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b. June 22, 1901, London, Eng. d. July 18,1984
There must have been very few bandleaders whose instrument was the violincello, but that was the case of Bram Martin whose years as a dance band leader were only a small part of a long and varied career. He was not a showman, but a first class musician whose success was born of musical talent, leading a fine polished band with the emphasis on melody and a lightness of touch.
Bram became fascinated with the 'cello at a very early age and studied for years until at the age of sixteen he was recording with George Byng's Queen's Hall Light Orchestra backing stars of the calibre of Sir Harry Lauder. He played in a trio at the Queen's Hotel in Leicester Square until the First World War ended and then he did some touring and played in cinema orchestras in London. At the Oxford Theatre he assumed leadership of the orchestra accompanying silent films.
He was in the orchestra at Covent Garden Opera House for two seasons between 1921 and 1923, playing under Bruno Walter. Thereafter he played in more cinema orchestras, including the legendary Regal Cinema Orchestra directed by Emmanual Starkey. He also took up the banjo and guitar while playing in dance combinations and claimed to have been the first guitarist in a British dance band.
In 1932 he became a member of the English Trio playing at the Holborn Restaurant in London which soon commenced broadcasting. During this time a friend asked him to form a dance band for a charity concert at the London Hippodrome and as a result Bram decided to try and keep the band together. He got permission to use a room at the Holborn Restaurant to rehearse in. The manager of the restaurant heard the band and soon afterwards they were engaged to play in the restaurant. This was probably in 1934.
Bram Martin and his Band from the Holborn Restaurant, London cut its first recording in February 1935 (LET'S HAVE A JUBILEE-Hudson WH-1393) but didn't commence regular recordings until November 1936 when they were under contract to Regal Zonophone. One of their first recordings YOU'VE GOT DUST ON YOUR COAT (RZ MR. 2258) was arranged in the Hal Kemp manner, but their other recordings owe nothing to Kemp. Martin had his own style.
They recorded regularly until February 1938 and most sides featured the excellent singer Gene Crowley. Bram engaged Sam Costa and Al Bowlly for his first broadcast. Sam Costa made a few recordings with the band on Regal Zonophone and Al Bowlly recorded one title with the band - THE WAVES OF THE OCEAN ARE WHISP'RING
GOODNIGHT - on their last recording session in June 1939 for Rex.
Gene Crowley was a smooth singer of romantic songs of the day such as HARBOUR LIGHTS (RZ MR.2353) and WHERE THE CAFE LIGHTS ARE GLEAMING (RZ MR.2392), but he was equally good at adopting comic accents on numbers like WITH MY LITTLE HORSE AND WAGON (RZ MR 2466).
On early BBC broadcasts by the band, Bram featured vocalists Ann Trevor, Fred Douglas, Ivor Davis amongst others, but later in 1936 Gene Crowley and the Heron Sisters were present on all the regular broadcasts with the occasional vocal contribution by Bram himself.
The Heron Sisters (Kay, Wendy and Joan) broadcast songs such as SMOKE RINGS and ORGAN GRINDER'S SWING and made some attractive recordings with the band including THE WEDDING OF THE ROSE (RZ MR.2316) and WHEN MY DREAM BOAT COMES HOME (RZ MR.2299/RZ MR 2453). Bram's own playing is well-to-the-fore following the vocal chorus in this latter title which is a lovely performance throughout. In the spring of 1937, Teresa Dale joined the vocal team. The band was two, later three trumpets, one trombone, three saxes, violin, piano, guitar, string bass, drummer, with Bram leading on violincello. Some of the boys made a hot session for Columbia under the name Bram Martin's Borderliners while later the full Orchestra recorded TIGER RAG (RZ MR.2556) showing the versatility of the players.
Bram Martin and his "Orchestra", as they were announced over the BBC, broadcast regularly live from the Holborn Restaurant in late night relays and made commercial radio programs for the continental stations. In a relatively short period of time they had become popular favorites.
Bram continued to broadcast 'cello recitals under his father's name, John Martinez, for a while, but he felt that he couldn't pursue a professional career in both straight music and dance bands. The band went on tour in the summer of 1938 for one year until Bram was appointed Musical Director for music publisher Lawrence Wright's annual production of "On With The Show" on Blackpool's North Pier. Bram spent five summer seasons directed the music for "On With The Show", filling in the remainder of the year doing one night stands. In 1943,he took his band to the Plaza Ballroom in Derby for a two-year residency. This was apparently his last engagement as a dance band leader.
He continued to do theatre work and later concentrated on recording session work where he was in great demand as the top cellist in the field. He recorded for Geoff Love, Mantovani, Gordon Jenkins, Nelson Riddle, and the Beatles to name but a few. He also formed a company to supply orchestras for functions. He continued working until he reached the ripe old age of 79.
