[1][2][3] He was descended from a klezmer family which had a presence in numerous cities in Poland and Ukraine including Chudniv, Proskuriv, Rozhyshche, Rovno, Klevan, Brody, Zamość, and Berdychiv.
[4] The musician family originated with his grandfather Solomon (Shloyme) Beckerman, a self-taught violinist and multi-instrumentalist who had led his own klezmer ensemble in Chudniv.
[8][9][3] According to klezmer researcher Joel Rubin, Shloimke was already known in the Lower East Side when he arrived, due to his family connections, and immediately began work as a full-time musician.
[10] Among his regular gigs in the 1910s were the Castles by the Sea dancehall in Long Beach, New York,[1] and in the dance band at Reisenweber's Cafe, as well as in silent film orchestras and at Jewish weddings.
[15] Joel Rubin notes that Beckerman is less well remembered than his contemporaries Dave Tarras and Naftule Brandwein because he spent much more of his career playing mainstream American music and only recorded a handful of klezmer pieces.