Albert Harris (Aron Heckelman) ( Polish. Albert Harris ; 1911 - 1974 ) - Polish composer and singer.
| Albert harris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Aron Gekelman |
| Date of Birth | November 28, 1911 |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | 1974 |
| Place of death | |
| Citizenship |  Poland  USA |
| Occupation | composer , singer , pianist |
| Father | Kopl Gekelman |
Content
Biography
He was born on November 28, 1911 in Warsaw, in the family of the Kopla Heckelmann, engaged in trade, a Jew .
He was educated among the Polish-Jewish bourgeoisie, graduated from the Jewish school "Askola" (teaching was conducted in Polish). After receiving the certificate of maturity, he debuted as a couplet in a small factory of gramophone records “Lonora Electro”.
Harris took singing lessons, played the piano well, studied composition and thus had the opportunity to record with more prestigious record companies. In 1933, he recorded in the studio of the record factory Cristal Electro, the collaboration with which lasted for three years. He made his notes under pseudonyms: Albert Liff (for “Lonora Elektro”) and Albert Holm (for “Cristal Electro”). The last pseudonym he began to sign his own songs, which he began to compose in 1934 .
The peak of the singer’s career came in the years 1936-1939, when he could enter into contracts with the best factory in Poland - the Warsaw Odeon. At the same time, he adopted the third, most famous pseudonym: Albert Harris, who later became his new surname, under which he composed and sang songs.
With the beginning of World War II, Harris was evacuated to Bialystok (he was not called to the army because of myopia). In 1940, the singer moved to Lviv . There he began performing with the orchestra of Heinrich (Henrik) Wars [1] touring many cities of the USSR at that time. The first tour of the Soviet Union of the Vars team began in August 1940 from Odessa. Then Leningrad, Kiev, Moscow, Kharkov, Voronezh followed.
When Lviv was occupied by the Germans, Harris lived in the Russian provinces and information about this period of his life is extremely scarce. It is only known that in 1944, with the request of the Union of Polish Patriots, he and his brother Mechislav (1901–1990; famous Polish singer) recorded several propaganda records in the studio of the Aprelevka Plant accompanied by the Eddie Rosner Orchestra. These recordings were broadcasted by the Bee radio station in Lublin .
After the war, Albert Harris continued his artistic activities, and above all - composing. He was less and less recorded on records, performed with solo concerts. In 1950, he appeared in Stockholm , later he left Sweden, having left first to Venezuela , and from there to the USA .
Died in 1974 in the USA in obscurity. The exact place of death and burial is unknown.
Interesting fact
In the orchestra of Eddie Rosner, Harris became friends with musician Yuri Tseitlin, who wrote the lyrics to some of Harris's melodies. In his book, The Rise and Fall of the Great Trumpeter Eddie Rosner, Tseitlin recalled Albert Harris:
“The most amazing thing is that he did not know the notes! And, of course, he could not record the tunes he had invented. And new melodies were born to him very often. Albert had an inborn sense of musical form. All that he began to hum, immediately became a complete piece of music - in eight or sixteen bars. He did not compose, did not design music. He did not derive it, like some composers, from the harmonic-mathematical mode. His music was born itself. It arose from his momentary state or mood. ”
Notes
- ↑ Thea jazz of Heinrich Wars. Albert Harris - Oblivion (inaccessible link) . The date of circulation is March 10, 2014. Archived March 10, 2014.