Bernard Etté's Chart

German jazz and light music violinist and conductor known for his work in a radio jazz band and in a few films. In 1927 Etté and his orchestra were shown in several short scenes of the silent documentary Berlin – Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Berlin - The Symphony of the City) directed by Walther Ruttmann. Etté was the son of a hairdresser and studied music formally at the Louis Spohr Conservatory in Kassel. He initially worked with Carl Robrecht as an instrumentalist, playing piano and banjo in addition to violin. In the early 1920s he assembled his own ensemble, which took up a residency in Berlin and performed on radio in the early 1920s. The group also recorded in the 1920s, often with travelling American musicians. During the 1930s, as the Nazi party rose to power, Etté shifted away from jazz to light music, leading a large orchestra; during World War II he played for wounded soldiers on behalf of the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt in 1940 and for prison overseers at Auschwitz in 1944. After the war, he moved to the United States and attempted a new career, but was unsuccessful in adopting to new stylistic trends. He returned to Germany, leading bands for luxury retreats in the East Frisian Islands and schlager and operetta backing bands in central Germany. By the end of the 1950s he had quit actively playing music, and lived out his last years in an old folk's home, dying on 26 September 1973 in Mühldorf, aged 75.