Ziggy Elman

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Ziggy Elman (* 26. May 1914 in Philadelphia , † 26 June 1968 in Los Angeles , actually Harry Aaron Finkelman ) was an American jazz - trumpet , trombone , clarinet , saxophone player and bandleader of the Swing . He played with Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey .

Live and act

Ziggy Elman initially played various instruments (mostly trombone) in local bands in Atlantic City , where he grew up after the family moved there in 1918. He got his first professional job in 1932 with Alec Bartha's band, which performed at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City. There Benny Goodman became aware of Elman, who at that time mainly played the trombone, and brought him into his band in 1936. Elman acted as lead trumpeter there until 1940 and was one of the orchestra's most frequently featured star soloists. The most important titles were "And the Angels Sing" and "Zaggin 'With Zig". These freyhlich ( Yiddish for “happy”) improvisations - especially striking in the famous Carnegie Hall Concert in 1938 in Bei mir sind du schoen - made him known and popular. During his time at Goodman he made recordings with members of the Goodman Orchestra under his own name ( Ziggy Elman and his Orchestra ) for Bluebird .

In 1939 he also recorded with Lionel Hampton ; In 1940 he worked with Joe Venuti for a month . Then Elman was until 1947 - apart from three years of military service, in which he led his own band - the orchestra of Tommy Dorsey . In 1947 Elman led his own band in the Palladium Ballroom in Los Angeles and had his only chart success with his version of Body and Soul (# 25). Elman went back to Dorsey from July 1947 to 1948 and then directed his own band again until 1951; In 1949 he accompanied Frank Sinatra on his weekday radio show Light-Up Time . In addition to radio, he also worked for film and television and accompanied a. a. Dinah Shore , Dinah Washington, and Bing Crosby . Recordings were made with Lionel Hampton and Jess Stacy . He played in the Benny Goodman Story (directed by Valentine Davies, 1955), but only as an actor ( Manny Klein took over his musical part ). Due to health problems, Elman retired from the music business in 1956 and then ran a music store.

Elman was famous for his extroverted style, superior technique and was considered one of the leading lead trumpet players and soloists of the swing era. In later years he was notorious as a "Schmalzmeister" who only produced routine swing. In the 1940s he won the Down Beat Poll for best trumpeter several times (1940/41, 1943, 1945-1947) .

Selection discography

literature

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  1. ^ According to L. Feather, I. Gitler: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz , he worked for Bartha as early as 1930.
  2. ↑ After George T. Simon The Golden Era of Big Bands , he was a member of the Dorsey Band as early as 1939.
  3. ↑ cit. according to Kunzler, p. 340
  4. ^ German quotation in Morton / Cook, p. 469
personal data
SURNAME Elman, Ziggy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Finkelman, Harry Aaron (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz trumpeter
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH June 26, 1968
Place of death los Angeles