Mel Zelnick

Mel Zelnick, a jazz drummer whose career began as a boy in a Harlem drum corps and led to stints with Benny Goodman and as a session artist for Capital Records, died Thursday of a heart attack. He was 83. Zelnick's stepdaughter Loretta Alden confirmed his death. Zelnick had been in declining health since having heart bypass surgery several years ago. In an interview last year with The Daily Courier newspaper in Prescott, Zelnick recalled his start at age 9 on the streets of New York City with fellow youngsters trying to learn drum rolls in a neighborhood drum corps. Zelnick attended the Juilliard School in New York City, then was an Army Band drummer during World War II, played with Goodman in the 1950s and on recordings by Capitol studio artists such as Peggy Lee in the 1960s. He also played for Patti Page, Ray Charles and Nat King Cole.