Ray Perry

Ray Perry (February 25, 1915 - 1950) was an American jazz violinist and saxophonist.

Perry was born in 1915 to a musical family and began playing the violin at a young age, while his brothers Joe and Bay became a baritonist and drummer, respectively. Perry sang during his violin solos, inspiring Slam Stewart to continue the practice on bass. [cite web
first=Scott
last=Yanow
url=http://allmusic.com/
title=AllMusic (search on "Ray Perry")
accessdate=2007-02-23] He performed more frequently on alto saxophone.

He worked bread and butter gigs with the best in the business, including Dean Earl (1935), Clarence Carter (1937-39), Blanche Calloway (1940), and Lionel Hampton (1940-43). Despite his short career, Ray Perry worked with many jazz artists, including:

*Shadow Wilson
*Illinois Jacquet (1946-47, 1950)
*Vernon Alley
*J. C. Heard (1946)
*Joe Newman
*Fred Beckett
*Sabby Lewis (1948)
*Sir Charles Thompson
*Irving Ashby

Many of his records failed to gain a prominent following, but he was very successful until poor health prevented him from touring. Two of Perry's albums remain popular - "Jumpin' Jacquet" and "50 Sublimes Chanteurs de Jazz". Some of his more famous songs are "Flyin' Home", "How High the Moon", "Love is the Thing", "Boog It", and "I Want a Little Girl".

Recently his music has enjoyed a renewed popularity, and his records are available on CDs. He died relatively young at age 35, a fact that has substantially affected the memory of his recording career.

References