Ed Zandy

Edward Eugene "Eddie" Zandy was a professional trumpet player from 1938 until his death in 2003. He was best known as a member of the second Glenn Miller Orchestra, led by Tex Beneke, Ray McKinley and Buddy DeFranco. 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. One of his last performances was with the Apple Elliot Ensemble in the Bahamas.

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.”

Metronome magazine praised the “...Hackett-like (Bobby Hackett) but more modern trumpeting of Eddie Zandy”.

Zandy was born on March 27, 1920 in Gaffney, Pennsylvania but moved to Endicott, New York early in his childood. He was a graduate of Union-Endicott High School and a US Army veteran of World War II, serving in the Pacific Theater. He was a lifetime member of Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM. Zandy died on August 23, 2003 in Freeport, Bahamas.