Ruby Braff

Ruby Braff
Ruby Braff
	Ruby Braff (ca. 1957)
Background information
Birth name	Reuben Braff
Born	March 16, 1927
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	February 9, 2003 (aged 75); Chatham, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres	Swing; Dixieland; Mainstream jazz
Instrument(s)	Cornet; Trumpet
Labels	Arbors
Formerly of	Edmond Hall

Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927^[1] – February 9, 2003)^[2] was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist. Jack Teagarden was once asked about him on the Garry Moore television show and described Ruby as "the Ivy League Louis Armstrong".

Braff, who was of Jewish heritage, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.^[1] He was renowned for working in an idiom ultimately derived from the playing of Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke. 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.^[1]

He resided in Harwich, Massachusetts and died of complications from emphysema, heart failure, and glaucoma on February 9, 2003, in Chatham, Massachusetts.^[3] He had spent a good part of his life living in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, New York City.^{[citation needed]}

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Buck Meets Ruby (Vanguard, 1954) with Buck Clayton
Jazz at Storyville, Vol. 1 and 2 (Savoy, 1955) with Pee Wee Russell
Ruby Braff Swings (Bethlehem, 1955)
Holiday in Braff (Bethlehem, 1955)
Ball at Bethlehem with Braff (Bethlehem, 1955)
Braff!! (Epic, 1956)
Ruby Braff featuring Dave McKenna (ABC-Paramount, 1956)
Hi-Fi Salute to Bunny (RCA Victor, 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, 1959)
The Ruby Braff Marshall Brown Sextet (United Artists, 1961)
Very Sinatra (Finesse, 1982)
Live at the Regattabar (Arbors, 1993)
Ruby Braff Remembers Louis Armstrong: 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, 1974)
The Ruby Braff-George Barnes Quartet Salutes Rodgers and Hart (Concord Jazz, 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

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

With Tony Bennett

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)