DESCRIPTION:
Intimate jazz version of the popular Russian folk song "Ochi chyornye" (Очи чёрные) known commonly as "Black Eyes/ Schwarze Augen / Les yeux noirs" , recorded by the Louis Billen Quartette for the Olympia record label in 1942.

Louis Billen was a saxophone player, performing with his own bands from the early 1930s onwards. He was also a noted musician in the Stan Brenders orchestra (he was part of the band when it made its recordings with Django Reinhardt)....

Not really knowing what video to make, I decided to feature the actress Olga Tschechowa (Chekova) in this video. Tschechowa (1897-1980) led a fascinating life.

Born Olga Knipper - daughter of an Imperial minister in Czarist Russia - Olga grew up in the highest circles of society. Her brother was the composer Lev Knipper. Wanting to become an actress Olga joinded the Moscow Art Theatre under Stanislawsky. There she met Mikhail Chekhov, nephew of Anton Chekhov (Olga's aunt also called Olga Knipper was Chekov's wife). They fell in love and married in 1914. They divorced in 1919. While performing in Germany, Olga decided to stay and from then on became one a popular stage and movie actress, known for her elegance and natural acting style. Her first German movie was Murnau's "Schloss Vogelöd" (1921). Many silent pictures were to follow and she worked with noted directors - Rene Clair and E.A. Dupont to cite a few. Tschechowa easily made the transition to sound pictures and starred not only in German but also French pictures. A noted early picture was "Mary", the German version Hitchcock's "Murder". In the early 1930s she attempted a Hollywood career which failed. Tschechowa became a German citizen in 1930 and remained in Germany when the Nazis came to power. She continued to be a very busy actress, appearing in "Maskerade", "Burgtheater", "Bel Ami", "Der Favorit der Kaiserin", "Die unheimlichen Wünsche" and many others... (She did not always land leading roles but was also a very effective supporting actress). One of her best pictures was "Reise in die Vergangenheit" (1943) which was a remake of the French classic "Un Carnet de Bal" (1937). Olga also was one of Hitler's favourite actresses (together with Lil Dagover) and was a frequent guest... After the war she resumed her acting career - with limited succes but became a succesful business woman - setting up her own cosmetics company. Only recently it was revealed (in a book written by Anthony Beevor) that Olga Tschechowa was a passive spy for the Soviet secret service. Her brother Lev Knipper - composer of "Polyushko Pole" - was an active agent...

More info on Tschechowa :

In German :
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Konstantinowna_Tschechowa

In English :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Chekhova

Those intereste in the history of "Black Eyes" :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Eyes_(song)

The video contains pictures, publicity and 2 Belgian movie posters of Olga Tschechowa as well as a Dutch copy of her first memoir "Ich verschweige nichts !" (1952). All are from my personal collection. Olga Tschechowa was a well known actress in Belgium and married Marcel Robyns - a Belgian business man in 1936. They divorced three years later.

About the record :

Olympia D 2041 / mx. 16158

The record is in quite good condition for a wartime pressing (noticable surface noise).

Sound equipment used :

Ortophon Om78 Cartrdige & Stylus
Turntable : Stanton T.90
TerraTec 78RPM Phono Pre-amp

During transfer the record's sound was not altered.

Any percepted "improving" of the sound is due to the YouTube playback settings.

After processing, this video will also be offered in HD.
However whether this function works will depend on your Internet connection and the abilities of your computer (your screen may freeze).

After uploading it will take some time for the image to be fully processed (and become sharp)