Rubin "Zeke" Zarchy (June 12, 1915 – April 11, 2009) was an American lead trumpet player of the

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

and swing eras.

Early life

Zarchy was born 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."

Later life and career

Zarchy was with the

Joe Haymes Joseph Lawrence Haymes (February 10, 1907 – July 10, 1964) was an American jazz bandleader and arranger. Life and career Born in Marshfield, Missouri, United States, Haymes relocated with his family to Springfield, Missouri, after his railroade ...

orchestra in 1935, and the following year played with Haymes, then

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

, and then

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

. He was then with

Bob Crosby George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...

and

Red Norvo Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His reco ...

(1937–39),

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

(1939–40), and

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

(1940). Between 1942 and 1945 he played in US Army bands: he was part of what became Miller's Army Air Force Band (officially, the 418th Army Band), playing lead trumpet as Master (First) Sergeant. Zarchy's trumpet can be heard on recordings as

's "

Bugle Call Rag "Bugle Call Rag", also known as "Bugle Call Blues", is a jazz standard written by Jack Pettis, Billy Meyers and Elmer Schoebel. It was first recorded by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in 1922 as "Bugle Call Blues", although later renditions as well ...

's "

Moonlight Cocktail "Moonlight Cocktail" is a 1941 big band song recorded by Glenn Miller during World War II. The music was composed by Luckey Roberts with lyrics by Kim Gannon. Background The song was originally recorded by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra on Dece ...

", and

's "South Rampart Street Parade". After the war, singer

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

invited Zarchy to move to Los Angeles, 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 ''The Glenn Miller Story'' is a 1954 American biographical film about the eponymous American band-leader, directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their second non-western collaboration. Plot The film follows big band leader Glenn ...

'' (1954). During the 1960s and 1970s, he played in the house bands of several

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

TV variety shows, including ''

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy and variety show television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969. The series was a major success, especially considering it was sched ...

'', ''

The Danny Kaye Show ''The Danny Kaye Show'' was an American variety show, hosted by the stage and screen star Danny Kaye, which aired on Wednesday nights from September 25, 1963, to June 7, 1967, on the CBS television network. Directed by Robert Scheerer, it premier ...

'' and ''

The Jonathan Winters Show ''The Jonathan Winters Show'' is the first of two American television network Variety show television programs to be hosted by comedian Jonathan Winters. The television series was broadcast from October 1956 to June 1957 on NBC. Synopsis This ' ...

'', and was a member of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Staff Orchestras in New York and Los Angeles. In his later years, Zarchy made many music tours of 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. He died in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

, on April 11, 2009.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zarchy, Zeke 1915 births 2009 deaths American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Swing trumpeters Lawrence Welk United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century trumpeters American male jazz musicians Glenn Miller Orchestra members 20th-century American male musicians