Jiggs Whigham

A major trombonist who is quite versatile, Jiggs Whigham has thus far not received the recognition that he deserves, possibly because he has spent a lot of time performing in Germany. After graduating from high school in 1961, Whigham joined the <a href="spotify:artist:2aAHdB5HweT3mFcRzm0swc">Glenn Miller Ghost Orchestra</a> (under the direction of <a href="spotify:artist:1UQnOfa4xodvnWg6TntMMa">Ray McKinley</a>) and in 1963 became a member of the <a href="spotify:artist:27hSR8e34ZM5vj5fUFixyb">Stan Kenton Orchestra</a>. In 1965, he settled in Germany, originally to play with the <a href="spotify:artist:096cqeUheAPw21251JHyz3">Kurt Edelhagen</a> band. When that orchestra broke up, Whigham stayed, working as a studio musician, a freelance jazz performer, and a teacher, becoming a professor at Cologne Conservatory in 1974. Through the years, he has played with <a href="spotify:artist:6T4kUHIlszpj944ZXR3yNw">Maynard Ferguson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2jFZlvIea42ZvcCw4OeEdA">Count Basie</a>, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, <a href="spotify:artist:52cM6vrM4MJ8g4H7Ibo5fZ">Johnny Griffin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0fTHKjepK5HWOrb2rkS5Em">Freddie Hubbard</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4L9xEztn5PKQIO5WnI5W3u">Art Farmer</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3NUsiT2JSyaWAnWaXxDzhQ">Dexter Gordon</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4YNvbaOaqp5pzC5US5t48k">Lee Konitz</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1bgyxtWjZwA5PQlDsvs9b8">Sarah Vaughan</a>, among many others, and he recorded Trombone Summit in the late '70s with <a href="spotify:artist:04iCc7ybxCf4cQovvIIQX4">Bill Watrous</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1kYYk4lJ7ZWbyy3zDYOl6h">Kai Winding</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6smduqXQTpYLxA6MKAJ7pw">Albert Mangelsdorff</a>. In addition to recordings with <a href="spotify:artist:27hSR8e34ZM5vj5fUFixyb">Stan Kenton</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6yvCxXLhKbCuexN0vMgs5E">Johnny Richards</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:11UvVuvsaBfkGXkOAv1U0L">George Gruntz</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0Ouo7BAL9KvlpA8YcR7JFI">Bill Holman</a>, and the Brass Connection, Whigham has led sessions of his own for MPS (1971), Telefunken (1976, released domestically by Pausa), Koala (1982), and Capri (1989). ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi