Gene Kardos

Eugene (Gene) Kardos (June 12, 1899 – July 27, 1980) was leader of a jazz and dance orchestra in the 1930s. He first recorded for Victor in 1931-32 and thereafter recorded for ARC's labels (Perfect, Melotone, Banner, Oriole, Romeo, Vocalion etc.) through 1938.

Born in Yorkville, New York City, of Hungarian heritage, Gene learned to play the violin and saxophone and worked in vaudeville pit orchestras until organizing his first band around 1930. A New York territory band, its usual home base was the Gloria Palast, a German-American ballroom and café on East 86th Street in the Yorkville neighborhood. Due to the location of AFM Local 802 headquarters nearby, many music professionals caught Kardos' band and admired its virtuosity with hot playing.

Among Gene's musicians were Hymie Schertzer (sax), Vic Schoen (trumpet, arranger), Joel Shaw (piano), and Bernie Green (arranger-composer). There were a sizable group of Kardos recordings issued on Crown under Shaw's name and various ARC recordings under names such as Gene's Merrymakers, Art Kahn, and Bob Causer. Many of his early 1930s records are prized by 'hot' dance band collectors. From the mid-1930s, Kardos' style changed more to a hotel dance band style. Dick Robertson was the vocalist on many of his recordings.

Kardos

Kardos is a village in Békés County, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary.

Geography

It covers an area of 42.79 km² and has a population of 795 people (2001).

Coordinates: 46°47′38″N 20°42′58″E / 46.794°N 20.716°E / 46.794; 20.716

Kardos (surname)

Kardos is a Hungarian language occupational surname, which means "swordsman", derived from the Turkish word "kard", meaning a sword. Alternative spellings include Kardoš, Kardosh, and Kardossh. The name may refer to:

See also