The violinist Daniel Pomerantz’s (1904–1981) jazz-band was the best exponent of swinging orchestra in the interwar Lithuanian little stage. The band usually performed in Konradas café in Kaunas. Pomerantz studied violin with Itzhak Vildman-Zaidman at the Kaunas Juozas Naujalis School of Music and Willy Hess at the Berlin Conservatoire. In Vienna he attended master classes given by Bronisław Huberman, a renowned violin virtuoso. While in Berlin, Pomerantz played in cafés and Marek Weber orchestra, at the time one of the most popular orchestras in Europe. Upon returning to Kaunas around 1933, Pomerantz formed an ensemble of multiinstrumentalists. The ensemble performed in Konradas and Monika cafés and not before long started competing with the celebrated Hofmeklerband in terms of mastery. He liked to play solo violin in cafés; he played almost the entire violin repertoire fascinating his listeners by virtuoso passages and improvisations. He excelled in Spanish and Gypsy melodies. In 1936, orchestra under the baton of Pomerantz joined by recording studio orchestra members and soloist Antanas Dvarionas recorded for London’s label Columbia 11 plates of shellac featuring fashionable tangos, waltzes and foxtrots.
Rūta Skudienė
