Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-02

it. You can hear him on several net
work programs week. Sometimes his
name is announced, and sometimes he's
just doing his bit as part of the
orchestra. German, a stocky, rudy
sort of chap, with very blonde hair and
broadcasting. He had his own orches-
ira before the mike in the old days
down at 1876 Broadway, when a net
work of seven stations was something
| to brag about. Some of its members
were Red Nichols, later q sensation as
the leader Of his own orchestra on
records; Milf Mole, organizer of the
Memphis Five, and one of the very
earliest opponents of hot jazz; AL Evans,
still one of the best radio saxophonists;
Dave Grupp. drummer, and a good
enough xylophonist to get solo spots for
himself on big networks, and a dozen
others.
Ross. you might say, is an orchestra
in himself. He says he can play 81
instruments, and I've seen him come to
the studios followed by porter carry
ing at least a dozen. Here are some
of those he lists in his string: Alto
and tenor saxophone, clarinet octivan,
Hecklephone. clariphone, oboe. bari
tone, bass clarinet, soprano, conosax
English horn, alto clarinet, bassoon,
marimbaphone, drums, rothophone,
terra Gotta, bass saxophone, bonn basse
and bagpipes. Maybe Ross has stretched
a point here and there, but you get the
general idea. I confess that I don't
know what some of them are.
ID ADIO'S got another blues singer Of
IN the television kind. We've had
among the fairly recent successes Mil
IYnIa = nrr1r
now comes Annette Hanshaw. Like
Mildred. she's a blonde, and like We'll
come, she got her start on photograph
records. Unlike either Of them, she's
soprano. or Whereabouts. You really
can't tell, for sure, with blues singers,
sometimes they fool you and start sing
ing in an unsupported range. Waugh
De Leath did that. She came to New
York as a soprano, but found the city
full of topnoters and went contralto.
But to get back to Miss Henshaw.
Besides being light, her hair is also
wavy. And she is in her teens some
where. Before she got into radio she
was singing for four recording studios
at once under four different names.
She grew up in some of the West
chester County suburbs of New York
City and when she was only l6 months
old she knew the words and tunes OF
25 songs. A sort of earlier edition of
Baby Rose Marie. Given any encour-
agement at all, SO her mother says,
she'd sing at least 10 of them in row.
She loved it and usually they'd have to
stop her.
Eventually she went TO school-at
convent schools mostly-but never did
she take up music. Even today she
can't read a single note. She has some
one run over her songs for her on the
piano or listen to photograph records
until she knows them perfectly. Then
she changes them the least little bit
to give them that additional personal
touch.
She attends the theater a great deal
and always picks the revues with the
best comedians. BEST" usually means
Frank Fay to her, but she finds a lot
of good points in Bert Lair.
Before she began making records she
sang popular songs for a good many
private parties, at first just for the fun
Of it, and later as professional enter
taineT. l should add that she is still
simple and unaffected. She doesn't look