Boyd Raeburn – born October 27, 1913 in Faith, South Dakota – was a jazz bass saxophonist and bandleader. He formed his big band – named Boyd Raeburn & His Orchestra – in 1944. Now remembered for their avant-garde approach to big band, there were different phases of their career. Between 1943-45, the band had a larger brass section and performed standard arrangements without dipping too deep into the avant-garde. Between 1945-46, the arrangements became more complex and adventurous. During their last two years – 1947 to 1949 – the orchestra’s lush arrangements were more layered and added exotic instruments to the musical equation. Raeburn and his band’s commercial output consists of only 34 recordings -spread out over three labels - but they did manage to capture many performances on radio transcription discs. Their recorded output was eventually reissued on a series of compilation albums including Boy Meets Stravinski (1955), Dance Spectacular (1956), and Rhythms by Raeburn (1977). Boyd Raeburn died on August 2, 1966 of a heart attack.
