Bob Zurke

Born in Detroit, Zurke belonged to that cohort of jazz players whose turbulent lifestyles often ended in premature death. His reputation rested primarily on the years he spent at the keyboard in singer Bob Crosby’s Bobcats. In Philadelphia during the closing years of the 1920s and the opening years of the following decade he performed with Oliver Naylor’s Orchestra; he also cut sides in 1928 alongside bassist Thelma Terry & Her Playboys. About the same period, arranger Don Redman engaged both Zurke and Glen Gray of the Casa Loma Orchestra to transcribe the instrumental parts for scores Redman had prepared for McKinney’s Cotton Pickers. Zurke entered the Bobcats late in 1936 and, aside from a 1937 interruption caused by a broken leg sustained while roughhousing with Bob Haggart, stayed until the summer of 1939, at which point he launched his own short-lived large ensemble that disbanded the next spring.

Financial obligations stemming from alimony placed him behind bars for a short stretch in 1940. Released the following August, he resumed work as an unaccompanied pianist. Throughout the opening months of 1941 he appeared in Chicago, Detroit, and St. Paul before relocating to Los Angeles in the summer of 1942. That August he began an engagement at the Hangover Club that lasted until his death in early 1944. On February 15 he collapsed inside the venue and was rushed to Los Angeles General Hospital, where he passed away the next day at the age of 32. Zurke enjoyed moderate popularity during his lifetime, capturing the Down Beat readers’ poll for best pianist in 1939. An accomplished exponent of boogie-woogie, he was said to have been admired by Jelly Roll Morton. Although his longest association was with Bob Crosby, he also performed with Connee Boswell, Bunny Berigan, the Andrews Sisters, and Bing Crosby. In 1983 the City of Hamtramck, MI, paid tribute to his legacy by organizing a memorial cruise attended by Bob Crosby.