Ken Espen

Ken Espen was Gallo and GRC's longtime preferred studio organist, a fixture of South African recording for four decades, appearing in one way or another on more than 80 albums. In South Africa, only Nico Carstens exceeded that recorded output.

His road to the studio was extraordinary. Born in East Prussia (now Poland) in 1912, he emigrated to South Africa in 1936, fearing for his future when Hitler and the Nazis came to power; his father, mother and sister were all later murdered in the Holocaust. In South Africa he first worked as a music teacher for Teddy Garrett, then started his own music school. A friendship with Arnold Golembo led to his first recordings for Gallo's GRC division in 1957. His first album was The Sunset Trail and began his long career both as a featured artist and as accompanist to countless instrumentalists and vocalists on the label's sessions.

For many years has was a leading figure in South African musical circles. During this period he performed as a conductor, composer, accompanist, arranger, radio and recording specialist, teacher, and adjudicator. On one occasion, during the absence of the regular conductor, he even conducted Boswell's circus orchestra. Ken Espen was among the first to play the Hammond organ. He was the first person to make this instrument part of a dance orchestra. This was when he performed at His Majesty's Theatre in Johannesburg with Eve Boswell as vocalist. He also appeared extensively as a theatre organist.

Espen was married twice, with a son from his first marriage and a daughter from his second. He died in 1998. The organ heard on hundreds of tracks in the Gallo vault belong to him, the quiet constant of the studio floor.