Biography
Despite hailing from Britain, the trumpeter’s formative years unfolded in Memphis, Tennessee, after his family relocated there during his third year. Stylistically, however, Bob Effros never aligned with the city’s storied Mississippi River heritage. Instead he gravitated toward itinerant, placeless ensembles—first the military bands he joined as a teenager, later the anonymous studio circuit. He had started out on drums, yet switched to brass instruments by the time he entered the army.
Between 1917 and 1919 Effros served as a bugler in several regiments, one of the few occasions when musicians were required to rise early and remain in one location. Once discharged he settled in Baltimore and worked behind bandleader Bea Palmer. Throughout most of the 1920s he held a chair in the Vincent Lopez Orchestra, an association that later supplied the material for the 1927 song “Why the Twenties Roared,” which he composed with Phil Wall. His own pieces, among them “Cornfed,” were recorded by Fletcher Henderson and Red Nichols and also covered by ensembles in his native England. Return visits to Britain for engagements proved especially rewarding when he accompanied vocalist Annette Hanshaw.
Although Lopez took the orchestra on a lengthy European tour, Effros soon favored stationary employment. Vitaphone hired him as a staff musician, placing him among an elite circle of session virtuosos that included banjoist Harry Reser. During one decade-long stretch he appeared on more than 125 recordings. In 1929 he fronted his own orchestra for the Brunswick release “Sweet and Hot.” Studio work continued to occupy him for the rest of his professional life. In the 1940s he performed regularly with D’Artega’s Orchestra and ultimately made his home on Long Island.
Between 1917 and 1919 Effros served as a bugler in several regiments, one of the few occasions when musicians were required to rise early and remain in one location. Once discharged he settled in Baltimore and worked behind bandleader Bea Palmer. Throughout most of the 1920s he held a chair in the Vincent Lopez Orchestra, an association that later supplied the material for the 1927 song “Why the Twenties Roared,” which he composed with Phil Wall. His own pieces, among them “Cornfed,” were recorded by Fletcher Henderson and Red Nichols and also covered by ensembles in his native England. Return visits to Britain for engagements proved especially rewarding when he accompanied vocalist Annette Hanshaw.
Although Lopez took the orchestra on a lengthy European tour, Effros soon favored stationary employment. Vitaphone hired him as a staff musician, placing him among an elite circle of session virtuosos that included banjoist Harry Reser. During one decade-long stretch he appeared on more than 125 recordings. In 1929 he fronted his own orchestra for the Brunswick release “Sweet and Hot.” Studio work continued to occupy him for the rest of his professional life. In the 1940s he performed regularly with D’Artega’s Orchestra and ultimately made his home on Long Island.