Bert Ambrose, 1897-1971, dance band leader at the Embassy and Mayfair
 | | this page first published by John Wright, 2 Oct 1998 last update 31 Dec 2001 vintage@jabw.demon.co.uk |
Bert Ambrose was born in London, England, in 1897 and as a young man emigrated to USA where he studied the violin. After a first job
as a member of a cinema orchestra, Bert became musical director of the Club de Vingt at the Palais Royal in New York (1917-20). He was heard there by the owner of London's Embassy
Club and persuaded to return to England. He left the Embassy club in 1922 and returned to New York, and for a time was musical director at the Clover Gardens, but was persuaded
again to return to the Embassy Club in London.
Ambrose and his Embassy Club Orchestra made at least twelve recordings in April 1923 issued on the Columbia label. No radio broadcasts were made from the Embassy.
Look out for:
| Col 3286 | | When Will I Know? Dearest |
In 1927 Ambrose accepted the post of musical director at the Mayfair Hotel, apparently at £10,000 a year. He took with him his saxophonist Joe Crossman and
recruited several musicians during a trip to USA, including trumpeter Henry Levine. Within weeks of opening at the Mayfair the Ambrose orchestra was already recording with Brunswick, playing arrangements
by Fred Elizalde and Lew Stone. At this time the band also included Jack Miranda (cl,as) Sydney Lipton (vn) and Harry Raderman (tb).
Look out for:
| Bruns 105 | | Birth Of The Blues My Heart Stood Still | (Lew Stone arrangements)
|
In February 1928 the band began recording with HMV and began broadcasting from the Mayfair in March. During 1928 several excellent players joined the band:
including Americans Joe Brannelly (g) Sylvester Ahola (t) Perley Breed (cl, saxes) and British Ted Heath (tb) Dennis Ratcliffe (t) Arthur Lally and Joe Jeannette(cl, saxes) Joe Crossman remained,
Eric Siday and Reg Pursglove (vn) and Bert Read (p).
| HMV B5464 | | Singapore Sorrows Without You Sweetheart | (arr. Lew Stone)
| HMV B5605 | Me And The Man In The Moon | If I Had You (arr. Lew Stone)
|
Ambrose was not considered the top band by HMV who were also releasing very popular recordings by Jack Hylton, Paul Whiteman and others. So in 1929 Ambrose went to Decca studios.
It wasn't until star American clarinetist Danny Polo replaced Arthur Lally that Decca released any recordings. The Ambrose recordings on the red M-series Decca are hard to find today and are very sought after for the Lew Stone
arrangements and solo work from Ahola and Polo.
Look out for:
| Decca M-71 | | Makin' Whoopee Love Me Or Leave Me (arr. Lew Stone)
Decca M-93 | Ain't Misbehavin' | (arr. Lew Stone)Am I Blue? Decca M-402 | Body And Soul | Punch And Judy Show |
Most of the vocals during this period were by Lou Abelardo but in 1930 Sam Browne began to appear on Ambrose records just before the band went back to HMV.
Arguably the best hotel band in Britain at the time, the Ambrose Orchestra at the Mayfair could count royalty among their audience and aquired the top Saturday night spot for radio broadcasts.
Over two hundred HMV recordings were made during 1930-1932, and several recordings on Decca and Zonophone by the Blue Lyres are now regarded as being by members of the Ambrose Orchestra. During
this time it was Sam Browne who delivered most of the vocals.
| HMV B5813 | | Moanin' For You When A Woman Loves A Man HMV B5847 | 'Leven Thirty Saturday Night | (arr. Lew Stone)I'm Telling The World About You (arr. Lew Stone)
Victor 22893 | I Found You
|
Blue Lyres: |
| Decca F2511 | Oh It Looks Like Rain | I Like A Little Girl Like That Zono 6186 | Sing A New Song | Nothing But A Lie |
Two other important changes occurred, the reed players were now joined by Billy Amstell, and trumpeter Max Goldberg replaced Sylvester Ahola who returned to USA.
New vocalists included Elsie Carlisle and Anona Winn.
| HMV B6068 | | Me For You HMV B6079 | You Call It Madness But I Call It Love | Yes, Yes, My Baby Said Yes Victor 22990 | 'Eleven More Months And Ten More Days' | Parts 1 and 2 Victor 24258 | Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing | I Don't Want To Go Bed |
Late in 1932 Ambrose appeared on the Regal-Zonophone label then in 1933 the band returned to the Brunswick label and also to the Embassy Club,
Sid Phillips joined the band as reed player and arranger, and then in 1934 Ambrose recordings appeared again on
the now parent blue label Decca, and this continued until 1947. Listen to this excerpt from
Brighter Than The Sun
and then an excerpt of
Sam Browne's vocal.
Look out for:
| R-Z MR-831 | | Brighter Than The Sun What More Can I Ask? Bruns 01662 | My Hat's on The Side Of My Head | On A Steamer Coming Over US Bruns 6773 | On A Steamer Coming Over | We'll All Go Riding On A Rainbow Decca F5375 | Embassy Stomp | Hors D'Oeuvres Decca F5656 | Red Sails In The Sunset | Leave me With A Love Song Decca F6141 | Organ Grinder's Swing | Wood And Ivory US Decca 1563 | I Saw A Ship A-sailing | Ten Pretty Girls |
The popularity of the Ambrose Orchestra reached a peak in the mid-thirties, and at the time vocalists included Elsie Carlisle, Evelyn Dall, Jack Cooper, Sam Browne, Denny Dennis and Vera Lynn. The
Ambrose 'sound' was special - the band benefitted from the superb technical skills of the players and the fine arrangements of Sid Phillips and Bert Barnes, and these combined to produce a unique sound full of warmth and intricate section
playing with first rate solo work. See photos of the orchestra.
The Ambrose Orchestra made its last recordings in 1947, and continued to broadcast for a few more years. Bert died in 1971.
There is an active discussion group where you can talk about Bert Ambrose and other bands:
or check out the group site first at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/british-dance-bands/
Many CD's have now been issued featuring Bert Ambrose Orch recordings. Some of them can be easily ordered from Amazon.com, click the logo:
