London, England

September 17, 1923

Ralph Sharon made his professional debut with Ted Heath in 1946, then moved on to Frank Weir's orchestra before leading his own sextet. He moved to the U.S. in 1953, where he initially worked as an accompanist to Chris Connor. In 1957, he became musical director and pianist for Tony Bennett. He acquired American citizenship in 1958. In 1965, he and Bennett split up, but they got back together in 1979 and played together in the following years. Sharon also led various groups and made many recordings as a leader. He died in March 2015 at his home in Boulder, Colorado at the age of 91. ~ William Ruhlmann