Ziggy Elman’s trumpet finds a new home

A trumpet known to belong to the great swing-era trumpeter Ziggy Elman has a new owner in San Angelo, Texas.

Dr. Joe Kasberg has purchased the horn with part of this sale benefitting the ITG (International Trumpet Guild). The trumpet was on display at the 2015 ITG conference in Columbus, Ohio. A portion of the purchase is set aside to fund a student scholarship to the 2016 ITG annual conference in Anaheim, CA.

Elman’s Trumpet, a King Super 20, serial #383957, has been gold plated and is in excellent condition. Elman sold this horn to his friend George Jobe. According to Jobe’s daughter, Donna, Jobe was an avid trumpeter all his life. Music was a constant in his life even though his day job was spent fixing computers until he retired (when he then became a real estate agent). He was very active playing and teaching the trumpet. When he was very young he played in the Santa Barbara Symphony, in a park band, a German polka band, and later he had his own hotel blues band. Jobe had documentation that the King Super 20 indeed belonged to Elman, but that paperwork was stolen along with other important papers. Jobe, a longtime ITG member, asked that the trumpet be donated to the ITG. Now, completing the story, the trumpet has a new home in Texas. Special thanks go to Vince DiMartino for his assistance in this process.

Harry Aaron Finkelman (aka “Ziggy” Elman,1914-1968) was a popular big-band era trumpeter and featured in the bands of Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey. He was voted the public’s number one trumpeter in a few Down Beat and Metronome polls during that era. Elman (shortened form of Finkelman) started performing while in his teens in and around his hometown of Atlantic City, NJ. His clear, strong sound attracted the attention of Benny Goodman in 1936 and joined the band, sitting in the section alongside Harry James. Elman also recorded with his own big band releasing one of his most notable songs, And the Angels Sing, which became a #1 hit in 1939. When Goodman went on a hiatus, Elman joined the Dorsey band in 1940. Elman served in the US Army Air Force from 1943-46, playing for the troops mostly in Southern California. After his time in the service, he toured with the Dorsey band, his own band, recorded albums for MGM Records, and did television studio work. A waning career and change of musical tastes dogged him towards the end of his life. Interestingly, Elman was reunited with Goodman at a dinner party celebrating the 30th anniversary of the famous Carnegie Hall concert in 1968. Ziggy passed away only six months later at the age of 54.

Dr. Samuel J. (Joe) Kasberg, MD is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and Medical Director Wound Care and Hyperbaric Services at San Angelo Community Medical Center. Joe is a music enthusiast and trumpeter. He plays in the San Angelo Community Band and is a valuable contributor to the arts scene in San Angelo. Many thanks to Joe, Vince DiMartino, the ITG officers, and the Jobe family for helping preserve this wonderful piece of jazz history.