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Max Leibowitz () (born c.1884 in Iași, Romania, died 1942, Bronx, New York City) was an American klezmer violinist, composer and bandleader in New York City primarily in the 1910s and 1920s.
He was a contemporary of other Romanian-born klezmer bandleaders and recording artists in the New York City area that included Abe Schwartz, Joseph Moskowitz, Abe Katzman, and Milu Lemisch (in Philadelphia). (2025). 9780190244514, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190244514 He is listed as composer of some Yiddish songs recorded in the early twentieth century, such as Der yold is mich mekone ("The fool envies me.") and Es iz shoin farfallen. Irene Heskes, compiler of Yiddish popular music listings, lists Leibowitz as part of a large cohort of "Jewish bandsmen" such as Naftule Brandwein, Dave Tarras, Harry Kandel and others who "fashioned unique qualities for the Jewish dance tunes in America" during that era. (1992). 9780844407456, Library of Congress. ISBN 9780844407456 There was often tough competition between these bandleaders; in 1923 Leibowitz sued Naftule Brandwein for allegedly plagiarizing a klezmer tune he had already copyrighted. The case ended up being dismissed because Leibowitz had still been a Romanian citizen when he had copyrighted the work, which gave him less protection than an American citizen would have had. After that lawsuit, the two men must have reconciled, because they continued to work together. In 1926 Leibowitz and his son Isidore opened a short-lived Romanian restaurant in Newark, New Jersey, and soon recruited Brandwein as a regular guest.
Leibowitz died in the Bronx in 1942 at age 57. He was buried in the Baron Hirsch Cemetery in Staten Island.
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