www.nzmusicmonth.co.nz

May is New Zealand Music Month!

This is part one of  a series of blog posts during May to celebrate New Zealand Music Month. Each week it will highlight Auckland Libraries heritage resources relating to New Zealand music, and its talented musicians, across all genres. So, if you have a "muso" in your family's history and are looking for information on them, these resources might just help you with your search.
Gareeb Stephen Shalfoon (1904-1953), "Epi"- a nickname from his family, was a jazzer who initially played piano but he taught himself how to play clarinet and saxophone  because he said at that time it was easier to hire a pianist than horn players. In 1924 he put together a band called the Melody Boys who went on to make New Zealand's first jazz recording. It eventually became a family affair - his daughter Reo, a very talented and popular singer in her own right, frequently performed with the band.

Epi Shalfoon and the Melody Boys, Filmcraft, 1930. Image from the Film Archive.

Sadly, Epi died at the young age of 48. He collapsed while dancing with his daughter at his favourite music venue, the Crystal Palace Ballroom.

If you – or your ancestor – was a bright young thing in 1940s Auckland, chances are the name El Rey might ring a few bells.

The El Rey Country Club was a nightclub operated out of an Arts and Crafts style house on Hillsborough Road in what was then still farmland. The location was panoramic, set amidst acres of bush and with gorgeous views out across the Manukau Harbour to South Auckland. Equally as panoramic, it might be said, were the goings on in the El Rey itself. It came under the eye of the law for illegally serving liquour several times, and regularly featured in the Auckland Star’s Lost and Found column:

“Topaz ring in the vicinity of the El Ray, substantial reward.”
“Watch, gold, ladies between El Rey and Devonport.”
“A five pound reward for the return of a diamante evening bag and contents, lost or taken by mistake at the El Rey.”
“A raincoat, marine officer’s, between Farmers and the El Rey night club. Reward”
“Watch, wrist, chromium with brilliants, El Rey Saturday night. Reward.”
“Fur cape, brown velvet, New Year’s Eve between Grand Hotel and El Rey.”
 (All from Papers Past)

Visiting American soldiers, aka “bedroom commandos,” also added glamour to the scene. As noted in The Encyclopedia of New Zealand Te Ara, they flocked to the El Rey and other clubs “where they could dine on steak and drink whisky as a swing band played the latest hits of Glenn Miller.”  If you did fancy dance music and couldn’t make the trek out to Mt Roskill on a Saturday night, 1YA would relay the dance music on the wireless.

Interestingly, Te Ara also reports that the El Rey was a favourite club of the intrepid Admiral Richard E Byrd who used NZ as a base for his Antarctic explorations.

Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19400410-41-1

The El Rey ran from 1934 to 1944. In 1944 the Americans had gone back home, and the house and land was subsequently sold with plans to use it as a rest home. But only six years later, the land was subdivided and the house sold again. This time to the Presbyterians who planted a new church - St David’s in the Fields. The congregation soon built a hall alongside the house, with plans to one day knock down the old den of iniquity, turn-of-the-century house, and erect a brand new church. That never eventuated, and so, the former El Rey nightclub lived on– albeit these days as a church office and Sunday school rooms.

Joanne

In our Digital Library, Index Auckland is a rich resource of history, art, theatre, film and music references sourced from Auckland area newspapers and journal articles.

 
The music references provide a comprehensive overview of the musical history of New Zealand and include:

• music in Auckland scrapbooks from 1890 to 1930
• New Zealand music scrapbooks from 1960 to 1995
• music programme collection
• various journal articles, performance reviews, and newspaper clippings from the New Zealand music vertical file. The local history, biography and family history references include:
• Auckland scrapbooks 1923 to 1994
• New Zealand scrapbooks 1916 to 1975
• obituary scrapbooks 1933 to 1941 and 1949 to 1979
• pioneer women's roll of honour, Auckland province
• Maori electoral rolls for the North Island, 1919
• Auckland city area suburban newspapers, particularly from 1996.