Former Kelley professor turns music biographer

From IDS Reports

Former IU Kelley School of Business professor Thomas Hustad  recently published a 700-page book, “Born to Play: The Ruby Braff Discography and Directory of Performances,” about late jazz legend Reuben “Ruby” Braff. Hustad, professor emeritus of marketing and a past chairperson of the MBA program at the Kelley School of Business, has become Braff’s biographer and musical archivist.
 
In 1960s Edina, Minn., Hustad said he grew up listening to polka and jazz. He developed his musical tastes through the music of Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman.

Hustad saw Braff perform at a club in Toronto in 1973. He was taken with Braff’s style.
Between sets, Hustad approached Braff to compliment him.

“I said, ‘Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to tell you that you taught me taste in music,’” Hustad recalled in a press release.

The two sat down for a drink, discussed Braff’s work and parted ways.

The conversation continued in 2000, when the business professor and Braff were reunited.

Hustad heard Braff was interested in writing an autobiography.

He left a message for Mat Domber, founder of Arbors Records, Braff’s record label at the time, about working on the project.

Domber called him back. Braff remembered the conversation with Hustad 27 years prior and said he was available to talk to the professor on the phone.

A few minutes later, Hustad was assigned to write Braff’s story. 

For the next four years, the two talked jazz, the music industry and Braff’s work, which would later be catalogued in “Born to Play.”

“Ruby always kept some distance,” Hustad said. “I used the word ‘friend’ once and he said, ‘Tom, you’ve got to be really careful in using that word.’ ... It was a give-and-take. He was delighted that I was interested. I was asking questions and he was providing answers ... I was a reporter.”

In the process of researching Braff’s career, Hustad uncovered dozens of rare or previously unreleased recordings.

He began to archive the findings.

“I had the pleasure once, when he was talking about a particular performance at the Nice Jazz Festival in France, on how delightful the whole occasion was, of telling him that I had a copy of that show on a cassette, made from the audience,” Hustad said. “I sent it to him and probably for close to a month and a half in our conversations I would ask, ‘What did you think?’ He always dodged the question.

“Finally, he said, ‘I listened to it.’ I asked, ‘Why did it take so long?’ and he said, ‘Sometimes, when you have such wonderful memories, you don’t necessarily want to rush to hear the tape because it might take away your memories’... He said it was as good as he thought it was.”

Braff died of complications from emphysema in 2003.

He was well known as a member of an all-star band with George Wein, founder of the Newport Jazz Festival.

He also worked with The Weavers, a legendary folk group.

His music has been used in films, including “Billy Bathgate” with Dustin Hoffman, and “The Story of Us” with Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer.

“Ruby was an important transitional figure in jazz,” Hustad said. “He played with a number of both older and younger musicians. He represented a link between musical generations that worked to maintain melodic traditions in jazz music. ... Ruby’s artistry should not be forgotten.”

— Nona Tepper