Willie Ruff

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Willie Henry Ruff Jr. (born September 1, 1931 in Sheffield , Alabama ) is an American jazz musician ( French horn , double bass ) and composer who built up the jazz program at Yale University as a university teacher .

Live and act

Ruff learned French horn during his military service at Lockbourne Air Force Base near Columbus, Ohio . He graduated from Yale University in 1954, where he a. a. studied with Paul Hindemith , and played with Benny Goodman during his studies . In 1955 he worked for Lionel Hampton , eventually formed the Mitchell-Ruff Duo with the pianist Dwike Mitchell and was one of the founders of the WC Handy Music Festival . The bass-piano duo Mitchell / Ruff went on worldwide tours and was one of the first modern jazz formations from the USA to give a concert at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. In addition to recordings under his own name in a duo / trio with Mitchell, he worked as a horn player on Gil Evans ' debut album Gil Evans and Ten and the Evans / Miles Davis productions Miles Ahead (1957) and Porgy and Bess (1958).

In the early 1960s, drummer Charlie Smith joined Mitchell and Ruff, later replaced by Helcio Milito. The formation played in New York's Hickory House in 1966 and accompanied US President Lyndon B. Johnson on a trip to Mexico. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Ruff also worked as a horn player on recordings of Milt Jackson ( Big Bags , 1962), Beaver Harris ( 360 ° Experience - A Well-Kept Secret , 1980), Bobby Hutcherson ( Head On , 1971), the Jazz Composer's Orchestra (1964), Quincy Jones / Roland Kirk , Blue Mitchell ( Smooth as the Wind , 1961), Jimmy Smith , Sonny Stitt ( Top Brass , 1962), Lucky Thompson ( Lucky Meets Tommy , 1965), McCoy Tyner ( 1973) with. In 1968 he wrote the music for the short film Prelude . As a bass player he was also involved in the Doors album Other Voices (1971) on the song "Ships w / Sails".

Since 1971 Ruff was on the faculty of the Yale School of Music, where he taught music history, ethnomusicology and arrangement and in 1972 established the Duke Ellington Fellowship Program . In 1976/77 he was visiting professor at Duke University , where he coordinated the jazz program and headed the Duke Jazz Ensemble .

In addition to his teaching activities, he took up 1970/71 with Dwight Michell and Dizzy Gillespie ; In 1979 he toured China with Mitchell. In 1981 his composition Harmonices Mundi , which refers to the mathematician and music theorist Johannes Kepler , was recorded. In 1983 he appeared as a soloist in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice . In 1994 he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame .

In 1992, Ruff published his memoirs on Viking Press under the title A Call to Assembly , which won the Deems Taylor ASCAP Award.

Discographic notes

  • The Mitchell-Ruff Duo Plus Strings And Brass ( Roulette , 1958) with Julius Baker, (oboe), Milt Hinton , Elvin Jones
  • The Catbird Seat (Atlantic, 1961) Dwike Mitchell, Willie Ruff, Charlie Smith
  • After This Message (Atlantic, 1965) with Dwike Mitchell, Willie Ruff, Helcio Milito
  • The Smooth Side of Ruff (Columbia, 1968)
  • Strayhorn: A Mitchell-Ruff Interpretation (Kepler)
  • Dizzy Gillespie & The Mitchell-Ruff Duo, Vol. 1 (Black-Hawk / Kepler, 1971)
  • Breaking the Silence - The Mitchell-Ruff Duo (Kepler)
  • Virtuoso Elegance in Jazz - The Mitchell Ruff Duo (Kepler)

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Ruff, Willie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ruff, Willie Henry Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician, composer and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Sheffield, Alabama