# Jiggs Whigham

Jiggs Whigham (born Oliver Haydn Whigham III; August 20, 1943) is an American jazz trombonist.

## Biography

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, he began his professional career at the age of 17, joining the Glenn Miller/Ray McKinley orchestra in 1961. He left that band for Stan Kenton, where he played in the touring "mellophonium" band in 1963, then settled in New York City to play commercially.
Frustrated with commercial playing, Whigham migrated to Germany, where he still lives. He taught at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. He played for many years in the big band of Kurt Edelhagen, was a featured soloist in the Bert Kaempfert orchestra, and was also a member of the Peter Herbolzheimer band. He is widely admired by trombonists and other musicians for his fluent and expressive playing, and has produced an extensive discography as a leader, including work with Bill Holman, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Carl Fontana, and many others.
In more recent years, Whigham has been musical director of the RIAS Big Band in Berlin, Germany. He is formerly conductor of the BBC Big Band in Great Britain and currently co-director of the Berlin Jazz Orchestra with singer Marc Secara. He is featured on the Berlin Jazz Orchestra albums Update, You're Everything, Songs of Berlin and music DVD (Polydor/Universal) Strangers In Night - The Music Of Bert Kaempfert. He was visiting tutor and artist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and KUG in Graz, Austria. He is artist-in-residence for the Conn-Selmer company, maker of the King Jiggs Whigham model trombone. He continues to tour worldwide as soloist, conductor, and educator. Since 2008 he has been a regular musical director for the Bundesjazzorchester working with the top student jazz musicians in Germany.
He makes his home in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

## Discography

* Values (MPS, 1971)
* The Jiggs Up (Capri, 1988)
* First Take (Mons, 1994)
* Hope (Mons, 1995)
* Jiggs & Gene (Azica, 1996)
* Blue Highway: The Music of Paul Ferguson (Azica, 1998)
* Jazz Meets Band (1999)
* The Heart & Soul of Hoagy Carmichael (TNC Jazz, 2002)
* Two-Too (Summit, 2006)
* Live at Nighttown: Not So Standards (Azica, 2015)
With the Berlin Jazz Orchestra
* 2004 Update
* 2007 You're Everything
* 2012 Strangers In Night - The Music Of Bert Kaempfert DVD
* 2021 Songs of Berlin
* 2022 Crosscurrents
With the hr-Bigband
* Strangers in the Night: The Music of Bert Kaempfert (Polydor, 2006)

### As sideman

With Carl Fontana
* 1999 Nice 'n' Easy
* 2002 Keepin' up with the Boneses
With Peter Herbolzheimer
* 1973 Wide Open
* 2005 Toots Suite
* 2006 Getting Down to Brass Tracks
With Stan Kenton
* 1964 Artistry in Voices and Brass
* 1964 Stan Kenton presents Jean Turner
* 1998 Concert in England
* 2000 Live at Newport: 1959, 1963, 1971
* 2001 Back to Balboa: Tribute to Stan Keaton, Vol. 6
* 2003 At Brant Inn 1963
With Kenton Alumni Band
* 1992 50th Anniversary Celebration: The Best of Back to Balboa
* 1995 50th Anniversary Celebration: Back to Balboa
* 1995 'Round Midnight Concert, Shades of Kenton Jazz Orchestra
With Paul Kuhn
* 2008 As Time Goes By
* 2013 Swing 85
With Bud Shank
* 1992 The Awakening
* 1995 Lost Cathedral
With others
* 1969 Harpadelic, Johnny Teupen
* 1970 Globe Unity 67 & 70, Globe Unity Orchestra
* 1971 Homecoming, Art Farmer
* 1972 ...Und..., Mladen Gutesha
* 1976 Kaempfert '76, Bert Kaempfert
* 1984 Lightnin' , Klaus Weiss Big Band
* 1988 Barlach Zyklus, Mikesch Van Grummer
* 1992 Joe Pass in Hamburg, Joe Pass
* 1998 Meets the RIAS Big Band, Allen Farnham
* 2000 North Sea Jazz Sessions, Volume 2, Frank Rosolino
* 2005 Mosaic Select: Johnny Richards, Johnny Richards
* 2006 Tea Break/Back Again/Jazz from Two Sides, Vic Lewis
* 2007 Evergreens, Kurt Edelhagen
* 2007 Turnstile: The Music of the Trumpet Kings, Harry Allen