Bob Astor

Not to be confused with the later bandleader, songwriter, booking agent and disc jockey named Bob Astor, this vocalist made some recordings with Arthur Briggs' Savoy Syncopators Orchestra in Berlin in 1927. These are some of the earlier jazz sides recorded in Europe, but the German locale was not at all unusual for Briggs, a black bandleader who performed primarily on the European continent beginning in 1919 whilst on tour with Will Marion Cook's Southern Syncopated Orchestra. Through the '20s, Astor was part of an outfit fronted by Briggs that enjoyed exteded residencies in capitals such as Vienna and Paris. In 1928, Briggs broke this band up and joined the Noble Sissle Orchestra. Not much was heard out of vocalist Astor since then. His features with the group included chestnuts such as the rhetorical "Ain't She Sweet?", the presumptuos "Ain't That A Grand And Glorious Feeling?" and the confusing "It Made You Happy When You Made Me Cry". ~ Eugene Chadbournejazz sides recorded in Europe, but the German locale was not at all unusual for Briggs, a black bandleader who performed primarily on the European continent beginning in 1919 whilst on tour with Will Marion Cook's Southern Syncopated Orchestra. Through the '20s, Astor was part of an outfit fronted by Briggs that enjoyed exteded residencies in capitals such as Vienna and Paris. In 1928, Briggs broke this band up and joined the Noble Sissle Orchestra. Not much was heard out of vocalist Astor since then. His features with the group included chestnuts such as the rhetorical "Ain't She Sweet?", the presumptuos "Ain't That A Grand And Glorious Feeling?" and the confusing "It Made You Happy When You Made Me Cry". ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide