Boyd Albert Raeburn (October 27, 1913 – August 2, 1966) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bandleader and bass saxophonist.

Career

He was born in Faith, South Dakota, United States. Raeburn attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where he led a campus band. He gained his earliest experience as a commercial bandleader at Chicago's World Fair (1933–1934). For the rest of the decade, he worked in dance bands, sometimes leading them. In the next decade, the group passed through swing before becoming identified with the bop school. His later

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

, which was active c. 1944-1947, performed arrangements that were often comparable to those used by Woody Herman and the "progressive jazz" of

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...

during the same period. The compositions arranged by

George Handy George Handy (born George Joseph Hendleman) (January 17, 1920 – January 8, 1997) was an American jazz arranger, composer and pianist whose musical beginnings were fostered under the tutelage of composer Aaron Copland. While he had an impressiv ...

were the most contemporary, utilizing dissonance somewhat in the manner of

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

. Johnny Richards joined in 1947, following Handy and stayed for a year writing 50 compositions.

Later life and death

Raeburn's second wife was the singer Ginny Powell, for whom he wrote "Rip Van Winkle". The couple married in 1946, and had two children. As well as singing with her husband's group, Powell also sang with

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...

and Gene Krupa. Raeburn left music in the mid-1950s. Powell died in Nassau in the Bahamas in 1959 from meningitis; the couple had moved there. He settled in New Orleans and ran a furniture store. Raeburn died from a heart attack in 1966 in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette ( , ) is the most populous city in and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Lafayette Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River (Louisiana), Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's List of municipaliti ...

, aged 52. Boyd Raeburn's first wife was Lorraine Anderson, with whom he had one child; the union ended in divorce. His son with Powell, Bruce Boyd Raeburn of New Orleans, was the curator of the William Ransom Hogan Archive of New Orleans Jazz at the

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

until December 2017.

Discography

* ''Boyd Meets Stravinski'' (Savoy, 1955) * ''Man with the Horns'' (Savoy, 1955) * ''Dance Spectacular'' (Columbia, 1956) * ''Fraternity Rush'' (Columbia, 1957) * ''On the Air Vol. 1'' (Hep, 1974) * ''Rhythms by Raeburn'' (Aircheck, 1977) * ''Experiments in Big Band Jazz 1945'' (Musicraft, 1980)

References

External links

"Changing Personalities: Eastman Chamber Jazz Explores the Music of Boyd Raeburn"
November 8, 2016.
Boyd Raeburn biography
parabrisas.com; accessed February 8, 2018.
Boyd Raeburn music collection
Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University
"A Band leader you'd be?"
by Boyd Raeburn, Band Leaders, November, 1945 (Starts on page 24). 1913 births 1966 deaths American jazz bandleaders American jazz saxophonists Jazz bass saxophonists People from Faith, South Dakota Savoy Records artists 20th-century American saxophonists Columbia Records artists Musicraft Records artists Hep Records artists {{US-jazz-musician-stub Jazz musicians from South Dakota