Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Rubin “Zeke” Zarchy was born on June 12, 1915 in New York City on June 12, 1915. He first learned the violin, but after a stint as bugler with his Boy Scout troop he switched permanently to trumpet while in his early teens.

Zarchy joined the Joe Haymes Orchestra in 1935, and the following year played with Benny Goodman, and then Artie Shaw. He was there through the end of the decade with Bob Crosby and Red Norvo, Tommy Dorsey, and then with Glenn Miller in 1940.

Between 1942 and 1945 he played in US Army bands of what became Miller’s Army Air Force Band, officially the 418th Army Band, playing lead trumpet as Master First Sergeant. Zeke’s trumpet can be heard on recordings as Benny Goodman’s Bugle Call Rag, Glenn Miller’s Moonlight Cocktail, and Bob Crosby’s South Rampart Street Parade.

After the war Frank Sinatra invited Zarchy to move to Los Angeles, California where he became a first-call studio musician. He played on numerous recordings, including those led by Boyd Raeburn, Jerry Gray, Sarah Vaughan, and Frank Capp. He appeared on film in The Glenn Miller Story and through both the 1940s and 1950s swing era, he included occasional doubling on instruments to some degree, the saxophone and trombone.

During the 1960s and 1970s, he played in the house bands of several CBS TV variety shows, including The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Danny Kaye Show and The Jonathan Winters Show, and was a member of the NBC Staff Orchestras in New York and Los Angeles.

In his later years, Zarchy toured several times in Europe, South America, and Australia, as well as thirty-two concert trips to Japan. He tutored several young trumpet players who became successful performers and studio musicians.

Trumpeter Zeke Zarchy, who was a lead player of the big band and swing eras, transitioned in Irvine, California, on April 11, 2009.

More Posts: history,instrumental,jazz,music,trumpet