Freddie Rich

Biography

Pianist, band leader and composer, born in Warsaw, Poland. Rich made his reputation in the recording studios and on radio. He served as musical director for the CBS network from 1928 to 1938. He also led several successful dance bands, his first in New York (resident at the Astor Hotel) between 1922 and 1928. This group recorded prolifically and thus attracted many top notch musicians, who would later rise to greater fame, such as Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Ray Bauduc, Joe Venuti, Adrian Rollini and Bunny Berigan. After 1929, Rich made several important 'hot jazz' recordings, which featured the likes of Roy Eldridge, Babe Russin and Red Nichols. Under various names, the Freddie Rich organisation remained on the scene until the early 1940's. It had the singular distinction of being the first orchestra of its kind to appear in a Royal Command Performance, before King George V (in 1928). In 1943, Rich joined ASCAP, moved to the West Coast and settled down in Beverly Hills. He now concentrated on working in Hollywood as musical director and composer of incidental music and the occasional film score, sometimes billing himself as 'Frederic Efrem Rich'. His compositions include three symphonies and such popular songs as "Penthouse", "Donn-Ama", "Blue Tahitian Moonlight", "On the Riviera" and "Time Will Tell". Rich suffered a serious setback after a fall in 1945, which left him partially paralysed. While this curtailed his work in Hollywood, he remained active as a conductor of studio orchestras until the early 1950's. Rich died at his home in Beverly Hills in September 1956, aged 58.