Adolf Dauber (aka Dol, Doli or Dolfi Dauber, 1894-1950) was a jazz violinist, bandleader, composer and music arranger, who was active in the first half of the 20th century in Central Europe, mainly in Austria, Czechoslovakia and Germany. He collaborated with international jazz personalities, led numerous orchestras and ensembles, and created music for several films. Born in Vyzhnytsia (Wijnitz), Bukovina, Ukraine (then Austria-Hungary), Dauber joined Carl Flesch's class as the youngest pupil to be accepted. In 1911, Flesch recommended him to the renowned Czech violinist and teacher, Otakar Ševčík. Dauber studied with Ševčík in Brno up to 1914. Even as a youngster, he earned money for his studies as a bandleader of ensembles in Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) and Lviv. During World War I, he served as a concertmaster and soloist in a military orchestra in Italy. After the war, Dauber travelled throughout Central Europe with a salon string quartet. Gradually he refocused his energy toward modern rhythms and dance music. He founded a new orchestra (the line-up included saxophonist and banjo player), and performed popular melodies in Vienna and Mariánské Lázně. At that time, Dauber met and befriended various notable musicians and artists: Emerich Kálmán, Oscar Straus, Robert Stolz and Fritz Grünbaum among others. His orchestra performed the Viennese premiere of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. In 1923, Dauber permanently resided in Vienna. In the early 1920s, he began recording for the label Homokord. His orchestra was offered a lucrative long-term contract by The Gramophone Company Ltd. He has recorded for the company hundreds of songs over the course of next 15 years. The repertoire of Dauber's orchestra was remarkably wide-ranging, stretching from compositions of Karel Hašler, Jaroslav Ježek, R. A. Dvorský or Kurt Weill to the arrangements of parts of Janáček's and Smetana's operas. The mid-1930s were the most successful time in Dauber's career. He recorded, performed widely in Austria, Germany and Czechoslovakia, and created film music. The rise of the Nazi regime negatively influenced his career. In 1936, Dauber and his orchestra moved to Prague and continued recording for the Czech label Ultraphon. In 1939, Dauber travelled to England to record with a dance orchestra. He was invited to work in the US, but he refused and returned to his wife and son in Prague. His musical activities were banned due to his Jewish origin, but he was not imprisoned, allegedly because he was an "internationally renowned musician". His son Robert was sent in a transport to Dachau, where he died shortly before the end of the war. Dol Dauber and his wife (who was a German from Brno) managed to survive, but the circumstances of his survival remain unclear. After the World War II, Dauber briefly resumed his recording activities with the label Ultraphon. He made his last recording, a cycle of Jewish songs, in September 1948. This great recording was probably made in 1928.