Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Hymie Schertzer was born Herman Schertzer on April 22, 1909 in New York City, New York and began playing violin when he was nine years old. He picked up the saxophone when he was a teenager and went on to work as a sideman for Gene Kardos at the club Birdland, then joined Benny Goodman’s band, where he was the lead saxophonist until 1938, though he recorded with Goodman intermittently until the mid-1940s.

Between 1938 and 1940 Hymie was in Tommy Dorsey’s band, and recorded in the late 1930s with Bunny Berigan and Lionel Hampton. He worked with Billie Holiday in 1941 and again in 1944, then became a house musician for NBC radio and television.

Working as a session player for studio recordings Schertzer was behind Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Sy Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and Artie Shaw during the years 1947-1953. He continued working with Goodman live, on television, and on record from 1951 until 1969.

Saxophonist and conductor Hymie Schertzer, who was a member of the Tonight Show Band during its Johnny Carson era, transitioned in New York City, on March 22, 1977 at the age of 67.

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