Sergei Lukiyanovich Ermolaeff – ‘Serge Ermoll’ remembers old Shanghai

A handwritten survey headed “Progress of Jazz Music after Boxer Rebellion in Far East” and “All Full time Bands”. It names musicians, ensembles, venues and engagements in Shanghai and elsewhere in Asia, then continues into Australian jazz and Serge Ermoll Jr’s career.

Authorship and dating
The first page bears “Serge Ermoll Snr” beside an Australian correspondence stamp. This supports attribution to Serge Ermoll Sr, although no signature or date is visible. References to deaths in 1980 and February 1986 suggest that at least part of the text was written or amended in or after 1986. The latest explicit date is not necessarily the date of the whole document.

What the account offers
Its value lies in a working musician’s recollection of personnel, travel, instruments, professional networks and employment. Shanghai is connected to Harbin, Hong Kong, Singapore, Java, Japan, Manila, Sydney, Melbourne and London. The heading invokes the Boxer Rebellion, but the visible entries begin in 1923 rather than documenting that earlier period.