Jiggs Whigham

Jiggs Wigham and John Clayton in 1989. Photo courtesy of the Fraser MacPherson estate

Jiggs Whigham (born Oliver Haydn Whigham III on 20 August 1943) is an American jazz trombonist living in Europe.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he began his professional career at age 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 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 recent years, Whigham has been musical director of the RIAS (Radio In The American Sector) Big Band in Germany. He is currently conductor of the BBC Big Band in Great Britain and artistic director of the Berlin Jazz Orchestra. He is visiting tutor and artist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. 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.

He makes his home in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

He now endorses the "Jiggs P-Bone", a plastic trombone that comes in many colours, such as purple, yellow and blue.

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