Sonny Burke

Sonny Burke (born Joseph Francis Burke on March 22, 1914, Scranton, Pennsylvania - May 31, 1980) was a big band leader. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University.

During the 1930s and 1940s he was a big band leader in New York, including Sam Donahue's band, and during the 1940s and 1950s he worked as a band arranger for the Charlie Spivak and Jimmy Dorsey bands, among others. He is credited as co-composer of "Midnight Sun", the Lionel Hampton tune with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. He was an active arranger and bandleader in major recording studios, including Decca Records. Burke was musical director of Reprise Records and was responsible for many of Frank Sinatra's albums. He was also bandleader for recordings of leading singers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Tormé.

He died on May 31st 1980, aged 66.

Discography

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

ee also

*Black Coffee (1948 song)