Elaine Hoffman Watts (May 25, 1932 – September 25, 2017[1]) was a klezmer drummer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Watts came from a line of klezmer musicians from what is now Ukraine and was the daughter of Jacob Hoffman,[2] a klezmer xylophone player and bandleader from the 1920s who also played with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ballets Russes Orchestra.

She was raised in Southwest Philadelphia and learned how to play the drums in the basement of her house.

[4] In 1954, Elaine Hoffman Watts was the first woman percussionist to be accepted and graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

[1] After graduation she was hired as a timpanist in the New Orleans Symphony, and over the years played in other orchestras and jazz groups, including sitting in for Duke Ellington and Count Basie.