Who is Burke Ingraffia?

Songwriter Burke Ingraffia has a rare lyrical gift in the Southern style of Mose Allison or Bob Dorough. A native of New Orleans, Ingraffia blends the sounds of jazz with the warmth of a folky acoustic guitar and his auspicious vocals. He has been a Kerville New Folk Finalist and has received awards from the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest in both the jazz/blues and folk categories. Burke Ingraffia’s 2020 album, Waves, received critical acclaim and features some of New Orleans’ finest musicians including Johnny Vidacovich, James Singleton, and John Gros and was produced by multi-Grammy Award winner Scott Billington (Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Professor Longhair, Bobby Rush). Read more about the story behind Waves.

Burke Ingraffia
Photo by Hassan Malik

You might find him performing his own songs in a small listening room to an attentive listening audience, or he might be in the corner of an elegant restaurant playing softly underneath the conversation.

If you’d like to see some photos from over the years, please see Photos Page.

“So much music these days tries to be either cool or ironic or transgressive or morose that we think a lot of us listen to music expecting some sort of formidable-ness. Ingraffia’s music, by contrast, disarms our expectations, gives us something kinder, more sincere and playful”

Image Journal

“It is songwriter’s songwriting”

“It (Waves) is an album for the “becoming,” the struggling, and so I can relate and am moved by the sentiments. But I don’t think that it would be such a delight, without some of the humor on the album. “

Prism Reviews

“Nearly every track offered on Waves offers a roadmap for just such tender times.”

Lilli Lewis, OffBeat Magazine

“Burke speaks to the heart in regards to relationships while wryly, dryly and humorously commenting on the topics surrounding us all as only a master songwriter can.”

John “Papa” Gros

“Something of a Renaissance Man”

Vancouver Sun

“Burke Ingraffia is an anomaly. He’s serious about what he does, but manages to keep it light.”

Lawrence Specker, Mobile Press-Register

“Velvety vocals … multi-genre versatility”

National Catholic Register

BURKE INGRAFFIA