13 March 1914, New York City, New York, USA. d. 2 Dec. 1998, FL.  After formal tuition on guitar and informal playing of trumpet and piano, Haggart switched to bass, on which he is self-taught.  After playing with various small-time dance bands, he came to national prominence when he joined the former members of the Ben Pollack unit who were planning their own co-operative band.  This new outfit, under the nominal leader- ship of Bob Crosby, became one of the great successes of the swing era, combining as it did the currently popular dance band music with an exhila- rating two-beat dixieland style.  Haggart's contribution to the band's success extended far beyond his pivotal role as a member of the sprightly rhythm section.  He arranged several of the band's most popular numbers, including South Rampart Street Parade and Dogtown Blues.  Haggart was co-creator, with drummer Ray Bauduc, of a tune on which he whistled sibilantly through his front teeth, and pressed the strings of his bass while Bauduc played on them with his sticks.  The unusual effect this produced created a massive hit for the duo and Big Noise From Winnetka remains one of the best-known tunes from the swing era.  In 1942 Haggart left the Crosby band, turning to studio work and arranging for many artists, including Louis Armstrong, but he retained his playing connections with former Crosby-band colleague Yank Lawson.  In the early '50s the Lawson- Haggart Jazz band became very popular; at the end of the '60s the two men again teamed up to create the World's Greatest Jazz Band.  Haggart remains a popular figure at festivals and at reunions of the Crosby band, touring the USA and Europe as band- leader and sideman and making records, including some more with Lawson. He is also responsible for at least one other jazz standard, the ballad What's New?