Edwin Finckel; Composer, Jazz Pianist, Educator

Edwin Finckel, 83, composer, jazz pianist and musical educator, died Monday in Madison, N.J. Born in Washington, D.C., Finckel gravitated toward jazz at an early age, learning piano by listening to solos by Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum.

He also studied composing as a child and, by the 1940s, was working as a staff arranger for the bands of Boyd Raeburn, Les Brown and Gene Krupa. He went on to work with drummer Buddy Rich’s first big band, creating such hits as “Leave Us Leap,” “Gypsy Mood” and “Starburst.”

In the early 1950s, Finckel became the musical director of a progressive arts-based private school in Short Hill, N.J., a post he held for nearly 40 years. Finckel’s son, David, is a member of the Emerson String Quartet.