Dave Apollon
Illustration — Dave Apollon, c. 1940s Dave Apollon (born Denis Apollonov; February 23, 1898 – May 30, 1972) was an American mandolin player. Today Dave Apollon is regarded as one of the most innovative and influential mandolinists of the twentieth century, whose more notable recordings and performances include Two Guitars, Hora staccato by Grigoraș Dinicu and Zigeunerweisen aka "Gypsy Airs" by Pablo de Sarasate.
Dave Apollon
- Born
- 1898 · Kyiv.
- Died
- 1972 · New York City.
- Nationality
- Russian Empire · Soviet Union
- Occupation
- mandolinist · musician · composer · bandleader
- Fields
- music · jazz · mandolin
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wikidata · Q5228241 · wikipedia · Dave Apollon
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Early life
Early life
His styles include Gypsy and various kinds of European folk music. He is also regarded as one of the first jazz mandolinists, with such memorable recordings as "Who" and "St.
Apollon was born in 1898, to a Jewish family in the city of Kiev, which was at the time part of Russia. At an early age, he played the violin but abandoned the instrument after taking a fervent interest in an old bowl back mandolin his father kept in the house.
Career
Career
By age 14 Apollon had already founded an ensemble and was performing professionally in a local movie theatre. During WWI, he served in the Russian Revolution and used his mandolin as his greatest weapon. He sailed to the Philippines to continue working as a mandolin player and dancer. Afterwards, he went to Japan and got his visa to the US. In 1919 he moved to New York City and almost immediately got a job in vaudeville, where he floored audiences with stunning virtuosity. In 1929 he made the first of his musical shorts, something he would continue with for much of his career. In 1941 he was a member of the touring company of "Boys and Girls Together". In 1946 he met and played with Django Reinhardt while the legendary guitarist was on tour with Duke Ellington in New York. In early 1950, he released his version of the No. 1 hit "Third Man Theme" (made famous by Anton Karas and Guy Lombardo, among others) on the National label (#9104). The flip side was "The Cafe Mozart Waltz". "Billboard" described the single as "Sensational... new... and different." Apollon died in 1972, after a career that spanned over fifty years.
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Kyiv.
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New York City.
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Dave Apollon, revision 1327571436 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 September 2026.
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