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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZGRAY, Jerry(b Generoso Graziano, 3 July 1915, East Boston MA; d 10 August 1976, Dallas TX) Violinist, composer, arranger, bandleader. He began studying violin at age seven. He played in Artie Shaw's unsuccessful 1935 band (string quartet, rhythm section, one trumpet, one saxophone and Shaw's clarinet); then he worked as an arranger for Shaw, whose 1938 recording of Gray's arrangement of Cole Porter's 'Begin The Beguine' was a smash hit and made Shaw a star. He worked for Glenn Miller from 1939 and kept Miller's band together after his disappearance in 1944 until 1946. Miller recorded Gray's compositions 'Pennsylvania 6-5000', 'Sunset Valley Jump', 'Caribbean Clipper', 'The Spirit Is Willing' and 'String Of Pearls'; Gray's arrangements of other people's tunes for Miller included Jack Lawrence's 'Yes, My Darling Daughter', Enric Madriguera's 'Adios', Erskine Hawkins's 'Tuxedo Junction' and F.W. Meacham's 'American Patrol' (from 1885). Gray's 'Begin The Beguine' and 'String Of Pearls' are as redolent of the Swing Era as any other recordings ever made; 'Pearls' was also a chart hit (in a different arrangement) by Benny Goodman. Along with a great many other Swing Era musicians Gray moved to Hollywood and went into broadcast and studio work as the big bands went out of business. He led a band on his own radio show in the early 1950s, worked freelance and eventually joined Warner Brothers as a staff arranger in 1962. In the 1970s he led bands in clubs and studios in Texas. |