Shloimke (Sam) Beckerman
Shloimke "Sam" Beckerman was an American klezmer clarinetist; he was a contemporary of Dave Tarras and Naftule Brandwein. He was a soloist as well as a member of Paul Whiteman's Orchestra at the New York's Little Club in the 1920s. He also played for a time in Abe Schwartz's orchestra in the mid-1920s, when Naftule Brandwein left that orchestra to found his own at a competing record label. He continued to play well into the 1950s. He was a teacher to Henry Sapoznik, one of the key figures in the revival of klezmer music in the world.
An audiocassette recording of one of his performances at age 70 has recently been discovered and there is fundraising underway to remaster it and release it as a cd by Living Traditions.
His son Sidney Beckerman was a well known klezmer clarinet player in his own right and learned from his father; he taught many members of the klezmer revival and died in 2007.
