Bennie Esterd "Cuje" Bertram (August 24, 1894 – April 2, 1993)
was an American
old-time fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
player from
Kentucky. Bertram, who was
African-American, played in the same style as neighboring white musicians of the region. While musicians such as
Leonard Rutherford and
Dick Burnett were popular recording artists, record companies were not interested in producing old-time music for the
race record market.
Bertram was born in
Fentress County, Tennessee, United States,
into a musical family. Through the 1920s and 1930s, he played with other musicians of the
Cumberland Plateau
The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms "Alle ...
. Despite prevailing
racial segregation, he played frequently with the white fiddler Leonard Rutherford, who would stay at Bertram's house to make music. He also deputised for Rutherford with the white banjo player Dick Burnett, playing in the courthouse square of
Monticello.
Around 1970, he made home recordings, which were issued by
Document Records
Document Records is an independent record label, founded in Austria and now based in Scotland, that specializes in reissuing vintage blues and jazz. The company has been recognised by The Blues Foundation, being honoured with a Keeping the ...
on the CD ''Black Fiddlers 1929-c1970''.
Bertram died in April 1993 in
Marion, Indiana
Marion is a city in Grant County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,948 as of the 2010 United States Census. The city is the county seat of Grant County. It is named for Francis Marion, a brigadier general from South Carolina in the ...
.
References
External links
Discogs entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertram, Cute
1894 births
1993 deaths
African-American country musicians
Appalachian old-time fiddlers
People from Fentress County, Tennessee
Country musicians from Tennessee
Country musicians from Kentucky
20th-century African-American people