Archer Street

In my book I have explained how the sons of immigrants became some of the best known bandleaders in the Golden Age of Dance Bands.

 Growing up in tight knit communities, those who took up a musical instrument would have had the opportunity laid out in front of them to form small bands with their co-religionists, and even earn good money accompanying silent films at their local cinema. It is likely that their contacts within the communities would have helped them make their first steps beyond the environs of Bethnal Green and similar ‘shtetls’.

 For those living in London, especially East London, there was a further route that many could go down. Ronnie Scott (Ronald Schatt) said that Jews who wanted to play music travelled from the East End to the West End, and for many of them, Jew and non-Jew the place they gravitated to was Archer Street.