Fiddler Bobby Bruce lived one of the longest and most diverse professional music careers I’ve encountered, performing and arranging for seven decades in Vaudeville, Jazz, Western Swing, Radio, Film and Television. Interviewed at age 90 his puckish humor, boyish enthusiasm and love for performing were undimmed. At the end of this article you’ll find a brief selection of his music and an exclusive 2016 jam session.
Vaudeville Days
Bobby Bruce (Robert Morris Berg, 1925-2018) begins violin lessons at age six, starting in show business before the age of ten. Performing with his piano-playing sister in an act called The Personality Kids on the Keith Orpheum theater circuit outside of Chicago, Bobby credits this early exposure to musical variety for his lifelong ease performing almost any musical genre.
A Classic Vaudeville Family Act:
What we had was songs, dances and funny patter, a couple of jokes. I was about nine or ten. I’d play and sing, do acrobatics and things like that. My sister would also dance, tap-dance, do acrobatics and sing. And my mom sang, tap danced a little bit and told funny stories. I had a little thing I did, singing
