[2] Mr. Burke, who had the use of only one arm, was considered the greatest virtuoso of his time on the instrument, according to Ainslee Cox, conductor of the Guggenheim[1] Memorial Band.

He began to play the trumpet at age 5, but since he could not hold the horn, his father had a tripod stand built for him.

When he was 13, some of the participants from The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour made a movie for Warner Brothers called "Stars Of Tomorrow".

It was Staigers who suggested to the King Musical Instrument Company that they build a cornet for left handed playing.

Jimmy then studied with John "Ned" Mahoney,[1] a cornetist with The Goldman Band and a graduate of The Ernest Williams School of Music.

From 1938 through 1943 Burke attended Ernest Williams School of Music at 153 Ocean Avenue Brooklyn, New York.

He had a featured solo performance of "The Carnival of Venice" on the RCA Victor LP "A Sunday Band Concert".

[1] Solo Recordings Artist Workshop Series With The Goldman Band With Leroy Anderson With Archie Bleyer With Robert Russell Bennett With Paul Lavalle With Morton Gould With Robert Shaw With Igor Stravinsky With Andre Kostelanetz (see notes) With Thomas Schippers With Leopold Stokowski Cornet/trumpet solos Method book