Ralph Simon Sharon (September 17, 1923 – March 31, 2015) was
an Anglo-American jazz pianist and arranger.
Ralph Sharon was a Londoner, born in Bethnal Green on
September 17, 1923. His father was English and his mother American. She had
been a professional pianist, accompanying silent films. On leaving school,
Sharon worked in a factory before joining a series of professional dance bands,
including those of Ted Heath and Frank Weir. He led his own recording and
broadcasting sextet before emigrating to the US in 1953. He took American
citizenship in 1958.
Here's "Friend's Blues" from above 1958 EP
It was his devotion to jazz which prompted the move and, for the first few years, he was entirely immersed in the New York jazz world. Sharon had never even heard of Tony Bennett when the
singer invited him to
audition as his accompanist in 1957. He recalled: “I thought, 'This guy sounds
pretty good.’ At the end, he said, 'How’d you like to come with me?’ I said,
'Come with you where?’ He said, 'Everywhere!’ ”
In 1961, Sharon was responsible for introducing Bennett to I
Left My Heart in San Francisco, the song which made him an undisputed star. He
had been given the sheet music some time before, but had put it in a drawer and
forgotten it. He came across it while looking for a shirt.
hadn’t been for Ralph, Bennett observed: “I wouldn’t have that song, which has
made me welcome all over the world.” It’s success was so unexpected that it was
originally a B-side of a single.
They parted amicably in 1966, when Sharon decided to move to
Los Angeles, where he again found himself accompanying singers, among them
Nancy Wilson and Rosemary Clooney. This was not a good period for Tony Bennett.
He was involved in constant tussles with Columbia records over his choice of
material.
By the end of the decade he was without a recording contract
and increasingly out of the public eye. Eventually, with his son Danny as his
manager, Bennett’s fortunes recovered and he and Sharon were reunited in 1979.
The next two decades saw one of the most remarkable
comebacks 
in the history of popular music. By sticking to what had now become
recognised as the classic style of American song, with a strong jazz influence,
Tony Bennett attracted a new audience among all age groups. Albums such as The
Art Of Excellence (1986), a collection of songs accompanied solely by Sharon’s
piano, and MTV Unplugged (1994), which won that year’s Grammy of the Year
award, stood out in a long line of successful recordings.
in the history of popular music. By sticking to what had now become
recognised as the classic style of American song, with a strong jazz influence,
Tony Bennett attracted a new audience among all age groups. Albums such as The
Art Of Excellence (1986), a collection of songs accompanied solely by Sharon’s
piano, and MTV Unplugged (1994), which won that year’s Grammy of the Year
award, stood out in a long line of successful recordings.
“I got Tony into jazz – he’d say that himself,” Sharon told
an interviewer in 1988. “He found a whole new audience and a whole new way to
phrase and present himself. Now, he couldn’t be without it.”
Ralph Sharon retired from touring in 2002 and settled in
Boulder, Colorado. Retirement did not, however, keep him away from the piano or
from the bandstand. The already lively local jazz scene received him with open
arms and he was soon leading his own trio, commuting regularly between Boulder
and Denver.
In addition, he continued recording on his own account for
some years. Between 1995 and 2007, for instance, he made 10 albums devoted to
work of the great American songwriters. He was still performing until three
months before his death.
He died from natural causes in his home in Boulder, Colorado,
March 31, 2015. He was 91.
(Info mainly from the Telegraph obit)
