Leo F. Reisman (October 11, 1897 – December 18, 1961) was an American violinist and bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s. Born and reared in

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Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, United States, Inspired by the Russian-American

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ist

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, Reisman studied violin as a young man. After being rejected by the

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, he formed his own band in 1919. He became famous for having over 80 hits on the popular charts during his career.

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

called Reisman's orchestra "The String Quartet of Dance Bands".

Biography

Reisman's first recording was on a 10-inch 78 rpm record for Columbia Records, recorded on January 10, 1921 – the two titles being "Love Bird" (Columbia A-3366, mx.79634) and the other title being "Bright Eyes" (Columbia A-3366, mx.79635). Reisman recorded for Columbia exclusively from July 1923 through March 11, 1929, when he signed with Victor, and stayed there until October 1933. He then signed with Brunswick and stayed until 1937 when he re-signed with Victor. During his 1929-1933 Victor period, Reisman recorded many lesser-known period Broadway songs, some of which were recorded by no other band. Due to his popularity, he was always one of the prominent bands during his time at Columbia, Victor and Brunswick, and he recorded prolifically. Reisman also had the habit of featuring composers and Broadway performers as band vocalists, including

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, Clifton Webb, and

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. He also featured Lee Wiley in 1931-32 for her first three recordings. More often than not, his vocalists were Frank Luther, Dick Robertson and later Sally Singer and George Beuler. A notable recording from this era was "

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" in November 1929, with vocals by Lou Levin. Among his more popular hits were his recordings of

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's " Night and Day" (1932) and Con Conrad's " The Continental" (1934), plus Astaire's recording of

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's " Cheek to Cheek" (1935). Reisman's was primarily a dance orchestra; he was not a fan of jazz music, but some of his early 1930s 78 RPM recordings were considered a bit "hot". (However, Reisman employed the legendary trumpet player

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in 1930–31, who had been a featured member of

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

's orchestra.) Reisman worked with Sam Donahue between 1946 - 1951.

Eddy Duchin Edwin Frank Duchin (April 1, 1909 – February 9, 1951), commonly known as Eddy Duchin or alternatively Eddie Duchin, was an American popular music pianist and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s. Early career Duchin was born on April 1, 1909, ...

was a member of Leo Reisman's orchestra; it was Reisman who gave Duchin his big break. The band leader and TV personality,

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, also was a member of Reisman's orchestra. Reisman's work on radio included having the ''Nine o'Clock Revue'', a 30-minute weekly program on the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

in 1937. Reisman died in

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on December 18, 1961, at the age of 64.

Charting singles

* "Down Argentina Way" (1940) ( US No. 7) * "Ferry-Boat Serenade" (1940) (US No. 19)

References

External links

*
Leo Reisman at Fadograph's Weblog: contemporary comments, personal photos, links to music, notes for a BioLeo Reisman recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Reisman, Leo 1897 births 1961 deaths American jazz bandleaders American big band bandleaders American male violinists Jewish violinists 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American violinists United States Army Band musicians 20th-century American male musicians