Ed Zandy

Edward Eugene Zandy (March 27, 1920, in Gaffney, Pennsylvania – August 23, 2003, in Freeport, The Bahamas) was a professional trumpet player from 1938 until his death in 2003.

In addition to the Glenn Miller Orchestra, he also played with the Ina Ray Hutton, Claude Thornhill, Skitch Henderson and Gene Krupa bands.

Zandy moved permanently to The Bahamas in 1968, living initially in Nassau and then Freeport, where he played in casino and hotel bands.

In a band review of Tex Beneke, Downbeat magazine editors wrote, “…the brass section plays cleanly, too, boasting one superior soloist in the boppish trumpet of Eddie Zandy.” [1] Metronome magazine praised the “...Hackett-like (Bobby Hackett) but more modern trumpeting of Eddie Zandy”.

He was a graduate of Union-Endicott High School, and a US Army veteran of World War II, serving in the Pacific Theater.

Eddie Zandy (right) with the Claude Thornhill Band in the Columbia Pictures studio, the making of Beautiful Doll, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1947.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .