Abraham "Abe" Katzman (1868–1940, yi, אברהם קאצמאן) was a

Klezmer Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

violinist, bandleader, composer, and

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History From 1916 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing produ ...

recording artist of the 1920s. He was the father of film producer

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. Ea ...

, uncle of American arranger and bandleader Louis Katzman and the great-uncle of

Henry Katzman Henry Manners Katzman (March 2, 1912 – May 11, 2001) was an American musician, composer, painter, and one of the founders of Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). The son of bandleader Louis Katzman, he grew up in New York City in a musical ...

and

Leonard Katzman Leonard Katzman (September 2, 1927 – September 5, 1996) was an American film and television producer, writer and director. He was most notable for being the showrunner of the CBS oil soap opera ''Dallas''. Early life and career Leonard Katzma ...

Biography

Early life

Abe was born Abram-Aba Katsman in 1868 in

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

(then known as Kishinev),

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate (, ) was a part of the Russian Empire from 1812 to 1917. Initially known as Bessarabia Oblast (Бессарабская область, ''Bessarabskaya oblast'') as well as, following 1871, a governorate, it included ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. His father was Chaim Katzman and his mother was named Sura Bayla (née Goldman). He was from a musical family; his brother Philip Katzman played in opera orchestras in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and Chișinău. He later stated that he had studied violin in Russia under a Professor Gilla. Abe emigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in October 1897.

Music career

In his early years, he worked as a violin teacher and lived in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. By 1910, he was also apparently bandleader of a klezmer orchestra in Brooklyn, making him a contemporary of New York klezmer musicians from

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

such as

Max Leibowitz Max Leibowitz ( yi, מאקס לײבאװיטש) (born c.1884 in Iași, Romania, died 1942, Bronx, New York City) was an American klezmer violinist, composer and bandleader in New York City primarily in the 1910s and 1920s. Biography Early life Le ...

Abe Schwartz Abe Schwartz (Yiddish: אבּ שװארץ or אייב שווארץ) (1881 near Bucharest, Romania – 1963 in Bronx, New York City) was a well-known klezmer violinist, composer, Yiddish theater and ethnic recordings bandleader from the 1910s to ...

, and

Joseph Moskowitz Joseph Moskowitz ( yi, יאָסעלע מאָשקאָװיטש, 1879 – 1954) was a Romanian-born American cimbalom player, composer, restaurant owner and recording artist in New York City during the first half of the twentieth century. A desce ...

, as well as Milu Lemisch in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Irving Gratz, who would later become the regular drummer for

Dave Tarras Dave Tarras (c. 1895 – February 13, 1989) was a Ukrainian-born American klezmer clarinetist and bandleader, a celebrated klezmer musician, instrumental in Klezmer revival. Biography Early life Tarras was born David Tarasiuk in Teplyk, Ukrai ...

, got his start in Abe's band; Tarras himself also played in the band for a time. In the early 1920s he was advertising his services as a violinist and conductor of A. Katzman's Orchestra. It was in December 1927 that he entered the

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. 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. Dave Tarras may have been the clarinetist on these recordings, although he is uncredited. By 1940 Abe was living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

with his wife, daughters and some other relatives. He died there of a stroke at age 72 at

Saint Vincent's Hospital Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers of New York d/b/a as Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers (Saint Vincent's, or SVCMC) was a healthcare system, anchored by its flagship hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, locally referred to a ...

on October 16, 1940. His body was transported to New York and buried in the section at the Mount Zion Cemetery.

Family

Abe married his wife Rebecca (Rivke, née Sugarman/Zuckermann), daughter of a businessman from Akkerman, Bessarabia (now

Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ( uk, Бі́лгород-Дністро́вський, Bílhorod-Dnistróvskyy, ; ro, Cetatea Albă), historically known as Akkerman ( tr, Akkerman) or under different names, is a city, municipality and port situated on ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) in 1894 in Chișinău. They had many children: Louis (born 1895 in Chișinău), Lillie (born 1897 in Chișinău), David (born 1899 in New York),

(born 1901), Sophie (born 1902), Ida (born 1904), George (born 1905), and Bessie (born 1908).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katzman, Abe Klezmer musicians Brunswick Records artists Musicians from Chișinău Bessarabian Jews 1868 births 1940 deaths