Bert Firman

Born Herbert Feuerman in London, England on February 3rd 1906, young Bert wanted to become a doctor but was expected to study music because everyone in his immediate family, as well as cousins and uncles, were musicians. After early training on violin, he was granted a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music. At the age of 13 he played in a quintet providing incidental music at the Playhouse Theatre, and at 14 was a member of the orchestra at the Victoria Hotel. Bert's brother John (at that time pianist with the Savoy Havana Band) set him up with an audition which resulted in Bert being cast as Sascha, a gypsy violinist in "Sally", a musical scored by Jerome Kern. This production opened September 10th 1921 and ran for a total of 383 performances. Finding himself in the limelight and asked if he could come up with a name containing fewer letters, Bert changed his last name, first to Fireman, then Firman. Everyone else in the family, with the exception of Bert's father, adopted the new spelling. After the show closed, Bert hired in as violinist with the Midnight Follies Orchestra at the Metropole Hotel. After the leader of this ensemble, an American saxophonist, tumbled off the stage one night while drunk, 16 year old Bert Firman was given the job of directing the band. He soon found himself leading various orchestras at parties given by Edward, Prince of Wales. Between the years 1924 and 1928, Firman was musical director for Zonophone records, a division of the H.M.V. Gramophone Company. He recorded over 750 sides for this label, using some 21 different names for his ensembles. In addition to Bert Firman's Dance Orchestra, the list of aliases included the Arcadians Dance Orchestra, the Cabaret Novelty Orchestra, the Carlton Hotel Dance Orchestra, the Devonshire...