Alan Raph (July 3, 1933 – December 8, 2023) was an American bass trombonist, composer, arranger, and conductor who founded and conducted the Danbury Brass Band. He recorded with many well-known musicians including Quincy Jones, Philip Glass, Peter Nero, John Pizzarelli and Bob Brookmeyer for television, movies, and ballet. He was for many years on first call with most New York City recording studios.

Background

Alan Raph was born in New York City to Marion McGuire and Ted Raph. His maternal grandparents were Irish. His grandfather Mathew A. McGuire was born in Ballyhaunis, Mayo, Ireland. His paternal grandparents were born in Russia and emigrated to the United States in 1893. His paternal grandfather Nachman Raffiewitz (anglicized as Nathan Raph) was Jewish, from near Nezhin, Ukraine, Russia. His father Ted was a jazz trombonist in the 1920s and 1930s. Raph married Theresa Capp on October 5, 1957. and had two children. In 1978 he married musician Mary Ann O'Connor and had a child. Raph died in a traffic incident on December 8, 2023, at the age of 90.

Education

Raph graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

with a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education. He then studied at

Teachers College Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is the graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College has been a part of Columbia University since ...

Columbia University where he received a Masters of Arts degree. He has studied privately with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

John Mehegan John Francis Mehegan (June 6, 1916 – April 3, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, lecturer and critic. Early life Mehegan was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on June 6, 1916, although he sometimes gave the year as 1920. He began playing the vio ...

, Simon Karasick, and Gabriel Masson.

Professional career

Raph was a professor at the Teachers College of Columbia University in New York City, as well as instructor and associate professor at Queens College of the City University of New York. He got his start in the 1955 when he was hired by

Les Elgart Lester Elliott Elgart (August 3, 1917 – July 29, 1995) was an American swing jazz bandleader and trumpeter. Early years Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Elgart grew up in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey with his brother Larry. They were exposed ...

, whose orchestra played dance band music. Raph was a charter member of the

American Symphony Orchestra The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York–based American orchestra founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski whose mission is to demystify orchestral music and make it accessible and affordable for all audiences. Leon Botstein is the orchestra ...

for which he played the bass trombone. He was for many years the bass trombone and tuba player on first call with most New York City recording studios. He was the editor of the ''Arban Method for Trombone'', originally written by Charles Randall and Simone Mantia, and re-published in 2013.Randall, Charles L., (Jean Baptist) Arban's Famous Method for Slide Trombone, Carl Fischer, New York, 1936 (reprinted as "Arban's Famous Method for Slide Trombone, Valve Trombone and Baritone" into the 21st century) He performed under the direction of

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

with the Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band and the Chamber Brass Players. As a freelance trombonist, Raph recorded albums with artists including

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

, Don Sebesky,

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

, the NBC Opera Company,

Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with ...

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American Jazz bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 193 ...

and his Palais Royale Orchestra, the Ballet Bolshoi Theatre,

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

and

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

. He toured with

Frankie Avalon Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American singer, actor and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including Record ...

to Bermuda. Raph also recorded music for many movies and television shows including ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

'', ''

Name That Tune ''Name That Tune'' is an American television music game show. Originally created and produced by orchestra conductor Harry Salter and his wife Roberta Semple Salter, the series features contestants competing to correctly identify songs being p ...

'', ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

'', '' The Producers'', ''

Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film directed by John Schlesinger, adapted by Waldo Salt from the 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy. The film stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with supporting roles played by Sylvia Miles, J ...

'', '' Hamburger Hill'', ''

Bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – berry (botany), botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa (genus), Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called pla ...

'', ''

Kundun ''Kundun'' is a 1997 American epic biographical film written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the life and writings of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet. Te ...

'', ''

Fog of War The fog of war is the uncertainty in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding one's own capability, adversary capability, and adversary Intent (Military), inten ...

