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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Billy May's Naughty Operetta!
Jazz - Released by Past Classics Jazz on 6 Mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nightingale
Jazz - Released by oldies and hits for future on 28 May 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Girls & Boys
Classical - Released by Strings & Things on 14 Jan 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Billy May's Bacchanalia!
Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 16 Sep 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Rhythm Is Our Business
Jazz - Released by Excess Music on 4 Jun 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown
World - Released by TP4 Music on 14 Nov 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Best Of The Stan Freberg Shows
Billy May, Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires
Humour - Released by lol on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elegant Jazz
Jazz - Released by Music Today Records on 5 Sep 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billy May's Bacchanalia!
Jazz - Released by Stage Door on 16 Sep 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cheaper Tricks
Jazz - Released by tricki masters mind on 2 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The May Parade
Jazz - Released by Turntable Recordings on 17 Jul 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo