列昂尼德·乌乔索夫诞辰125周年谷歌涂鸦标志

列昂尼德·乌乔索夫诞辰125周年谷歌涂鸦
2020年3月21日


Today’s Doodle celebrates the 125th birthday of Soviet musician, singer, and actor Leonid Utyosov who is credited with leading one of the Soviet Union’s early jazz bands.

Lazar Iosifovich Weissbein was born on this day 1895 to a middle-class family in Odessa (now part of Ukraine). By the end of his teen years, he had taken work as a circus acrobat, stand-up comedian, and theater actor, assuming the stage name Leonid Utyosov. After winning a singing competition, the multi-talented Utyosov formed a band and began touring Moscow, appearing regularly at the city’s famous Hermitage Theater.

While on tour in 1928, Utyosov experienced his first encounter with American jazz, and he was hooked. The next year, he debuted the Tea-Jazz Orchestra, which blended diverse styles, including American jazz, Jewish folk music, Argentinian tangos, and Russian lullabies, and achieved major popularity.

In a return to acting, Utyosov starred in the Hollywood-style hit film Vesyolye rebyata (Jolly Fellows, 1934) which introduced Soviet audiences to a variety of new music and earned him increased exposure across the country.

For his considerable contributions to music and film, Utyosov was designated the 1965 People’s Artist of the USSR, and in 2000, a statue was erected in his honor in his hometown of Odessa.

С днем рождения, Леонид Утесов! (“Happy birthday, Leonid Utyosov!”)