I've known for some time that my grandfather was a talented musician. It wasn't until the past 2 years or so that I've begun to discover just how awesome he actually was.
After having found a CD in his house of some old recordings of 78s by a band whose name translated roughly into what I had seen emblazoned on his music stand in old band photos, I did a bit of research and discovered that his group recorded music for two different Polish labels in upstate NJ/NY in the late 1940s after he returned from the war. Recently, I found hidden inside a briefcase in his basement 4 notebooks full of handwritten polka transcriptions.
And after scouring the internet, I've found and bought no less than 4 78 records, two on the White eagle label, and 2 on Continental. A few conversations with one of his surviving bandmates revealed that those were indeed made by the band, simply blowing through songs in a single take in a small studio space upstate. The polka scene evidently was alive and well in north Jersey in the late 40s!
My mind is sort of blown finding all of this after so many years of simply being told that he used to play the trumpet. I've actually heard him playing solos in these recordings, and.... this guy was a fucking party animal. My grandmother has told me that she first met him at one of his shows, and during a break from playing, he went out to the dance floor to talk to her. I guess I know why she fell for him. The music bug may have skipped a generation with my dad, but holy hell, did it bite me as a youngster and has never let go. Easy to understand why now.
Tonight I dug up a photo of a label from another record with his name on it (!!!!!!!!!!!) So damn exciting. I'm going to put together some sort of framed display with his handwritten music, records, and photographs. I feel as if I have inherited a great legacy, and have a lot to live up to.
