Ziggy Elman
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Ziggy Elman (born Harry Aaron Finkelman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 26, 1914; died June 26, 1968) was a jazz trumpeter most associated with Benny Goodman.
He was born in Philadelphia, but his family settled in Atlantic City when he was age four. His father was a klezmer violinist who hoped he would play violin as well, but he abandoned this instrument at an early point. Harry began playing for Jewish weddings and nightclubs at age 15. In 1932 he had his first recording where he played trombone. At some point in the decade he adopted the name Ziggy Elman. Elman is a shortening of Finkelman while "Ziggy" is believed to be a reference to Florenz Ziegfeld.
He is best known for trumpet and became known for this when he joined Goodman's group in 1936. He had his most ambitious period from 1938 to 1939 and in this period had a success with a klezmer tune adapted for swing as "And the Angels Sing." This song is, arguably, his longest lasting musical legacy as it has appeared in films up to 1997 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987. After his work with Goodman he joined Tommy Dorsey's band and also played as a member of the United States Air Force during the war. In the period from 1940 to 1947 he was honored in Down Beat magazine readers poll six times.[1] He led his own bands starting in 1947.
By the 1950s big bands had declined and for a time he switched to entertainment work. In this decade he appeared in films mostly as himself. In 1956 he had a heart-attack which curtailed his musical career. By the end of the 1950s he had to work for a car dealership and was financially ruined. In 1961 it was revealed at an alimony hearing that he was virtually bankrupt. He later worked in a music store and taught trumpet to some up-and-coming musicians. He died in 1968 at 54 and was buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery.
