Ralph Earl Sutton was born in Hamburg, Missouri on November 4th 1922. His career got under way post-war (he had played with Jack Teagarden while still in college in 1942)with appearances on Rudi Blesh's "This is Jazz" show, a trio with Albert Nicholas and eight years as intermission pianist at Eddie Condon's. Later he worked for Bob Scobey and in,1963, was in the first Dick Gibson Jazz Party which was to pave the way for the formation
in 1968 of the World's Greatest Jazz Band. Sutton was a founder member.
Once wrongly identified as exclusively a ragtime pianist, Sutton is an artist of exceptional skill, originally
inspired by Fats Waller and James P.Johnson, playing impeccably with a powerful left hand and an excellent rhythmic and harmonic sense, in a broad range of styles.