Billy May
The last of the great arrangers who wrote regularly for Frank Sinatra, Billy May had several varied careers in and out of jazz. His first notable gig was as an arranger/trumpeter with Charlie Barnet (1938-1940), for whom he wrote the wah-wah-ing hit arrangement of Ray Noble's "Cherokee." Later, he worked in the same capacities for Glenn Miller (1940-1942) and Les Brown (1942) before settling into staff jobs, first at NBC studios, then at Capitol Records, where he led his own studio big band from 1951 to 1954. His arrangements for Sinatra, beginning with Come Fly With Me (1957) and ending with Trilogy (1979), are often in a walloping, brassy, even taunting swing mode, generating some of the singer's most swaggering vocals. May also did extensive scoring for television, film, and commercials. Although May was largely inactive in the '80s and '90s , he unexpectedly surfaced in 1996 with some typically bright big band charts for comic Stan Freberg's The United States of America, Vol. 2 (Rhino), 25 years after his contributions to Vol. 1. The veteran arranger died quietly at home on January 22, 2004 at the age of 87.
© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo
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100+ Jazz & Big Band Classics
Jazz - Released by Classic Music International on 30 Nov 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billy May Plays for Fancy Dancin'
Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 16 Sep 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music for Uptight Guys
Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 7 Feb 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Girls and Boys on Broadway
World - Released by TP4 Music on 6 Jan 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Green Hornet: Theme from the Television Series (Billy May) Single
Dominik Hauser, Chris Tedesco, Roy Wiegand
Soundtracks - Released by BSX Records on 5 Jul 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Deluxe Edition
Jazz - Released by deluxer 60's hits on 17 Jul 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Essential Work of
Film Soundtracks - Released by Music Manager on 1 Sep 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (Original Soundtrack) [1957]
Billy May, United Artists Studio Orchestra
Film Soundtracks - Released by Classic Soundtrack Collector on 1 Nov 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billy May’s Bacchanalia and Naughty Operetta
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by The Digital Gramophone on 15 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billy May's Naughty Operetta!
Jazz - Released by Stage Door on 1 Jan 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Three Classic Billy May Albums: Billy May's Naughty Operetta!/Billy May's Bacchanalia/Cha-Cha!
Jazz - Released by Stage Door on 8 Sep 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Lets Have A Drink
Jazz - Released by obligat music on 23 Nov 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Smooth Ballroom Tunes
Lounge - Released by Revived on 1 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anita O'day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart
Jazz - Released by Black Sheep Music on 1 Jan 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best of the Essential Years: Billy May
Jazz - Released by Xelon Entertainment on 20 Jul 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billy May's Big Fat Brass
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 12 Sep 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -