Zeke Zarchy, who died on 12 April, 2009, aged 93, was a prominent lead trumpet player of the Big Band and Swing eras.

Born Rubin Zarchy on June 12, 1915, in New York, he began playing trumpet as a young child.

Throughout his career he worked and recorded with many prestigious bands including those of Red Norvo, Bob Crosby, Mildred Bailey, Frank Sinatra , Helen Ward, Judy Garland , Tommy Dorsey, and Ella Fitzgerald .

During the Second World War Zarchy was chosen by Glenn Miller for what became Miller's famous Army Air Force Band, in which he played lead trumpet.

After the war, 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 singers, 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 Glenn Miller Story. It can also be heard on several classic recordings including Benny Goodman's Bugle Call Rag, Glenn Miller's Moonlight Cocktails and Bob Crosby's South Rampart Street Parade.

In the 1960s and 70s, Zeke played in the house bands of several popular TV variety shows and was a member of the NBC Staff Orchestras in Los Angeles and New York.

In his later years, Zarchy made many tours of Europe, South America, and Australia, as well as 32 concert trips to Japan.