'', '' Secret Window'', and '' Taking Lives''. He founded the Danbury Brass Band in 1983. The ensemble is composed of

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

euphonium The euphonium ( ; ; ) is a tenor- and baritone-voiced valved brass instrument. The euphonium is a member of the large family of valved bugles, along with the tuba and flugelhorn, characterised by a wide conical bore. Most instruments have thr ...

s, and

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

s. He composed and arranged many pieces for the band and continued as its music director and conductor until his death. The band has performed abroad in Australia, Bermuda, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Raph composed for the Joffrey Ballet Company. He also arranged several songs for the Broadway musical Rockabye Hamlet (1976). He was a member of

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

. Raph was known for his low range playing. He was awarded the Most Valuable Player award by the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

Compositions

Works for wind band

* ''Variations on a Theme by Handel,'' for trombone and band * ''Fantasy on a Theme by Purcell,'' for flute and band

Ballets

* ''Trinity'', premiered in 1970 by the Joffrey Ballet Company * ''Sacred Grove on Mt. Tamalpais'', premiered in 1971 by the Joffrey Ballet Company

Chamber music

* ''Burlesque,'' for trombone ensemble (ca. 1956, per the composer)

Pedagogical works

* ''Bel Canto Vocalises for Bass Trombone'' * ''Beyond Boundaries'' * ''Diversified Trombone Etudes'' * ''Arban Trombone'' * ''Melodious Etudes'' * ''Recital Pieces for Unaccompanied Trombone'' * ''The Double Valve Bass Trombone'' * ''Trombonisms''

Media

Alan Raph: trombone tips - warmups

Alan Raph: trombone tips - high notes

Alan Raph: trombone tips - Bumble Bee

Alan Raph: trombone tips - very low notes

Alan Raph: trombone tips - The Bartok glissando

Alan Raph: trombone tips - staccato & legato

Alan Raph: trombone tips - double (& triple) tonguing

Alan Raph: trombone tips - Reading jazz notation

Publications

* ''Dance Band Reading and Interpretation'', Alfred Music Publishers, 2002. 44 p., * ''"Le" Trombone'', AR Publishing Co., 1983. * ''Trombonisms'', Carl Fischer, Inc., 1983. * ''"Les" Brass'', AR Publishing Co., 1984. * ''"L" Orchestra'', AR Publishing Co., 1986.

Discography

With J. J. Johnson *'' Goodies'' (RCA Victor, 1965) With

Lee Konitz Leon "Lee" Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's ass ...

*'' Chicago 'n All That Jazz'' (Groove Merchant, 1975) With

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, pianist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing t ...

*'' Walk on the Water'' (DRG, 1980) *''The Concert Jazz Band'' With

Jerome Richardson Jerome Richardson (December 25, 1920 – June 23, 2000) was an American jazz musician and woodwind player. He is cited as playing one of the earliest jazz flute recordings with his work on the 1949 Quincy Jones arranged song "Kingfish". Caree ...

*'' Groove Merchant'' (Verve, 1968)

Bibliography

Michael Cuscuna Michael Cuscuna (September 20, 1948 – April 20, 2024) was an American jazz record producer and writer. He was the co-founder of Mosaic Records and a discographer of Blue Note Records. Biography Career Cuscuna played drums, saxophone and flute ...

, Michel Ruppli: ''The Blue Note label : a discography'', Revised and expanded edition, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2001, 913 p. * :de:Wolfgang Suppan, :de:Armin Suppan: ''Das Neue Lexikon des Blasmusikwesens'', 4. Auflage, Freiburg-Tiengen, Blasmusikverlag Schulz GmbH, 1994, * Michel Ruppli, Ed Novitsky: ''The Mercury labels : a discography'', Vol. V: record and artist indexes, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1993, 882 p. * E. Ruth Anderson: ''Contemporary American composers - A biographical dictionary'', Second edition, Boston: G. K. Hall, 1982, 578 p., * Jaques Cattell Press: ''ASCAP biographical dictionary of composers, authors and publishers'', Fourth edition, New York: R. R. Bowker, 1980, 589 p.,

References

External links

Official homepage

Conn-Selmer Artist's Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raph, Alan 1933 births 2023 deaths American jazz trombonists American male trombonists American jazz composers Musicians from New York City New York University alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Teachers College, Columbia University faculty Jazz musicians from New York (state) 21st-century trombonists American male jazz composers 21st-century American male musicians