Ruby Braff is one of the jazz icons. Although he didn’t begin recording until the early fifties, he began playing the trumpet in 1935. His qualities have been recognised over the years by musicians as disparate as Benny Goodman Willie ‘The Lion’ typical of the leaders for whom Ruby worked in his early years.
The key to Braff’s music is it’s honesty and directness. It is firmly based in melody and thus when Ruby extemporises on a theme his inventions may fleet and intricate but they are always based on logic. On the other hand, they are also fired by such a huge and very unusual imagination.
Coupled to his gorgeous tone and facile valve work they make up the components of a jazz giant. |