Leonid Utesov
Russia, 1928–1982
Soviet singer and bandleader (1895–1982, born Lazar Vaysbeyn in Odessa). Founded one of the first Soviet jazz bands ('Tea-Jazz', 1929), blending jazz with Russian song and stage comedy, and helped introduce jazz-influenced popular music (estrada) to the USSR. Starred in the 1934 film Jolly Fellows.