Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927 – February 9, 2003) 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 ...

trumpeter and cornetist. Jack Teagarden was once asked about him on the Garry Moore television show and described Ruby as "the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

". Braff, who was of Jewish heritage, was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, United States. He was renowned for working in an idiom ultimately derived from the playing of

and

Bix Beiderbecke Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke ( ; March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical a ...

. He began playing in local clubs in the 1940s. In 1949, he was hired to play with the Edmond Hall Orchestra at the Savoy Cafe of Boston. He relocated to New York in 1953 where he was much in demand for band dates and recordings. He resided in Harwich, Massachusetts and died of complications from emphysema, heart failure, and

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...

on February 9, 2003, in

Chatham, Massachusetts Chatham () is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Chatham is located at the southeastern tip of Cape Cod and has historically been a fishing community. First settled by th ...

. He had spent a good part of his life living in the Riverdale section of

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York City.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* '' Buck Meets Ruby'' (

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

, 1954) with

Buck Clayton Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record " Confessin' that I Love You" ...

* ''Jazz at Storyville, Vol. 1 and 2'' (

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, 1955) with Pee Wee Russell * ''Ruby Braff Swings'' (Bethlehem, 1955) * ''Holiday in Braff'' (Bethlehem, 1955) * ''Ball at Bethlehem with Braff'' (

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

, 1955) * ''Braff!!'' (

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

, 1956) * ''Ruby Braff featuring Dave McKenna'' (

ABC-Paramount ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! Records, Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquire ...

, 1956) * ''Hi-Fi Salute to Bunny'' (

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

, 1957) * '' The Ruby Braff Octet with Pee Wee Russell & Bobby Henderson at Newport'' ( Verve, 1957) * ''Ruby Braff Goes 'Girl Crazy ( Warner Bros. Records, 1958) * ''Easy Now'' (RCA, 1959) * ''You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me'' (Stere-O-Craft, 1959) * ''Blowing Around The World'' (

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

, 1959) * ''The Ruby Braff Marshall Brown Sextet'' (

, 1961) * ''Very Sinatra'' (Finesse, 1982) * ''Live at the Regattabar'' ( Arbors, 1993) * ''Ruby Braff Remembers

: Being with You'' (Arbors, 1997) * ''You Can Depend on Me'' (Arbors, 1998) * ''Born to Play'' (Arbors, 1999) * ''Ruby Braff and Strings: In the Wee, Small Hours in London and New York'' (Arbors, 2000) * ''The Cape Godfather'' (Arbors, 2000) * ''Music for the Still of the Night'' (Arbors, 2001) * ''I Hear Music'' (Arbors, 2002) * ''Relaxing at the Penthouse with the John Pizzarelli Trio'' (Victoria, 2002) * ''Variety Is the Spice of Braff'' (Arbors, 2002) * ''Watch What Happens'' (Arbors, 2003) * ''You Brought a New Kind of Love'' (Arbors, 2005) * ''Controlled Nonchalance' at the Regattabar, Vol. 2'' (Arbors, 2006) * Ruby Braff And The Flying Pizzarellis: ''C'est Magnifique!'' (Arbors, 2007) * ''Little Things - Live In Dublin 1976'' ( Nagel-Heyer Records, 2007) * ''For the Last Time - Ruby Braff's Historic Final Performance With Scott Hamilton'' (Arbors, 2008) * ''Our Love is Here to Stay'' (Arbors, 2010)

With George Barnes

* ''The Ruby Braff-George Barnes Quartet'' (

Chiaroscuro In art, chiaroscuro ( , ; ) is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to ach ...

, 1974) * ''The Ruby Braff-George Barnes Quartet Salutes Rodgers and Hart'' (

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the ...

, 1974) * ''The Ruby Braff-George Barnes Quartet – Live at the New School'' (Chiaroscuro, 1974) * ''The Ruby Braff-George Barnes Quartet Plays Gershwin'' (Concord Jazz, 1974) * ''The Ruby Braff-George Barnes Quartet – To Fred Astaire with Love'' (RCA, 1975)

With Ellis Larkins

* ''2 Part Inventions in Jazz, Vol. 2'', (Vanguard, 1955) * ''The Grand Reunion'' (Chiaroscuro, 1972) * ''Ruby Braff & Ellis Larkins: The Complete Duets'' (Definitive Classics, 2006) * ''Ruby Braff and Ellis Larkins: Calling Berlin, Vols. 1 & 2'' (Arbors)

As sideman

With Larry Adler *''Larry Adler Again!'' ( Audio Fidelity, 1959) With

*'' Louis Armstrong and His Friends'' (Flying Dutchman/Amsterdam, 1970) With

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

*''Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs'' (Improv, 1976) *''Tony Bennett Sings More Great Rodgers & Hart'' (Improv, 1977) *''Tony Bennett Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook'' (Concord, 2005; reissue of Improv recordings, plus unreleased takes) ;With

*'' Jumpin' at the Woodside'' (Columbia, 1955) *'' All the Cats Join In'' (Columbia 1956) With Scott Hamilton and Dave McKenna *''Controlled Nonchalance at the Regattabar, Volume 1'' (Arbors) *''Controlled Nonchalance, Volume 2'' (Arbors) With Woody Herman *''It Had To Be Us'' (Chiaroscuro 1998) With Milt Hinton *''The Judge at His Best'' (Chiaroscuro, 2001) With Dick Hyman *''America, The Beautiful'' (Arbors) *''Ruby Braff and Dick Hyman Play Nice Tunes'' (Arbors) *''Manhattan Jazz'' ( MusicMasters) *''Music from My Fair Lady'' (Concord) *''Music from South Pacific'' (Concord) With Pee Wee Russell *''The Individualism of Pee Wee Russell'' (1952) *''A Portrait of Pee Wee'' (1958) With Ralph Sutton *''R & R'' (Chiaroscuro, 2002) *''Remembered'' (Arbors DVD) With

George Wein George Wein (October 3, 1925 – September 13, 2021) was an American jazz promoter, pianist, and producer.

*''Wein, Women and Song and More, George Wein Plays and Sings'' (Arbors) *'' George Wein & the Newport All-Stars'' (Impulse!, 1962) *''George Wein's Newport All-Stars'' (Atlantic, 1969)

References

External links

Jazz Review biography
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Braff, Ruby 1927 births 2003 deaths American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Candid Records artists Dixieland revivalist trumpeters Mainstream jazz trumpeters Red Baron Records artists Swing cornetists Swing trumpeters 20th-century American trumpeters 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American trumpeters 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Sackville Records artists Black Lion Records artists Arbors Records artists RCA Records artists United Artists Records artists Chiaroscuro Records artists Concord Records artists Vanguard Records artists Nagel-Heyer Records artists