Burton Franklin Bales (April 20, 1916,

Stevensville, Montana Stevensville (Salish: ɫq̓éɫmlš) is a town in Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,002 at the 2020 census. Stevensville is officially recognized as the first permanent settlement of non-indigenous peoples in the stat ...

– October 26, 1989,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

stride pianist. Bales began to play piano at age twelve, and played in hotels and nightclubs in California in the 1930s. He played regularly in San Francisco in the 1940s, with

Lu Watters Lucius Carl Watters (December 19, 1911 – November 5, 1989) was a trumpeter and bandleader of the Yerba Buena Jazz Band. Jazz critic Leonard Feather said, “The Yerba Buena band was perhaps the most vital factor in the reawakening of public int ...

's Yerba Buena Jazz Band, but was drafted in 1943 and only recorded with that group on one brief session with

Bunk Johnson Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson (December 27, 1879 – July 7, 1949) was an American prominent jazz trumpeter in New Orleans. Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although there is speculation that he may have been younger by as much as a dec ...

. He was discharged for

myopia Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...

and led his own band from 1943 to 1946 before taking an extended residency at San Francisco's 1018 Club. He played with

Turk Murphy Melvin Edward Alton "Turk" Murphy (December 16, 1915 – May 30, 1987) was an American trombonist and bandleader, who played traditional and Dixieland jazz. Biography He was born in Palermo, California, United States. Murphy served in the Navy ...

(1949–50),

Bob Scobey Robert Alexander Scobey Jr. (December 9, 1916 – June 12, 1963) was an American jazz trumpet player of traditional or Dixieland music based originally in the San Francisco area and later in Chicago, Illinois. He was born in Tucumcari, New Mex ...

, and

Marty Marsala Marty Marsala (2 April 1909 – 27 April 1975) was an American jazz trumpeter born in Chicago, perhaps best known for working from 1926-1946 with his brother Joe Marsala in a big band in New York City and Chicago. He had also toured with variou ...

, then played mostly solo between 1954 and 1966; one of his regular gigs was at Pier 23. He recorded extensively for Good Time Jazz, Arhoolie,

ABC-Paramount ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

, and

Euphonic Phonaesthetics (also spelled phonesthetics in North America) is the study of beauty and pleasantness associated with the sounds of certain words or parts of words. The term was first used in this sense, perhaps by during the mid-20th century and ...

Military service

Bales enlisted in the United States army on January 23, 1943."Index Record for Burton F Bales WWII Army Enlistment Records", (Army Serial Number 39121393), ''Fold3 by Ancestry.com website''. Retrieved November 24, 2020.

References

;Footnotes ;General references *

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

, Burt Balesat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bales, Burt 1916 births 1989 deaths People from Stevensville, Montana Jazz musicians from Montana American jazz pianists American male pianists 20th-century American pianists Pianists from San Francisco Jazz musicians from San Francisco 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Good Time Jazz Records artists United States Army soldiers