Honesty and integrity are the ingredients of great music that lasts forever, says legendary American trombonist Jiggs Whigham in a Jazz FM interview, and his art is here to prove it. Having been exposed to the beautiful sound of the trombone by his father at the family farm in Ohio, at the age of 17 he started his professional career in music with the orchestras of Glenn Miller and Stan Kenton. He went on to work with band leaders Count Basie, Ray McKinley, Duke Ellington and Bert Kaempfert, to become a band leader himself – conducting The BBC Big Band, The Berlin Jazz Orchestra, The Brandenburger Youth Jazz Orchestra and The German National Youth Jazz Orchestra BUJAZZO. Jiggs Whigham has become a part of the music legacy of the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Judy Garland, Tony Bennett, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Michael Buble, Bill Evans, Astrud Gilberto, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Patti Ausitn. To name a few.
Serving art and music – that is what Jiggs Whigham believes his duty is, and he highlights the importance of constantly trying to be creative. He teaches that wisdom to his students at the University of Music and Dance, Cologne, Hanns Eisler University of Music, Berlin and The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. Today he is respected as The King of Trombone and is also the president of the International Trombone Association.
Jiggs Whigham is playing his first concert in Bulgaria with The Brass Association Big Band, opening the third edition of the Brazzobrazzie Festival of brass music.
Music is an aspect of love, and love is one of the most important things in life, adds Jiggs Whigham, his heart full of passion, in this interview by Jazz FM’s Svetoslav Nikolov. You can listen to it by pressing the Audio button at the bottom of the picture above.
