A jazz pianist, Bushkin was a friend of Irving Goodman — Benny’s brother — and grew up among jazz musicians. He made his first recording at the age of 14, launching his career.
By 19 he was backing such jazz greats as Billie Holiday and Eddie Condon, and later played with Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra. As a songwriter, one of his early compositions was “Oh, Look at Me Now”, a hit which helped launch the career of one of Dorsey’s vocalists — a guy named Frank Sinatra. Bushkin led his own bands in the 1950s and ’60s, and mostly retired in 1971. He died November 3 at home in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 87.