Eddy Duchin & His Central Park Casino Orchestra - After You, Who?

Eddy Duchin (1909 or 1910-1951) was an American popular pianist and bandleader of the 1930s and 1940s, famous for his engaging onstage personality, his elegant piano style, and his courageous fight against leukemia. He first became a pharmacist before turning full-time to music and beginning his new career with Leo Reisman's orchestra at the Central Park Casino in New York, an elegant nightclub where he became hugely popular in his own right and eventually became the Reisman orchestra's leader by 1932. He became widely popular thanks to regular radio broadcasts that boosted his record sales, and he was one of the earliest pianists to lead a commercially successful large band. Duchin entered the Navy during World War II, serving as a combat officer. After discharge, Duchin was unable to reclaim his former stardom in spite of a brave stab at a new radio show in 1949. He died two years later, at age 40 or 41, in New York City, of leukemia. This lovely record was made in 1932. Vocal by Lew Sherwood.