Ruby Braff

One of the foremost cornetists in swing and Dixieland, Ruby Braff endured extended stretches without steady employment because his approach was viewed as outdated, yet his prospects brightened once the 1970s arrived. An intensely lyrical stylist, he later developed a preference for shaping solos that resolved on a low note, rendering his sound immediately identifiable.

Most of his activity in the late 1940s remained centered in Boston. He joined forces with Pee Wee Russell during the clarinetist’s resurgence, producing a live Savoy session, and after settling in New York in 1953 he moved comfortably among varied Dixieland and mainstream contexts. Braff led dates for Vanguard and recorded with Vic Dickenson, Buck Clayton, and Urbie Green. He stood out among the principal soloists on Buck Clayton’s Columbia jam sessions and, in the mid-1950s, performed alongside Benny Goodman. Even so, favorable notices and intermittent sessions did not always translate into regular work. During the 1960s he obtained engagements through George Wein’s Newport All-Stars and at jazz festivals, yet lasting security came only after he organized a quartet with guitarist George Barnes in 1973. Thereafter he worked in numerous small-group formats, including duets with Dick Hyman and Ellis Larkins (whom he had first encountered in the 1950s), quintets featuring Scott Hamilton, and exchanges with Howard Alden. He stayed among the leading voices of mainstream jazz until his death in 2003.