Ralph Simon Sharon (September 17, 1923 – March 31, 2015) was a British-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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and arranger. He is best known for working with

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

as his pianist on numerous recordings and live performances.

Biography

Ralph Sharon was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, to a British mother and

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n-born father. Sharon's musical career began in England, where he became pianist to Ted Heath in 1946. By late 1949, he was leading the Ralph Sharon Sextet, which included

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

as percussionist. He would tour with Feldman until 1951. https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-ralph-sharon-20150412-story.html He

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in early 1954, becoming a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

citizen of the United States Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constit ...

five years later. In 1957, Ralph Sharon became pianist, arranger, and musical director for

, releasing The Beat of My Heart the same year. Sharon became Bennett's "man behind the music" for much of the next 45 years, recording Bennett's discography and touring with Bennett until his retirement in 2002. All nine of Bennett's

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s over this period were for studio recordings directed by Sharon. The song " I Left My Heart in San Francisco" was given to Bennett by Sharon, who had received the

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

from his friends, composers George C. Cory Jr. and Douglass Cross, in 1960. A year after placing the sheet music in a drawer and forgetting about it, Sharon re-discovered the manuscript by chance while packing for a tour that included San Francisco. While Bennett and Sharon liked the song, they were convinced it would only be a local hit. Instead, the tune became Bennett's

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

. Splitting up with Bennett in 1965, he spent the next 14 years working with a series of musicians, including

Robert Goulet Robert Gérard Goulet (November 26, 1933 October 30, 2007) was an American‐Canadian singer and actor of French-Canadian ancestry. Goulet was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, until age 13, and then spent his formative years in Canad ...

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccin ...

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

, and

Chris Connor Mary Jean Loutsenhizer, known professionally as Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009), was an American jazz singer. Biography Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri, to Clyde Loutsenhizer and Mabel Sh ...

. He was also a

jazz pianist Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the Musical ...

in his own right, recording a series of his own albums. He would reunite with Bennett in 1979; the two would not separate again until his retirement. On his recording of " I'll Be Home for Christmas" from the 1992 CD '' Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album,'' Bennett is heard at the end of the song exclaiming "Take me home, Ralph!" as Sharon plays the last notes of the song.YouTube.com/"I'll Be Home for Christmas"
/ref> Retiring to

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

from on-the-road work with Bennett at 78, Ralph Sharon continued to perform in the

Denver metropolitan area Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver regi ...

until shortly before his death. Tony Bennett and the Ralph Sharon Trio performed at various jazz venues, including Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. He died from natural causes on March 31, 2015.

Discography

Solo albums

*1953 ''Autumn Leaves and Spring Fever'' *1954 ''Easy Jazz'' (As The Ralph Sharon All-Star Sextet) *1956 ''The Ralph Sharon Trio'' (As The Ralph Sharon Trio) *1956 ''Mr. and Mrs. Jazz'' (With Sue Sharon) *1957 ''Around the World In Jazz'' (As The Ralph Sharon Sextet) *1958 ''2:38 A.M.'' *1963 ''Modern Innovations In Country and Western Music'' *1964 ''Do I Hear a Waltz?'' (As The Ralph Sharon Trio) *1965 ''The Tony Bennett Songbook'' (As The Ralph Sharon Trio) *1995 ''Swings the Sammy Kahn Songbook'' (As The Ralph Sharon Trio) *1996 ''Portrait of Harold: The Harold Arlen Songbook'' (As The Ralph Sharon Trio) *1997 ''Plays the Harry Warren Songbook'' (As The Ralph Sharon Trio) *1999 ''Plays the Frank Loesser Songbook'' (As The Ralph Sharon Trio) *2000 ''The Magic of Cole Porter'' (As The Ralph Sharon Trio) *2001 ''The Magic of Jerome Kern'' (As The Ralph Sharon Trio) *2001 ''The Magic of Irving Berlin'' (As The Ralph Sharon Trio) *2001 ''The Magic of George Gershwin'' (As The Ralph Sharon Trio) *2001 ''Plays the Ralph Blane Songbook'' (As The Ralph Sharon Quartet) *2007 ''Always: The Music of Irving Berlin''

As sideman

;With

*1962 '' I Left My Heart in San Francisco'' *1963 '' I Wanna Be Around'' *1964 '' When Lights Are Low'' *1986 '' The Art of Excellence'' *1987 ''

Bennett/Berlin ''Bennett/Berlin'' is an album by the American musician Tony Bennett, released in 1987. It is a tribute to Irving Berlin. Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, and George Benson guested on the album. Sony Music Distribution included the album in the 2 ...

'' *1989 '' Astoria: Portrait of the Artist'' *1992 '' Perfectly Frank'' *1992 '' Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album'' *1993 '' Steppin' Out'' *1994 '' MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett'' (Live) *1995 '' Here's To The Ladies'' *1997 '' Tony Bennett on Holiday'' *1998 '' Tony Bennett: The Playground'' *1999 '' Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool'' *2001 '' Playing with my friends: Bennett Sings The Blues'' ;With Johnny Hartman *'' Songs from the Heart'' (1955) *'' All of Me: The Debonair Mr. Hartman'' (1956)

References

External links

Obituary for Ralph Sharon

Ralph Sharon interview, part 1
an
part 2

Steve Albin's Tony Bennett Discography

Tony Bennett Grammy winning recordings
*

Allmusic Biography 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 dat ...

Dazzle Jazz Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharon, Ralph 1923 births 2015 deaths American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists American music arrangers British emigrants to the United States English jazz pianists Musicians from London 20th-century English musicians 20th-century American pianists American people of Latvian descent English people of Latvian descent 20th-century American male musicians