Ralph Burns

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Ralph Burns (Photo by Burt Goldblatt)

Ralph Burns (June 29, 1922 in Newton, Massachusetts – November 21, 2001 in Los Angeles), California) was a songwriter, bandleader, composer, conductor, arranger and pianist. He was one of the few celebrities to ever win all three major awards that are considered for acting: Oscar, Emmy and a Tony.

Ralph Burns began playing the piano as a child. In 1938, he attended the New England Conservatory of Music. He admitted that he learned the most about jazz by transcribing the works of Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington. While a student, Burns lived in Frances Wayne’s home. Wayne was already a well know big band singer and her brother Nick Jerret was a bandleader who began working with Burns. He found himself in the company of such famous performers as Nat King Cole and Art Tatum.

After Burns moved to New York in the early 1940’s, he met Charlie Barnet and the two began working together. In 1944, he joined the Woody Herman band with members Neal Hefti, Bill Harris, Flip Phillips, Cubby Jackson and Dave Tough. Together, the group developed one of the most powerful and distinctive sound. For 15 years, Burns wrote or arranged many of the bands major hits including Bijou, Northwest Passage and Apple Honey, and on the longer work Lady McGowan’s Dream and the three-part Summer Sequence.

Burns worked with numerous other musicians. Stan Getz was featured as a tenor saxophone soloist in Early Autumn, a huge hit for the band and the launching platform for Getz’s solo career. Russian Igor Stravinsky composed Ebony Concerto exclusively for the Herman band to record. Burns also worked in a small band with soloists including Bill Harris and Charlie Ventura.

The success of the Herman band provided Burns the ability to record under his own name in the 1950’s. He collaborated with Billy Strayhorn, Lee Konitz and Ben Webster to create both jazz and classical recordings. He wrote compositions for Tony Bennett and Johnny Mathis and later Aretha Franklin and Natalie Cole. Burns 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 1960’s, Burns was freed from touring as a band pianist, and began composing for Broadway including the major show Chicago, Funny Girl, No, No Nanette, and Sweet Charity. In 1971, Burns first film score was for Woody Allen’s Bananas. Burns worked with film-director Bob Fosse and in 1972 won Academy Award for Cabaret. Fosse again employed Burns to create the soundtrack for [[All That Jazz]] for which he also won an Academy Award in 1979. He later created the soundtracks for Lenny and [[Urban Cowboy]] and Martin Scorsese’s jazz-themed New York, New York. In 1982, Burns won an Academy Award for his work in Annie. Baryshnikov on Broadway in 1980 earned Burns an Emmy Award for his work. Burns won Tony Awards in 1999 for the Broadway musical Fosse and posthumously in 2002 for Thoroughly Modern Millie. In the 1990’s, Burns arranged music for Mel Tormé, John Pizzarelli and Michael Feinstein.

In 2001, Ralph Burns died from complications of a recent stroke and pneumonia. He was survived by one sister, Nancy Lane (Burns), and three brothers, Leo, Joe, and Gale.

Ralph Burns was inducted into the New England Jazz Hall of Fame in 2004.

Perpetual Motion [IMPORT] Ralph Burns & His Orchestra

Fosse; Image Entertainment DVD; Released February 5, 2002

Bananas, Movie Poster

1 Composer – filmography
2 Miscellaneous Crew – filmography
3 Soundtrack – filmography
4 Awards
5 References

[edit] Composer – filmography

This article or section contains a list of works that does not follow the Manual of Style for lists of works (often, but not always, due to being in reverse-chronological order) and may need cleanup.

All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)

Sweet Bird of Youth (1989) (TV)

Bert Rigby, You're a Fool (1989)

After the Promise (1987) (TV)

In the Mood (1987)

"Amazing Stories" (2 episodes, 1986-1987)

The 21-Inch Sun (1987) TV Episode

Magic Saturday (1986) TV Episode

The Christmas Star (1986) (TV)

Penalty Phase (1986) (TV)

Perfect (1985)

Moving Violations (1985)

The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter (1984) (TV)

Star 80 (1983)

Vacation (1983)

The Phantom of the Opera (1983) (TV)

Kiss Me Goodbye (1982)

My Favorite Year (1982)

Lights, Camera, Annie! (1982) (TV)

Pennies from Heaven (1981)

Golden Gate (1981) (TV)

Side Show (1981) (TV)

Urban Cowboy (1980)

Make Me an Offer (1980) (TV)

All That Jazz (1979)

Movie Movie (1978)

Lucky Lady (1975)

Lenny (1974)

Piaf (1974)

[edit] Miscellaneous Crew – filmography

Chicago (2002) (special thanks)

Fosse (2001) (TV) (orchestrator)

The Addams Family (1991) (additional orchestrator)

Life Stinks (1991) (dance orchestrator)

The Josephine Baker Story (1991) (TV)

In the Mood (1987) (conductor) (orchestrator)

A Chorus Line (1985) (conductor) (music arranger)

To Be or Not to Be (1983) (orchestrator)

Jinxed! (1982) (reunion scene arranger and orchestrator)

Annie (1982) (conductor) (music arranger)

History of the World: Part I (1981) (orchestrator: "The Spanish Inquisition")

Pippin: His Life and Times (1981) (TV) (music arranger)

First Family (1980) (composer: additional music) (uncredited) (conductor) (music adaptor)

Urban Cowboy (1980) (music adaptor)

Baryshnikov on Broadway (1980) (TV) (music arranger)

All That Jazz (1979) (conductor) (music arranger) (music supervisor) (uncredited)

High Anxiety (1977) (orchestrator)

The World's Greatest Lover (1977) (orchestrator)

New York, New York (1977) (conductor) (music supervisor)

Lenny (1974) (music supervisor)

Mame (1974) (musical director) (orchestrator)

Cabaret (1972) (conductor) (music arranger) (music supervisor)

Bananas (1971) (orchestrator)

Move (1970) (orchestrator)

Sweet Charity (1969) (orchestrator)

[edit] Soundtrack – filmography

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) (writer: "Early Autumn")

Star 80 (1983) (music: "OVERKILL", "OFF RAMP", "IMPROVISE", "FUNKY") (lyrics: "OVERKILL", "FUNKY")

[edit] Awards

Orchestration (win)

Fosse 1999 Tony

Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score (nom)

Annie 1982 Academy

Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score (win)

All That Jazz 1979 Academy

Best Adaptation and Original Song Score (win)

Cabaret 1972 Academy

Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction (win)

Baryshnikov on Broadway 1980 Emmy

[edit] References

New England Jazz; http://www.nejazz.org/HallofFame/results04.php

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Ralph Burns

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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[edit] Composer – filmography

[edit] Miscellaneous Crew – filmography

[edit] Soundtrack – filmography

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

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