Rudy Wiedoeft

Rudolph " Rudy " Cornelius Wiedoeft ( born January 3, 1893 in Detroit, Michigan, † February 18, 1940 in Flushing, New York City ) was an American saxophonist.

Wiedoeft, the son of German immigrants, learned as a child, first violin, then played the clarinet in the orchestra and the family finally moved after moving to New York City to the C -Melody Saxophone ( occasionally he also played alto and soprano saxophone). He was famous in the 1910s for his virtuoso performances on the then rarely played instrument and participated in some 300 recordings; he played among others in the big band of George Olsen and his brother Herb Wiedoeft before he went to New York.

He recorded under his own name for Victor Records and was in the 1920s a popular musician who often appeared on the radio. He also worked at Rudy Vallée (himself played saxophone and his nickname Rudy had, therefore, that he had studied intensively Wiedoefts game on plates) and for a while in France. Mid-1930s, he left the music business to invest in mine shops, but this had little success. He died in 1940 from cirrhosis.