Joseph Francis "Sonny" Burke (March 22, 1914 – May 31, 1980) was an American musical arranger, composer,

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 ...

leader and producer. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University, where he had formed and led the

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 majo ...

big band known as the

Duke Ambassadors The Duke Ambassadors was a student-run jazz big band, active at Duke University from 1934-1964. Student-run big bands began again in 1969 as the Duke Stage Band and from 1971-1974 as the Duke Jazz Ensemble. From 1974 to the present, professional ...

Background

During the 1930s and 1940s, Burke was a big band arranger in

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, worked with Sam Donahue's band, and during the 1940s and 1950s worked as an arranger for the Charlie Spivak and

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peo ...

bands, among others. In 1955, he wrote, along with

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

, the songs to

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's '' Lady and the Tramp''. He also wrote songs with John Elliot for Disney's '' Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom'', which won the 1953 Oscar for Best Short Subject (Cartoons).Cotter, Bill, ''The Wonderful World of Disney Television: A Complete History'', p. 549, Hyperion, 1997. He wrote the music for number of popular songs, including " Black Coffee" and "

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", co-written with jazz vibraphonist

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. The song's lyrics were added later by

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallich ...

. Burke was an active arranger, conductor and A&R man at major Hollywood record labels, especially

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

where he worked with Charles "Bud" Dant. He also wrote and arranged the theme for the early 1960s show '' Hennesey'', a jazzy update of The Sailor's Hornpipe. Later Burke became musical director of Warner Bros. Records / Reprise Records and was responsible for many of Frank Sinatra's albums, and was producer of Sinatra's recording of " My Way" and Petula Clark's " This Is My Song" written by Charles Chaplin for his movie, '' A Countess From Hong Kong''. He was also the bandleader for recordings of leading singers such as Dinah Shore,

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, The Mills Brothers,

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, i ...

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and Billy Eckstine.

Death and interment

Burke died from cancer on May 31, 1980, in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, aged 66. He was survived by his wife Dorothy Gillis Burke and his four children, Gaylord, Peter and twins Jerry and Tom Burke. He had one sister, Rhoda Burke Andrews, mother of "Punch" Andrews, Bob Seger's longtime manager. His interment was at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City.

Discography

As leader

*''Sonny Burke plays Mambos'' (1951) *''Sonny Burke and his Orchestra I & II'' (1951) *''The Sonny Burke-Don Elliott Six'' (ca. 1960)

As sideman

With Brass Fever *'' Brass Fever'' (

Impulse! Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positiv ...

, 1975) *'' Time Is Running Out'' (Impulse!, 1976) With Dizzy Gillespie *'' Free Ride'' (

Pablo Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul. People * Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer * Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer * Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer *Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist * Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer * Pablo B ...

, 1977) – composed and arranged by

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical eleme ...

With

John Handy John Richard Handy III (born February 3, 1933) is an American jazz musician most commonly associated with the alto saxophone. He also sings and plays the tenor and baritone saxophone, saxello, clarinet, and oboe. Biography Handy was born in Da ...

*''

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival ...

'' ( ABC/Impulse, 1977) With Blue Mitchell *''

African Violet ''Streptocarpus'' sect. ''Saintpaulia'' is a section within '' Streptocarpus'' subgenus ''Streptocarpella'' consisting of about ten species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania and adjacent sou ...

'' (Impulse!, 1977)

As arranger

With Ben Sidran *'' Don't Let Go'' (Blue Thumb, 1974)

References

External links

Guide to the Sonny Burke Papers
Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Sonny 1914 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century jazz composers American jazz bandleaders American jazz composers American male jazz composers American music arrangers Brass Fever members Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City Duke University alumni Grammy Award winners Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania Musicians from Scranton, Pennsylvania Record producers from Pennsylvania Deaths from cancer in California