Biography
29 June 1922, Newton, Massachusetts, USA, d. 21 November 2001, Los Angeles, California, USA. After studying music at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Burns worked with several late swing-era bands, including Charlie Barnet’s, as both pianist and arranger. His best-known period was as a member of Woody Herman’s First Herd, during which time he was not only one quarter of a superb rhythm section (the others being Billy Bauer, Chubby Jackson and Dave Tough), but also arranged some of the band’s most successful numbers (in some cases formalizing classic head arrangements, like that of ‘Apple Honey’). In 1945 Burns decided to concentrate on writing and arranging, and contributed some exciting charts for Herman’s Four Brothers band. He also composed some longer works, among which are ‘Lady McGowan’s Dream’ and ‘Summer Sequence’, both recorded by Herman. When the record company decided to reissue ‘Summer...
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