Robert “Bob” Effros was born December 6, 1900 in London, England. His Russian Jewish parents emigrated shortly afterward from London to Memphis, Tennessee. Raised in the South, strongly influenced the foundations of Jazz trumpet Bob played throughout his 45 year musical career. Bob ran away from home at age eleven and was hired as a “purser” on a Mississippi river boat. Along the “Great Delta” he learned to play the cornet leading him to his true love; the trumpet. His course of trumpet playing began by following the leads of Joe “King” Oliver.
Between 1917 and 1919, Bob Effros served as a bugler in the United States Army. After the war ended, he settled down in Baltimore playing in a band led by dancer and vocalist Bee Palmer. When Bob Effros arrived in New York, his only friend was from Memphis: W.C. Handy, “Father of The Blues.” Mr. Handy sent to the young trumpeter to Sam Lanin for his first gig, and was hired at the Roseland Ballroom.
Bob played the Vincent Lopez Orchestra from 1921 through 1927, performing constantly in New York and London. The trumpeter flourished in this environment leading him to compose over a dozen hit songs such as: ‘Why The Twenties Roared,” “Tin Ear,” “Cornfed,” and “Why Don't You Get Lost?” By 1929, Bob was leading his own orchestra and churning out hits such as “Sweet and Hot,” an ode to Chinese soup. Bob�
