Clifford R. Burwell (October 6, 1898 – October 10, 1976) was an American pianist and composer. He was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

on October 6, 1898. His most popular composition was "

Sweet Lorraine "Sweet Lorraine" is a popular song with music by Cliff Burwell and words by Mitchell Parish that was published in 1928 and has become a jazz standard. It is written in F major and has an AABA structure. A version by Teddy Wilson charted in Oct ...

," with lyrics by

Mitchell Parish Mitchell Parish (born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky; July 10, 1900 – March 31, 1993) was an American lyricist, notably as a writer of songs for stage and screen. Biography Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania, Russian Empire in July 190 ...

. He played piano in dance bands in the 1920s, including touring with the

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, ...

Orchestra. His compositions included "Swing Express to Harlem" "Going Wacky" and "Why." He became the pianist and arranger for the

Rudy Vallee Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...

band in 1928. The song "Sweet Lorraine" was introduced on the radio by Rudy Vallee in 1928. That year it was recorded by Vallee and also Johnny Johnson & his Hotel Statler Pennsylvanians. It was recorded by

Isham Jones Isham Edgar Jones (January 31, 1894 – October 19, 1956) was an American bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter. Career Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, United States, to a musical and mining family. His father, Richard Isham Jones ...

in 1932 and

Teddy Wilson Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive swing pianist", Wilson had a sophisticated, elegant style. His work was featured on the records of ma ...

in 1935 both for Brunswick. The King Cole Trio recording on Decca in 1940 established

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

as a singer.Jasen, David, ''A Century of American Popular Music'', Routledge, 2013, He played piano with the Rudy Vallee band from 1928 to 1943. He died in New Haven on October 10, 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burwell, Cliff 1898 births 1976 deaths Songwriters from Connecticut 20th-century American musicians