Solid!

Born

• October 19, 1907
• Morristown, NJ

Died

• July 12, 1962
• New York, NY

Marriage

• Hannah Williams (1931-33)

Roger Wolfe Kahn

• BIOGRAPHY
• FILMOGRAPHY

Bandleader Roger Wolfe Kahn was the son and heir of wealthy banker Otto Kahn. He began to study music at an early age and is said to have mastered 18 different instruments. He became a bandleader at age 16 when his father bought him the Arthur Lange Orchestra in 1923.

Though still young, Kahn was a proficient bandleader, and his group was a popular attraction in the New York area. The orchestra was headquartered at the Hotel Biltmore and began recording for the Victor label in late 1925 as Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Hotel Biltmore Orchestra. From December 1925 until its demise in 1932, the group was simply known as Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra. It recording for Victor until 1929, Columbia in 1929 and 1930, and for the Brunswick label in 1932.

Due to Kahn's wealth he was able to hire some of the top musicians of his day for recording sessions and special events. Jack Teagarden, Gene Krupa, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Artie Shaw, the Dorsey Brothers, and Babe Russin all made appearances with Kahn. Kahn also wrote several songs and played a variety of instruments with his group. He also wrote the scores of two musical comedies, Here's Howe and Americana, and a musical review, Vogues of 1924.

In 1931 Kahn made headlines on the New York society pages when he married musical comedy actress Hannah Williams. The wedding was performed by a justice of the peace at his family's estate and kept secret from the public for two weeks. The couple made headlines again when they divorced two years later.

In 1932 Kahn lost interest in his orchestra and disbanded it. Fascinated by aviation he earned a pilot's license, and in 1941 went to work for the Grumman Corporation as a test pilot. Kahn tested many of the fighter planes used in WWII by American pilots. He later returned to conducting and composing. Roger Wolfe Kahn passed away in 1962.