Abe Katzman
Abram-Aba Katsman
Born1868 (1868)
Kishinev, Bessarabia Governorate, Russian Empire
OriginBrooklyn, New York, US
Died1940 (aged 71–72)
GenresKlezmer
Occupation(s)Musician and recording artist
Instrument(s)Violin

Abraham Katzman (1868–1940, Yiddish: אברהם קאצמאן) was an American Klezmer violinist, bandleader, composer, and Brunswick Records recording artist of the 1920s.[1] He was the father of film producer Sam Katzman, uncle of American arranger and bandleader Louis Katzman and the great-uncle of Henry Katzman and Leonard Katzman.[2]

Biography

Early life

Abe was born Abram-Aba Katsman in 1868 in Chișinău (then known as Kishinev), Bessarabia Governorate, Russian Empire.[2][3][4][5] His father was Chaim Katzman and his mother was named Sura Bayla (née Goldman).[4][6] He was from a musical family; his brother Philip Katzman played in opera orchestras in Moscow and Chișinău.[2] He later stated that he had studied violin in Russia under a Professor Gilla.[7] Abe emigrated to New York City in October 1897.[2][8]

Music career

In his early years, he worked as a violin teacher and lived in Manhattan.[8][9] By 1910, he was also apparently bandleader of a klezmer orchestra in Brooklyn, making him a contemporary of New York klezmer musicians from Romania and Bessarabia such as Max Leibowitz, Abe Schwartz, and Joseph Moskowitz, as well as Milu Lemisch in Philadelphia.[2][10] Irving Gratz, who would later become the regular drummer for Dave Tarras, got his start in Abe's band; Tarras himself also played in the band for a time.[11][12]

In the early 1920s he was advertising his services as a violinist and conductor of A. Katzman's Orchestra.[7] It was in December 1927 that he entered the Brunswick Records studio in New York to record the sides of klezmer dance and performance music for which he is remembered today, under the band name Abe Katzman's Bessarabian Orchestra.[13][14] It seems probable that he was brought in to make the recordings because his nephew Louis Katzman was a well-known Brunswick Records recording artist and bandleader.[2] Dave Tarras may have been the clarinetist on these recordings, although he is uncredited.[11]

By 1940 Abe was living in Los Angeles, California with his wife, daughters and some other relatives.[15] He died there of a stroke at age 72 at Saint Vincent's Hospital on October 16, 1940.[5][16] His body was transported to New York and buried in the Keshenever section at the Mount Zion Cemetery.[17]

Family

Abe married his wife Rebecca (Rivke, née Sugarman/Zuckermann), daughter of a businessman from Akkerman, Bessarabia (now Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine) in 1894 in Chișinău.[6][18] They had many children: Louis (born 1895 in Chișinău), Lillie (born 1897 in Chișinău), David (born 1899 in New York), Sam Katzman (born 1901), Sophie (born 1902), Ida (born 1904), George (born 1905), and Bessie (born 1908).[19][9]

References

  1. ↑ American Jewish desk reference : the ultimate one-volume reference to the Jewish experience in America (1st ed.). New York: Random House. 1999. p. 424. ISBN 0375402438.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Katzman, Michael M. (2014). "Louis Katzman: His Musical Life and Times". ARSC Journal. 45 (2): 179–99.
  3. ↑ "Abram Katzman. Migration • New York Naturalization Index (Soundex), 1792-1906". FamilySearch. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Bessarabia Birth Records". FamilySearch. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Abraham Katzman. Vital • California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994". FamilySearch. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Bessarabia Marriage and Divorce Records". FamilySearch. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  7. 1 2 "The Musical blue book of America. 1921-22". The Musical Blue Book of America.: 220. 1921–22.
  8. 1 2 "New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 for Abram Katzman". Ancestry Library. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  9. 1 2 "Abraham Katzman. Census • United States Census, 1910". FamilySearch. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  10. ↑ Feldman, Walter Zev (2016). Klezmer : music, history and memory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 279. ISBN 9780190244521.
  11. 1 2 Rubin, Joel (2020). New York klezmer in the early twentieth century : the music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras. Rochester, NY: Rochester University. p. 323. ISBN 9781580465984.
  12. ↑ Sapoznik, Henry (1997). "3. Klezmer Music: The First One Thousand Years". In Rasmussen, Anne K; Lornell, Kip (eds.). Musics of multicultural America : a study of twelve musical communities. New York: Schirmer Books. p. 60. ISBN 9780028645858.
  13. ↑ Laird, Ross (2001). Brunswick Records: New York sessions, 1927-1931. United Kingdom: Greenwood Press. pp. 530–1.
  14. ↑ "Katzman, Abe". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  15. ↑ "Abe Katzman. Census • United States Census, 1940". FamilySearch. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  16. ↑ "Katzman Burial Here". Motion Picture Daily. 1940-10-21.
  17. ↑ "Abraham Katzman". Find a Grave. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  18. ↑ "Bessarabia Marriage and Divorce Records". FamilySearch. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  19. ↑ "Abraham Katzman. Census • United States Census, 1930". FamilySearch. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
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