Zeke Zarchy

Who was Zeke Zarchy?

Rubin "Zeke" Zarchy was an American lead trumpet player of the big band and swing eras.

He joined the Joe Haymes orchestra in 1934, then played with Benny Goodman in 1936 and Artie Shaw in 1937. From 1937 to 1942, he worked and recorded with the bands of Red Norvo, Bob Crosby, Glenn Miller, Mildred Bailey, Frank Sinatra, Helen Ward, Judy Garland, Tommy Dorsey, and Ella Fitzgerald.

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.

When World War II broke out, Zarchy was the first musician chosen by Glenn Miller for what became Miller's Army Air Force Band where Zarchy played lead trumpet and was Master Sergeant from 1942 to 1945.

After the war, singer Frank Sinatra invited Zarchy to move to Los Angeles, where he became a first-call studio musician. He played on the recordings of hundreds of vocalists, including Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Dinah Shore, and The Mills Brothers. His trumpet is heard in the soundtracks of many classic Hollywood movies, including West Side Story, Dr. Zhivago and the The Glenn Miller Story.