# Ralph Jungheim, a record producer, impresario, photographer, and all-around friend to jazz, dies at 89: Photo

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/02/11/ralph-jungheim-a-record-producer-impresario-photographer-and-all-around-friend-to-jazz-dies-at-89-photo/
- Published: 2019-02-11T13:24:29+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Ralph Jungheim, a record producer, impresario, photographer, and all-around friend
to jazz, passed away on Jan. 5 in Los Angeles, Calif., due to complications of a
longtime illness. He was 89.**

As an independent producer, Jungheim oversaw 58 albums for such artists as Earl 
Hines, Freddie Hubbard, Ruth Brown, Joe Pass, Michel Legrand, Jimmy Rowles, Freddy
Cole, Jimmy Witherspoon, Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All Stars, Jack Sheldon, Wild
Bill Davison and Eddie Miller, Jackie Allen, Dr. Bobby Rodriguez, Bill Berry’s Ellington
All-Stars, Charles Neville, Tommy Newsom, Mavis Rivers, James Zollar, and John Dentz.

Jungheim’s approach to production was to creatively agitate his artists, frequently
suggesting unfamiliar material or pairing them with players who were new to them.
Piano legend Earl Hines preferred playing tunes that he’d already recorded many 
times; Jungheim researched his discography and came up with a program of songs that
Hines had never previously cut for _Fatha Hines Plays Hits He Missed_ (1978). Trumpeter
Jack Sheldon’s onstage clowning was becoming better known than his playing, so Jungheim
only recorded instrumentals with him on _Playin’ It Straight_ (1981). Pianist Jimmy
Rowles was captured in combinations of trio, quartet, and quintet—all on the same
album (_Jimmy Rowles Plus 2, Plus 3, Plus 4,_ 1989). And Jungheim put Michel Legrand
in the stimulating company of Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and West Coast jazzmen
Buddy Collette and Bud Shank for _Michel Plays Legrand_ (1993).

The albums that resulted from this approach drew industry accolades. Two releases
that Jungheim produced, Joe Williams’ _Nothin’ But the Blues_ (1984) and Ruth Brown’s
_Blues on Broadway_ (1989), earned Grammys, with four more—Etta James’ _The Late
Show_ (1987), Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson’s _Blues in the Night_ (1987), _Roy Clark
and Joe Pass Play Hank Williams_ (1994), and Don Menza’s _Burnin’_ (2002)—receiving
Grammy nominations.

Born on May 19, 1929, Jungheim became a serious photographer as a teenager in his
hometown of Chicago. Jazz musicians were his subject, and the city spread a banquet
before him. He shot traditional players like Pee Wee Russell, Bud Freeman and Wild
Bill Davison; bluesmen Big Bill Broonzy and Little Brother Montgomery; modernists
like Dizzy Gillespie, Lennie Tristano, and George Shearing; and Count Basie and 
Louis Jordan at the Regal Theatre. Jungheim sold his images to _DownBeat_ (including
the first nationally published photos of singer/pianist Jeri Southern) before he
was out of his teens. His photo archive is now part of CTS Images, a popular source
for historic jazz images.

Armed with a Catholic high-school education, Jungheim went into advertising—first
writing ad copy and then overseeing projects as a creative director. He moved to
Los Angeles in 1954 to work for the Carson Roberts Agency. On radio campaigns, he
used jazz broadcasters like Chuck Niles for his voiceovers; when there was music
involved, he contracted the city’s top jazz players. Jungheim also produced a television
pilot, _Today’s Jazz_ (1973).

Record production was a natural step for Jungheim, but he didn’t take it lightly.
To sharpen his music fundamentals, he took trumpet lessons. Working hand in hand
with audio engineer John Eargle and tenor saxophonist Red Holloway (who frequently
led Jungheim’s session bands and pointed him to good players around town), he quickly
developed good instincts and learned how to navigate around difficult personalities.
To choose just one example: At his first session producing Freddie Hubbard on 1983’
s _Back to Birdland_, the trumpeter showed up without a horn. With nary a word to
Hubbard, Jungheim subsequently sent a limousine that reliably transported the trumpeter­—
with instrument—to his remaining sessions for the album.

In his later years as producer, Jungheim recorded Andy Williams, Jack Lemmon, Johnny
Paycheck, Andrea Marcovici, and Boots Randolph.

A longtime devotee of Duke Ellington’s music, Jungheim produced the great bandleader’s
1973 Sacred Concert at St. Paul the Apostle Church in West Los Angeles. Along with
Ray and Nancy Avery, Dr. Bill Hill, and others, he and his wife Celinda resuscitated
the L.A. chapter of the Duke Ellington Society in the early 1980s.

Jungheim is survived by his wife; his daughters Jill and Lisa; sons Mark and Erik
Blank; grandsons Charlie Jungheim, Troy Kassien, and Alexander Blank; and granddaughters
Samantha Jungheim, Olivia Kassien and Katherine Blank. He also leaves three brothers—
Lou, Sr., Quentin (with wife Susan), and Nick (with wife Maki)—and a sister, Dolores(
with husband Bob).

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