially welcomed Eddie Rosner and allowed him to perform in the Soviet Union, which was at the time open to jazz. The USSR: Eddie Rosner’s first success. In 1939, he settled in Belostok with the “Belostok Jazz”, which quickly became the State Jazz of the Belorussian Soviet Republic. Rosner and his band of jazz musicians toured throughout Belarus and performed in Moscow and other major cities. In the USSR, Eddie Rosner received a similar warm reception to his European tour. Rosner’s performances were broadcast on the Soviet Union’s national radio before and during the Second World War Nazi occupation. Many records were also released and distributed throughout the USSR. Rosner was even called by Joseph Stalin to express his appreciation for the performance. Rosner was made the leader for the Soviet State Jazz Orchestra. Rosner and his band recorded hits such as “Caravan”, “St. Louis Blues,” and many other popular songs. Everything changed after the war. Stalin had become increasingly hostile to Jews and foreigners by 1946. Soviet censorship made all foreign music and art illegal. Even the most prominent Russian musicians like Sergey Prokofiev or Dmitry Shostakovich, were banned. Rosner was disowned and planned to leave the Soviet Union. [citation required] [dubious– discuss] Rosner was stopped by the Soviet MGB at Lvov, Ukraine while attempting to cross the border in his family’s name. He was charged with “anti-Soviet” Treason[citation necessary][dubious– discuss] and sentenced to a Gulag prison camp with a ten year sentence. Rosner performed in the Gulag camp at Magadan for eight more years. He was also allowed to use music or be used to lift spirits of Soviet Gulag prisoners. In May 1954, over a year after Stalin’s passing, he was freed. Comeback Eddie Rosner, a prominent Russian musician and founder of one of the most recognizable big bands in the country, founded the band in the mid-1950s. From 1954 to 1971, his band toured the Soviet Union and recorded several albums. Rosner and his jazz group were featured in The Carnival Night, a Soviet comedy that gained further popularity with movie-lovers. The Soviet press and critics were told not to mention Eddie Rosner in their publications or critical works. Authorities also banned Rosner from performing in Soviet Union’s major concert halls. Rosner and his jazz group were slowly pushed to the margins during the 1960s, but intellectuals and the knowledgeable public were well aware of Rosner’s musicianship, artistry and talent, so he was still a popular figure among jazz fans. Rosner was in poor health by the 1970s. He felt the end was near and applied to the Soviet authorities to allow him to immigrate to his home country. In 1973, he was granted permission to return to Berlin. Three years later, he died from poverty after he failed to earn any royalties in Soviet Union. Despite his popularity among the Allied troops during World War II, not only the Soviets but also the Soviets as well, he has fallen into completeobscurity in the West. A documentary about him was made in 1999 and there was a revival of interest. Popular culture. Pierre-Henry Salfati’s 1999 documentary “The Jazzman from the Gulag”, (“Le Jazzman Du Goulag”), won the International Emmy Awards. It tells the story about Rosner’s life. He is the main theme in the song “Soviet Trumpeter”, by the Norwegian band Katzenjammer.
