BOB ZURKE

Bob Zurke (January 7, 1912 – February 16, 1944) was a significant American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and briefly a bandleader during the Swing Era.

Born Boguslaw Albert Zukowski in Hamtramck, Michigan on January 7, 1912, he was already using the name Bob Zurke professionally by the age of 16 when he first recorded with a group led by pioneering female jazz bassist Thelma Terry. At that time, Zurke also began to work as a copyist for the Detroit-based booking agency run by Jean Goldkette. Through the end of 1936, Zurke worked in various Detroit clubs, mostly as a band pianist, and occasionally went on tour with other groups; it was in this period that Zurke developed a long friendship with pianist Marvin Ash, who would later go on to record some of Zurke's compositions.

At the beginning of 1937, Zurke was hired by bandleader Bob Crosby to fill in for Joe Sullivan, then ailing with tuberculosis. It was with Crosby that Zurke gained notice; he contributed arrangements to the band's book and was a featured soloist on several numbers, including his arrangement of Meade Lux Lewis' Honky Tonk Train Blues, which became a hit. In 1938, Bob Zurke was named the winner in the piano category in the Reader's Poll from Down Beat[1] and, in the course of Alan Lomax's Library of Congress interviews, was singled out by Jelly Roll Morton as the "only one (jazz pianist of the present time) that has a tendency to be on the right track."

In March 1939 Joe Sullivan returned to the Bob Crosby Orchestra and Zurke subsequently worked with the William Morris Agency to form his own band. They debuted at an RCA Victor recording session in July 1939 as Bob Zurke and his Delta Rhythm Orchestra, recording, among other things, Zurke's best known original compositions Hobson Street Blues and Old Tom-Cat on the Keys. Critical and public reception of both the records and the Delta Rhythm Band's first appearances were initially positive, but Zurke proved to be unreliable, unpredictable and somewhat volatile as a leader, partly due to his alcohol dependency and alleged drug use. The band came to a halt not long after its final RCA Victor session in May 1940, which also proved Zurke's last visit to the commercial recording studios; afterward Zurke served a jail sentence in Detroit for failing to pay alimony to his first wife, whom he had divorced in the late 1930s.

After a period of wandering from job to job following his release from jail, Zurke remarried and resettled in Los Angeles in late 1941. In August 1942, Zurke began an engagement at the Hangover Club in L.A. that he held until the end of his days. In December 1943, Zurke made one final recording, synchronizing an original piano part to the Walter Lantz cartoon Jungle Jive (in the Swing Symphony series), one of his most difficult and challenging solos. On February 15, 1944, Bob Zurke collapsed at the Hangover Club and was taken to the hospital; he died the following day of complications of pneumonia aggravated by acute alcohol poisoning—he had just turned 32.

Legacy

While Bob Zurke's fame did not long outlast him, it was considerable from the time he joined Bob Crosby and his playing was widely admired by his peers and colleagues. According to pianist Norma Teagarden, Zurke had small hands and needed to develop special techniques to adjust for his lack of reach; this led to him developing a technique and style uniquely his own. During his lifetime, Zurke was considered one of the finest white boogie-woogie pianists at a time when such players were few. His ability as an arranger and transcriber helped to put pieces by non-readers into a playable, published form, such as in his transcription of Joe Sullivan's Little Rock Getaway. Zurke published two folios of jazz piano solos and several sheet music editions of single pieces; in addition to that, 14 original compositions from Zurke are known.

                  

                  


                    

Nacido en Michigan inició su actividad profesional en los años 20, cuando apenas contaba 16 años de edad y ya utilizaba artísticmanete el nombre de Bob Zurke, ya que su nombre real era: Boguslaw Albert Zukowski. Hasta finales de 1936, Zurke trabajó en varios clubes de Detroit, en su mayoría como pianista de la banda, y en ocasiones se fue de gira con otros grupos; fue en este período que Zurke desarrolló una larga amistad con el pianista Marvin Ash, que más tarde pasaría a grabar algunas de las composiciones de Zurke.

A principios de 1937, Zurke fue contratado por el director de orquesta Bob Crosby para reemplazar a Joe Sullivan, entonces enfermo de tuberculosis. Con Crosby, Zurke sacó a relucir sius excelentes dotes de pianista de Boogie Woogie y de Barrelhouse, dos estilos muy populares en la socieda norteamerica de los añós 30 del Siglo XX. Sus arreglos para el popular tema: Honky Tonk Train Blues de Meade Lux Lewis, se convirtió en un éxito. En 1938, Bob Zurke fue nombrado ganador en la categoría de piano en la encuesta del lector de la revista especializada, Down Beat y el mismísimo Jelly Roll Morton alabó su calidad en las entrevistas que este último realizó para la Biblioteca del Congreso.

En marzo de 1939, Bob Zurke formó su propia banda en la ciudad de New York. Debutaron en una sesión de grabación con la RCA Victor en julio de 1939 como Bob Zurke y su Delta Rhytm Band. Sus escasas dotes de líder y su adicción a las bebidas, terminaron de manera efimera con su banda. Su grupo actuóa por última vez en una sesión de grabación con la RCA Víctor en mayo de 1940. Los problemas continuaron y paso una temporada en la carcel de Detroit por no pagar la pensión alimenticia a su primera esposa, con quien se había divorciado a finales de 1930.

Tras cumplir la condena, Zurke  se asentó en Los Ángeles a finales de 1941 y actuó en varios locales, el más destacado de ellos, el "Hangover Club", donde permaneció actuando hasta el 15 de Febrero de 1944. Ese día Bob Zurke se derrumbó en el escenario víctima de un infarto y fue llevado al hospital; murió al día siguiente porque los médicos le descubrieron que tenía neumonía agravada por el alcohol. Acababa de cumplir 32 años.

Músico de gran talento y admirado por sus colegas de la época, supo sacar pleno rendimiento y un sonido muy particular aprovechandose de sus pequeñas y ágiles manos. Durante su corta carrera profesional, Bob Zurke fue considerado uno de los mejores pianistas blancos de Boogie Woogie. Su habilidad como arreglista le permitió escribir muchas composiciones de solos de piano de jazz y varias ediciones de partituras de piezas únicas; Además de eso, se conocen 14 composiciones originales de Zurke.