Burns, Ralph, 1922-2001

Variant names

Hide Profile

Ralph Burns (born June 29, 1922 Newton, Mass. - died Nov. 29, 2001, Los Angeles, Calif.) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He studied at the New England Conservatory in 1938-1939 where, in his own words, he learned about jazz by transcribing arrangements from records. Burns also worked in the big band led by Charlie Barnet, who recorded his piece "The Moose" in 1943. Later in 1943 he joined Woody Herman, and played an important role in the band's rhythm section from December 1943 to mid-1945. For 15 years, Burns wrote or arranged many of the band's major hits including "Bijou", "Northwest Passage" and "Apple Honey", and on the longer work "Lady McGowan's Dream" and the three-part "Summer Sequence." The final movement of ''Summer Sequence'' became a feature for Stan Getz's tenor saxophone and helped make Getz a star. As ''Early Autumn,'' with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, it also became a favorite of many vocalists. During the 1950s Burns created songs for many singers, including Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mathis, Ray Charles, and later, Aretha Franklin and Nathalie Cole. He was responsible for the arrangement and introduction of a string orchestra on two of Ray Charles's biggest hits, "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Georgia on My Mind". In the 1990s, Burns arranged music for Mel Tormé, John Pizzarelli, Michael Feinstein, and Tony Bennett. By the early 1960s Burns was also active on Broadway, writing orchestrations for ''Funny Girl,'' ''Sweet Charity'' and other musicals. His first movie credit was Woody Allen's ''Bananas,'' but the film that established him in Hollywood was ''Cabaret,'' which he orchestrated and for which he composed new music. ''Cabaret'' reunited him with Bob Fosse, with whom he had worked on Broadway. He did three more Fosse films: ''Lenny,'' ''All That Jazz'' and ''Star 80.'' Burns won the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations in 1999 for "Fosse" and posthumously in 2002 for "Thoroughly Modern Millie," which also garnered him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations. He was inducted into the New England Jazz Hall of Fame in 2004.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Goodman, Benny, 1909-1986. Benny Goodman collection [microform] : musical arrangements performed by Goodman. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn Charlie Barnet Collection of Big Band Arrangements, 1939-1949 Library of Congress. Music Division
NCSA Jazz Ensemble. Jazz Ensemble [sound recording]
creatorOf Bluth, Don, 1937- ... Charlie [Multimédia multisupport] : mon héros / Don Bluth, réal. ; David Weiss, scénario ; Ralph Burns, comp. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
referencedIn Duke Ellington recordings collection Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library, Harvard College Library
creatorOf NCSA Jazz Ensemble. NCSA Jazz Ensemble [sound recording]. University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Semans Library
referencedIn Benny Goodman collection: musical arrangements performed by Goodman, ca. 1930- The New York Public Library. Music Division.
creatorOf Goodman, Benny, 1909-1986. [Benny Goodman collection [microform] : musical arrangements performed by Goodman]. New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf NCSA Jazz Ensemble. Jazz Ensemble [sound recording]
creatorOf Goodman, Benny, 1909-1986. The Benny Goodman papers, 1933-1982 (inclusive). Yale University, Music Library
creatorOf NCSA Jazz Ensemble. Jazz Ensemble [sound recording] University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Semans Library
referencedIn Carmen McRae Collection of Musical Arrangements and Other Materials, 1931-1993, (bulk 1950s-1970s) Library of Congress. Music Division
referencedIn Charles Mingus Collection, 1939-1979 Library of Congress. Music Division
referencedIn Cyma Rubin papers, 1969-1992, 1970-1975 The New York Public Library. Music Division.
creatorOf Lydon, Michael. Michael Lydon Collection, 1977-1997, bulk 1995-1997. Indiana University Archives of African American Music & Culture, AAAMC
creatorOf Barnet, Charlie. Charlie Barnet collection of big band arrangements, 1939-1949. Library of Congress
creatorOf Goodman, Benny, 1909-1986. The Benny Goodman papers, 1933-1982 (inclusive). Yale University, Music Library
creatorOf Bluth, Don, 1937-.... Charlie [Multimédia multisupport] : mon héros / Don Bluth, réal. ; David Weiss, scénario ; Ralph Burns, comp. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf NCSA Jazz Ensemble. Jazz Ensemble [sound recording]. University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Semans Library
referencedIn The Benny Goodman Papers, 1910-1992, inclusive Irving S. Gilmore Music Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Barnet, Charlie. person
associatedWith Dodge, Joseph Jeffers person
associatedWith Goodman, Benny, 1909- person
associatedWith Goodman, Benny, 1909-1986. person
associatedWith Lydon, Michael. person
associatedWith McRae, Carmen person
associatedWith Mingus, Charles, 1922-1979 person
associatedWith NCSA Jazz Ensemble. corporateBody
associatedWith NCSA Jazz Ensemble. corporateBody
associatedWith NCSA Jazz Ensemble. corporateBody
associatedWith Wayne, Frances person
memberOf Woody Herman big band corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Newton MA US
Los Angeles CA US
Subject
Musicians
Arrangers (Musicians)
Composers
Pianists
Occupation
Musicians
Arrangers (Musicians)
Composers
Pianists
Activity

Person

Birth 1922-06-29

Death 2001-11-21

Male

Americans

English

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g55drm

Ark ID: w6g55drm

SNAC ID: 84492251