[Trombone-l] [Kentonia] 3 Other Birthdays

[George Carr]

Thumping myself on the forehead, one correction: Jiggs's first band
was the Glenn Miller band, led at that time by Buddy Morrow.  Jiggs
likes to tell the story that when he first showed up to join the band,
he walked on to the band bus and proudly told Buddy, "Hello, Mr.
Morrow, I'm Jiggs Whigham."  At which point Buddy paused, looked over
the teenage Jiggs, and said, "No sh**."

George

On 8/20/07, George Carr <georgecarr at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Jiggs Whigham turning 64 today, and has been very successful in various endeavours throughout Europe
> >
>
> Jiggs first worked with the Tommy Dorsey band in 1959, at age 16.  His
> mother wouldn't let him go on the road until he finished high school,
> so he didn't join the band as a regular until 1961.  He left that band
> in early 1963 to join the Kenton unit, and toured with the mellophonum
> band for less than a year.  I believe he settled in NYC after leaving
> that band, but was quickly frustrated with the jazz and studio scene
> there, although he did appear on the 1964 Johnny Richards recording My
> Fair Lady My Way.  He moved to Germany in 1965, ostensibly to join the
> Kurt Edelhagen band, but mostly became a freelance soloist and studio
> player, especially after the Edelhagen band folded.  He joined the
> faculty of the Cologne (Koln) music college in 1974, and has recently
> retired from teaching at a high level of revered emeritus status.
> These days, he mostly plays and conducts; he is on the conducting
> staff of several European big bands, including RIAS in Germany and BBC
> in London.
>
> On a Kenton note, since that's where this birthday announcement comes
> from, I'll just say that finally hearing a recording of Jiggs with the
> Kenton band was eye-opening for me.  His recording career (including
> his stint with the Dorsey band) has emphasized his ballad playing, and
> his later familiarity with complex harmonies has been heard to good
> advantage in pieces written for him by Bill Holman and others.  But I
> recently acquired the recording of the Kenton band at the summer
> Newport Jazz Festival in 1963, and Jiggs sounds larger than life,
> playing monster lead trombone in a great band - he kills the opening
> solo on Malaguena.
>
> Happy birthday to Jiggs - a major inspiration.
>
> George
>