Raymond Burke

Raymond Burke had a long career and was considered a reliable player in his native New Orleans where he spent virtually his entire career except for a brief period in the late 1930s when he was in Kansas City. Although three of his uncles played music, Burke was entirely self-taught. He became a professional musician around 1920 and played with Blind Gilbert's band in the mid-'20s and Henry Walde's Melon Pickers the following decade. Among his many musical associations during the following decades were <a href="spotify:artist:4o2zkCpWF0zLf7NNpm7ZJM">Sharkey Bonano</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4XN705i9fhzc7C1BX2Bea5">Johnny Wiggs</a>, George Hartman, <a href="spotify:artist:1JQUVwFHCpKIdJvp3FpHHm">Wooden Joe Nicholas</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0GLjY74A6lDzGCGg2J73aq">the Dukes of Dixieland</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2SmPgpPN8GmVdFBYgsRsud">George Girard</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4LVSbS8nWTaRm6G5XKueKN">Johnny St. Cyr</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5PnZDXZlsNMwbpNe67qQix">Punch Miller</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:71590RcCsNe2F1aiRbcFiU">Kid Thomas Valentine</a>. Burke, who frequently led his own bands, was a fixture at Preservation Hall after it opened in 1960, and remained active (and a local legend) into the mid-'80s. Raymond Burke recorded some isolated titles early on (including "Solitude" in 1937) and led albums for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22NOR%22">NOR</a> (1949), <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Paramount%22">Paramount</a> (1952), <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Southland%22">Southland</a> (1953 & 1960), <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Land+O%27+Jazz%22">Land O' Jazz</a> (1975), <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22504%22">504</a> (1979), and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Smoky+Mary%22">Smoky Mary</a> (1983). Among his sidemen on those recordings were <a href="spotify:artist:1JQUVwFHCpKIdJvp3FpHHm">Wooden Joe Nicholas</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4LVSbS8nWTaRm6G5XKueKN">Johnny St. Cyr</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4XN705i9fhzc7C1BX2Bea5">Johnny Wiggs</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3wNY5E9oDx47bdaYvQQHrx">Alvin Alcorn</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0cORQgawRwAJfaRkh7nNpR">Thomas Jefferson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3sXTZGWvr5aCOoFN67yoVU">Butch Thompson</a>. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi