Ruby Braff
Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927 – February 9, 2003) 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.
Ruby Braff
- Name
- Ruby Braff
- Birth Name
- Reuben Braff
- Born
- 16 March 1927
- Died
- 9 February 2003
- Place of death
- Chatham, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- trumpeter · musician
- Fields
- jazz
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927 – February 9, 2003) 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.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q359988 · wikipedia · Ruby Braff
In this article
Biography
Biography
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. He resided in Harwich, Massachusetts and died of complications from emphysema, heart failure, and glaucoma on February 9, 2003, in Chatham, Massachusetts. He had spent a good part of his life living in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, New York City.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ruby Braff • Birth Name — Reuben Braff • Born — 16 March 1927 • Died — 9 February 2003 • Origin — Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. • Place of death — Chatham, Massachusetts, U.S. • Instrument — Cornet Trumpet • Genre — Swing Dixieland Mainstream jazz • Label — Arbors • Past Member Of — Edmond Hall
As leader/co-leader
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
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
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
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) • With Buck Clayton • 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 • 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)
Identity
Identity
Ruby Braff is recorded with the occupation jazz musician. Recorded as a citizen of United States. Classed in the genre jazz.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2003
Ruby Braff died on 9 February 2003.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Ruby Braff was born at Boston.
Birthplace
Boston.
Birth place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Ruby Braff”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q359988: Ruby Braff
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Colin Larkin. The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz. Guinness Publishing. 57/8. 1992. 0-85112-580-8.
- 2.Obituary: Ruby Braff. The Guardian. 12 February 2003.
- 3.Ruby Braff. The Independent. 11 February 2003.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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