Ruby Braff Quartet
Biographie Ruby Braff Quartet
Ruby Braff
was born Reuben Braff in Boston on March 16, 1927. A self-taught musician, he began working locally at nightclubs and parties at age 12, lying about his age, Marcus said. He earned a long engagement as a sideman with Edmond Hall at Boston's Savoy Cafe in 1949.
After moving to New York in 1953, Braff performed and recorded regularly with some of the era's best-known musicians. He rose to fame with an old-fashioned style that many of his contemporaries were leaving behind.
The popularity of more modern styles kept him out of work for long periods in the late '50s and early '60s, but Braff returned to prominence in the 1960s when he toured with the Newport All Stars, a group led by promoter and pianist George Wein, who was among his biggest boosters. He formed a quartet with guitarist George Barnes in 1973.
He was most strongly influenced by Louis Armstrong, often telling Bradley, who had been Armstrong's photographer, that "I attend Armstrong University, and that is one from which you never graduate."
Braff's more than 150 recordings included work in 1954 with Benny Goodman, whom he strongly admired, and with close friend Tony Bennett on a Rodgers and Hart album in 1973. Arbors Records in Florida issued 13 CDs of his music in the past nine years, most recently "America the Beautiful," and the company has material for another four or five albums, which will be released posthumously, according to a spokesman.
Braff moved to Cape Cod in the early '90s, most recently living in Dennisport, and frequently played local gigs, including several performances at Christine's Restaurant in West Dennis, a concert with jazz pianist Dave McKenna in 1995 that raised money to buy Christmas gifts for local children. ....
