Raymond Ventura (16 April 1908,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France – 29 March 1979,

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

, Spain) was a French

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 ...

pianist and bandleader. He helped popularize jazz in France in the 1930s. His nephew was singer

Sacha Distel Alexandre "Sacha" Distel (29 January 1933 – 22 July 2004) was a French singer, guitarist, songwriter and actor who had hits with a cover version of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" in 1970, which reached No 10 in the UK Charts, " Scoubidou" ...

Career

Ventura was born to a Jewish family. In 1925 he was the pianist for the Collegiate Five, which recorded as the Collegians for Columbia beginning in 1928 and for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

in the 1930s. A year later he led the band, and it became a dance orchestra resembling a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

. His sidemen included

Alix Combelle Alix Combelle (15 June 1912 – 26 February 1978 :fr:Alix Combelle) was a French swing saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. He recorded often with Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Career A native of Paris, his ...

, Philippe Brun, and Guy Paquinet. In the early 1940s he led a big band in South America and in France during the rest of the decade. One of his band's popular songs from 1936 was "Tout va très bien, Madame la Marquise" in which the Marquise is told by her servants that everything is fine at home except for a series of escalating calamities. It was seen as a metaphor for France's obliviousness to the approaching war.

Filmography

* ''

American Love ''American Love'' is the fifth studio album by American country music artist Jake Owen. It was released on July 29, 2016, through RCA Nashville. It includes the #1 single "American Country Love Song". Reception AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewi ...

'' (1931) * '' Beautiful Star'' (1938) * ''

Women of Paris ''Women of Paris'' (French: ''Femmes de Paris'') is a 1953 French comedy drama film directed by Jean Boyer and starring Michel Simon, Brigitte Auber and Henri Génès.Tsikounas p.68 Cast * Michel Simon as Professeur Charles Buisson * Brigitte ...

'' (1953) * ''

A Hundred Francs a Second ''A Hundred Francs a Second'' (French: ''Cent francs par seconde'') is a 1953 French comedy film directed by Jean Boyer and starring Henri Génès, Philippe Lemaire and Jeannette Batti.Krautz p.476 It is a spin-off from the French radio game show ...

'' (1953) * ''

Open Letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

'' (1953) * ''

Stopover in Orly ''Stopover in Orly'' (French: ''Escale à Orly'', German: ''Zwischenlandung in Paris'') is a 1955 French-West German romantic comedy crime film directed by Jean Dréville and starring Dany Robin, Dieter Borsche, Simone Renant and Heinz Rühmann. ...

'' (1955)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ventura, Ray 1908 births 1979 deaths Lycée Janson-de-Sailly alumni Musicians from Paris French jazz bandleaders French comedy musicians French people of Jewish descent 20th-century French musicians Burials at Batignolles Cemetery 20th-century French comedians