Solmon - KR 1574

Glimpses - In 1928 Colonel Grogan opened his palatial red-brick Torr's Hotel, its 5 storeys towering over the Theatre Royal building almost next door. Grogan was determined to make it "the Carlton of East Africa" - which meant importing a whole live 5-man band from London. The leader, one of the two saxophonists, was Sid Ziegler and the percussionist was a young Jew named Micky Migdoll. "It was the first hotel in Africa to offer dancing every night. Grogan was determined to have the best, and in Sid Ziegler's five-piece band of jazz musicians he got the best.

The 16-year-old drummer Mickey Migdoll, born in London's Wardour Street, thought he must be "the best paid person in Kenya - £60 a month and all found ….. " - more than double what members of Kenya's Legislative Council were paid." - (Paice)

After his 2 year contract was up, Mickey went back to England, then to India with another band, but by 1936 he was back in Kenya. For good.

Glimpses - post WW2 - The Nairobi Orchestra had a number of other Jewish players - including Mickey Migdoll playing timpani. Migdoll was the leader of his own jazz band playing at Torr's Hotel, with another Jewish musician, Ted Meerloo, the manager of Travellers Hotel. ……..

Glimpses - Theatre Royal Building …….. Also housed shops such as (for a while) Esquire, Mickey Migdoll's elegant men's suitings shop, which the young percussionist, always "a bit of a natty dresser myself", started as a hole-in-the-wall haberdashery round the corner in 1938.

Glimpses - When war broke out Migdoll joined up and was sent to Madagascar, "dreadful place, dreadful, I nearly died there". But he didn't, and made it back to Kenya. Here he met a Scotswoman, Flora McKenzie (aka Paddy), who had also served in the Army and then come to Kenya as a secretary for Shell. The two found they shared a passion for "the horses". As neither had any close family left in UK, they decided to make Kenya their home. Today at 96 Mickey Migdoll is the oldest member of the Kenyan Jewish community. And his wife is the "Squirrel" who writes the racing column for the East African Standard.

Glimpses - As Migdoll was only playing evenings, he first got himself a daytime job as a railway clerk, then found his metier in men's suitings, founding the soon-to-be-famous Esquire, which he owned and ran for over 50 years. He finally sold it in 1990 - and then he stayed on several years as a salaried manager for the new owner.

Markham - 1936 - Drummer in the band at Torr's Hotel. Later started Esquire Ltd. - outfitters who catered for people like Sinatra, Crosby, Kelly, William Holden etc.

Barnes - Forest Rd cem in fond memory of / Micky [sic] Migdoll / 10.2.1908 - 23.7.2007