Ambrose (bandleader)

Ambrose
Birth name Benjamin Baruch Ambrose
Born 11 September 1896
Warsaw, Russia
Died 11 June 1971 (aged 74)
Leeds, England
Genres Big band
Occupation(s) Musician, bandleader
Instruments Violin
Years active 1916–1971
Notable instruments
Violin

Benjamin Baruch Ambrose (11 September 1896 – 11 June 1971), known professionally as Ambrose or Bert Ambrose, was an English bandleader and violinist. Ambrose became the leader of a highly acclaimed British dance band, Bert Ambrose & His Orchestra, in the 1930s.

Early life

Ambrose was born in Warsaw in 1896 whilst it was part of Russia. At some time after, the family moved to London. They were Jewish; his father being a 'Dealer in rags' in the 1911 UK Census where Ambrose was named as 'Barnett' (a "Violin musician student"). He began playing the violin while young, and travelled to New York with his aunt. He began playing professionally, first for Emil Coleman at New York's Reisenweber's restaurant, then in the Palais Royal's big band. After making a success of a stint as bandleader, at the age of twenty he was asked to put together and lead his own fifteen-piece band. After a dispute with his employer, he moved his band to another venue, where they enjoyed considerable popularity.

Whilst at the Palais Royal, on 5 June 1918, he registered for the Draft (Local Board Division 169, City of NY NY, 144 St Nicholas Ave; Registration 232). He gave: date of birth 11 Sept 1896; place of birth Warsaw, Russia; nationality Russian; father's birthplace Grietza, Russia; place of employment Palais Royal 48 St & Broadway; nearest relative Mrs Becky Ambrose, Mother, 56 "Blaksley" St London England. He signed Bert Ambrose. The registrar recorded: medium height; medium build; brown hair; brown eyes; no physical disability that would render him exempt.

In 1922, he returned to London, where he was engaged by the Embassy Club to form a seven-piece band. Ambrose stayed at the Embassy for two years, before walking out on his employer to take up a much more lucrative job in New York. After a year there, besieged by continual pleas to return from his ex-employer in London, in 1925 he was finally persuaded to go back by a cable from the Prince of Wales: "The Embassy needs you. Come back—Edward".

This time Ambrose stayed at the Embassy Club until 1927. The club had a policy of not allowing radio broadcasts from its premises, however, and this was a major drawback for an ambitious bandleader, largely because the fame gained by radio work helped a band to gain recording contracts (Ambrose's band had been recorded by Columbia Records in 1923, but nothing had come of this). He therefore accepted an offer by the May Fair hotel, with a contract that included broadcasting.

During his time at the Embassy, he married "Kathryn Lucille otherwise Kitty Brady" a 24 y.o. Irish-American, from New Jersey, on 20 January 1924. Oddly, he is named and signed as "Bernard Ambrose" a 27 y.o. "Musical Director" on the certificate. They had two daughters: Patricia S (1931) and Monica J (1933).

Ambrose stayed at the May Fair for six years, during which time the band made recordings for Brunswick Records, HMV and Decca. He teamed up with Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, and an American harmony song trio, the Hamilton Sisters and Fordyce (aka, Three X Sisters) to record songs including "My Heart Stood Still" and other tunes. This period also saw the musical development of the band, partly as a result of Ambrose's hiring of first-class musicians, including Sylvester Ahola, Ted Heath, Joe Crossman, Joe Jeannette, Bert Read, Joe Brannelly, Dick Escott and trumpeter Max Goldberg.

The 1930s and 1940s

In 1933, Ambrose was asked to accept a cut in pay at the May Fair; refusing, he went back to the Embassy Club, and after three years there (and a national tour), he rejected American offers and returned to the May Fair in 1936. He then went into partnership with Jack Harris (an American bandleader), and in 1937 they bought a club together (Ciro's Club). For three months they even employed Art Tatum[1] there, some think the greatest jazz pianist who ever lived. Ambrose and Harris alternated performances in Ciro's until a disagreement led to the rupture of their partnership. Ambrose then worked at the Café de Paris until the outbreak of World War II, when he again went on tour.

His major discovery in the years leading up to the war was the singer Vera Lynn (b. 1917), who sang with his band from 1937 to 1940 and, during the war, became known as the "Forces' Sweetheart". Lynn married Harry Lewis, a clarinettist in the band, in 1939. Other singers with the Ambrose band included Sam Browne, Elsie Carlisle, Denny Dennis (who recorded a number of duets with Vera Lynn), and Evelyn Dall. The Ambrose signature tune was "When Day Is Done".[2]

After a short period back at the May Fair Hotel, he retired from performing in 1940 (though he and his orchestra continued to make records for Decca until 1947). Several members of his band became part of the Royal Air Force band, the Squadronaires, during the war. Ambrose's retirement was not permanent, however, and he formed and toured with the Ambrose Octet, and dabbled in management.

The 1950s and 1960s

In the mid-1950s, despite appearances back in London's West End and a number of recordings for MGM, Ambrose was—in common with other bandleaders—struggling; rock and roll had arrived. He was forced to start performing in small clubs with casual musicians, and his financial position deteriorated catastrophically. His situation was saved, however, by his discovery of the singer Kathy Kirby (1938–2011), whom he heard singing at the age of sixteen at the Ilford Palais; he started a long relationship with her, and promoted her career.[3]

It was during the recording of one of Kirby's television programmes (at the Yorkshire Television studios) that Ambrose collapsed, dying later the same night in Leeds General Infirmary. His music was kept alive after his death by, among others, the Radio 2 broadcasters Alan Dell and Malcolm Laycock, the latter continuing to play his records into the 21st century. His records, especially from his many 78 rpm discs, still regularly feature on Australian radio 8CCC-FM's long running nostalgia programme "Get Out Those Old Records" hosted by Rufl.

Specialist dance band radio stations, such as Radio Dismuke, continue to play his records. Ambrose also features regularly on the weekly Manx Radio programme Sweet & Swing, presented by Jim and Howard Caine.


Ambrose was commemorated in 2005 by a blue plaque unveiled on the May Fair hotel.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 'Much to his dismay, Tatum's American club audiences were often noisy, whereas those in England behaved like concert listeners, a reception the pianist tried to cultivate wherever he went': www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608000093/Art-Tatum.html
  2. ↑ Ades, David; Bickerdyke, Percy; Holmes, Eric (July 1999). This England's Book of British Dance Bands. Cheltenham: This England Books. pp. 18–20. ISBN 0-906324-25-4.
  3. ↑ "Kathy Kirby". The Daily Telegraph. 20 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "AMBROSE, BERT (C. 1896–1971)". English Heritage. Retrieved 17 August 2012.

External links