Julius Ansco Bruinier (7 November 1898 – 6 February 1972) was a German musician in the Berlin

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

/ Dance music band, known as the Weintraub's Syncopators. During the 1920s he played the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

in the band, but the only instrument in which he had received formal training was the 'cello, and on occasion he played fluently any one of a range of other instruments. He was an engineer by profession.

Life

Bruinier was the third son of Jan Berend Hendrik Bruinier (1863 - 1934) and Sophie Bruinier (born Sophie Wagner, 1867). Despite being born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

he inherited

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

citizenship from his father. He attended junior and middle school in the

Steglitz Steglitz () is a boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in Southwestern Berlin, the capital of Germany. is derived from the Slavic languages, Slavic name for the European goldfinch, similar to the German . ...

quarter of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

after which he worked for more than a year, in 1916/1917, as a machine technician at the Dingler Works in

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; ; , ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach (Blies), Schwarzbach River. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; older forms of the name include Middl ...

. After this he returned to complete his secondary schooling at

, passing his School final exams (''Abitur'') in 1920, and then moving across the border to

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants dialect, Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the Twente region, in the province of Overijssel. It is part of a larger urban area that also includes Enschede, Borne, Overijssel, Borne, Almelo and Ol ...

where for eight months he worked as a technical draftsman at a machinery factory. Following that, till April 1922 he undertook his military service in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In May 1922 he returned to

where he enrolled to study Technical Chemistry at the

Technical University An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

. He was still a chemistry student when he first performed with the Stefan Weintraub danceband in 1924. As a child Bruinier received 'cello lessons, and from 1922 he was making public appearances in a trio with his two brothers, August and Franz. From 1 August 1926 he belonged to one of Germany's best known jazz bands of the time, Weintraub's Syncopators. There he played the trumpet,

sousaphone The sousaphone ( ) is a brass musical instrument in the tuba family. Created around 1893 by J.W. Pepper & Son, J. W. Pepper at the direction of American bandleader John Philip Sousa (after whom the instrument was then named), it was design ...

, tuba, 'cello and

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

. Along with his instrumental contributions he demonstrated a rare talent for performance-grade whistling ("''Kunstpfeiffen''"). He also participated with the Weintraubs Syncopators in the "Monday Evening" (''Montagabend'' / MA) cabaret/review series, for which his younger brother. Franz, wrote most of the music. Other reviews in which they took part during the later 1920s were "Was Sie wollen" (''"What you want"'') by

Marcellus Schiffer Marcellus Schiffer was the name used by Otto Schiffer (20 June 1892 – 24 August 1932), a German cabaret writer, graphic designer, painter and librettist. Life Schiffer was born in Berlin. His father, Siegfried Schiffer (1849–1897), was a Je ...

and "Das bist Du" (''"That's you"''), with music by

Friedrich Hollaender Friedrich Hollaender (in exile also Frederick Hollander; 18 October 189618 January 1976) was a German film composer and author. Life and career He was born in London to a Jewish family, where his father, operetta composer Victor Hollaend ...

. In 1928 Ansco Bruinier was part of a Weintraub's Syncopators tour of Germany which included a show with

Kate Kühl Kate Kühl (born Elfriede Katharina Nehrhaupt: 16 December 1899 – 29 January 1970) was a German cabaret performer, chanteuse and film actor. After 1933 her brand of political cabaret was no longer permitted and she found herself subject of a ''B ...

at the

Großer Feldberg The Großer Feldberg ('Great Field Mountain') is, at a height of 879.5 metres, the highest elevation of the Taunus mountains, and of the entire Rhenish Massif. It is situated in the Hochtaunuskreis district in Hesse, Germany. The Feldberg/Taunus ...

"Feldberghaus" venue. Proceeds from Bruinier's musical activities now helped him to finance his further education. In September 1928 Bruinier temporarily left the band in order to complete his studies, emerging a year later with an engineering degree. Despite the degree, however, as a foreign national during the unemployment surge that accompanied the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

he was unable to find employment as an engineer, and he rejoined Weintraub's Syncopators at the end of 1929. In September 1930 he finally found a permanent job, working for

Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Y ...

. During the next few years he worked for the company round the world, with lengthy stints in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. After 1936 he was based mostly at the company's vast facility at

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. He remained with Shell till his retirement, when he relocated to

Bernried Bernried is a municipality in the district of Deggendorf in Bavaria in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the A ...

Lake Starnberg Lake Starnberg, or ''Starnberger See'' ) — called Lake Würm or ''Würmsee'' until 1962 — is Germany's second-largest body of fresh water, having great depth, and fifth-largest lake by area. It and its surroundings lie in three different Bava ...

, south of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Musical legacy

Bruinier features in a number of gramophone recordings produced by Weintraub's Syncopators, both as a trumpeter in "Up and at 'em" and "Jackass Blues", and with a whistling solo in "Marion-Tango" recorded for Odeon on 15 February 1928.Bergmeier/Lotz: ''Die Familie Bruinier'', p. 11; Bergmeier: ''The Weintraub Story'', p. 11ff.; Manfred Weihermüller, Heinz Büttner: ''Discographie der deutschen Kleinkunst'', volume 6, Lotz, Bonn 2002, p. 1551; Rainer Lotz: ''Discographie der deutschen Tanzmusik'', volume 3, Lotz, Bonn 1994, p. 821. Bruinier's biographer, Horst Bergmeier, writes that his remarkable whistling performances always attracted prominent reporting in the press.Bergmeier: ''The Weintraub Story'', pp. 9, 19 He later taught his whistling skills to his daughter, Katharina Döbner-Bruinier, which was demonstrated by her in 2010 in a film about Weintraub's Syncopators. Buinier can also be heard in several films for which music from Weintraub's Syncopators features in the sound tracks, notably

The Blue Angel ''The Blue Angel'' () is a 1930 German musical comedy-drama film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings and Kurt Gerron. Written by Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Vollmöller and Robert Liebmann, with uncredite ...

and Das Kabinett des Dr. Larifari (''"The Cabinet of Dr. Larifari"''). No recordings survive of the "ecstatic scene with jazz" (using music by Franz Bruinier) from the

Yvan Goll Yvan Goll (also written Iwan Goll, Ivan Goll; born Isaac Lang; 29 March 1891 – 27 February 1950) was a French-German poet who was bilingual and wrote in both French and German. He had close ties to both German expressionism and to French surr ...

"Paris brennt" (''"Paris Burns"'') which was premiered at a "Montagabend" review in Berlin on 28 February 1928, although the programme indicates that Ansco Bruinier was one of the performers taking part.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruinier, Julius Ansco Jazz cellists German jazz trumpeters German male trumpeters 1898 births 1972 deaths 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century German male musicians German male jazz musicians 20th-century German cellists