Jimmy Raney

Jimmy Raney – born in Louisville, Kentucky on August 20, 1927 – was a jazz guitarist who is best known for his work in the Red Norvo Trio in the 1950s. His career started in 1946 when he played guitar in the Max Miller Quartet – their stint at Elmer’s in Chicago was his first paying gig. In 1948, he played with the Artie Shaw Orchestra and collaborated with Woody Herman. Other collaborations included Al Haig, Buddy DeFranco, and Bob Brookmeyer, with whom he recorded the album Jimmy Raney Featuring Bob Brookmeyer in 1956. Raney’s solo album Jimmy Raney in Three Attitudes followed in 1957. He continued to release albums in the ‘50s – including A (1958) - but issued only one album in the 1960s: Two Jims and Zoot (1964) with Jim Hall and Zoot Sims. In the late ‘60s, his career stalled due to alcoholism and other issues and he returned to Louisville. He returned to recording in the mid-1970s and became a prolific artist, releasing a stream of albums up through 1986. Raney suffered for more than three decades with Méniėre’s disease, but he continued to record and perform throughout the rest of his career. Jimmy Raney died on May 9, 1995 of heart failure.

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