Maria Zamora



Maria Zamora was the stage name of singer Jill Jansen ( Amsterdam , May 81923 - Purmerend , November 91996 ) from the Amsterdam Jordaan . She was mostly in the 50s very successful with its South American repertoire. ==Biography [ edit] == Maria Zamora was born in 1923 as Jill Jones, an older sister Rika Jansen . Already at the age of approximately 13 years she sang songs in Moeskops Café in Amsterdam Warmoesstraat. Later in Café van Klaveren (corner Weteringschans / Frederiksplein ) in the Cabaret of the Unknowns . She was 16 years old. They started dating Toby Rix (Tobias Gaps). With him and Bob Geskus she formed a trio: The Young Rambling Cowboys . Jill called himself when Mary Lee.

During the war they got their American cowboy repertoire problems with the Germans and switched them over to South American and Spanish songs, they changed their name to Los Magelas ., the first letters of Jill, Geskus and gaps [1]  . When her courtship Toby uitraakte they stopped this trio. By her new boyfriend Gerard Hulscher she was introduced to the orchestra of Ernst van 't Hoff .

She was soon performing with this Phenomenal Radio Dance Orchestra, and in 1942 they performed at the Concertgebouw and Carre . They mostly took the South American and Spanish, but sometimes the Dutch repertoire for its account. Her name applied them to Maria Zamora (Zamora to the keeper of the Spanish football team of that time).

When she met her future husband Orchestra Andre Smit (former stage name Andreas Ferreira) know. The situation in the Netherlands was in 1944 so bad that the orchestra was disbanded. In 1949 André Smit his own orchestra which was operating under the name began Maria Zamora and its South American orchestra . Followed success. Mamá el Baión from1955 became an international hit. A consequence of this success was that Maria Zamora solid singer was the AVRO program FIESTA with The Skymasters conducted Bep Rowold . This program ran several years. Her fellow singer in this program was Thom Kelling who was later succeeded by Wim van de Beek.

Meanwhile, Maria and Andre had a son and a daughter received. Because daughter Laura was handicapped Maria withdrew more and more back from the artists life. In 1968 Maria and Andre were seriously injured in a car accident that Mary would never fully recover. After 34 years of marriage followed in 1977 a divorce . Lonely and handicapped Mary died at age 73 of aheart attack . In 1997 appeared compilation of pictures and articles:: discography María Zamora, a self-released book about her Henk Braaksma and Alois Broeke: