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 Big Fat Brass
Jazz - Released by Past Classics on 12 Sep 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Naugthy Operetta!
Jazz - Released by Vintage Music on 1 Oct 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Highlights of Billy May
Pop - Released by Weishaupt Music & Entertainment on 29 Mar 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best Big Bands - Jazz Classics from the 1950s, Vol.9
Jazz - Released by Documents on 23 Dec 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arthur Murray Favorites Mambos (Mono Version)
The Rico Mambo Orchestra, Billy May
World - Released by BNF Collection on 22 Jan 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Cha-Cha!
Latin America - Released by Vintage Music on 10 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Come Dance With Me!
Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 12 Sep 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anita O'Day & Billy May Swing Rodgers & Hart
Vocal Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 1 Jan 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Big Band Classics
Les Brown, Billy May, Billy May & His Orchestra
Pop - Released by Intersound on 30 Sep 2002
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Big Band Bash! (Billy May)
Jazz - Released by Past Classics Jazz on 22 Jul 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cherokeely Swings (Remastered)
Vocal Jazz - Released by Vintage Cellar on 1 Jan 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billy May's Big Fat Brass
Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 12 Sep 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Theme from "The Threepenny Opera" (Moritat) (UK Chart Top 40 - No. 12)
Pop - Released by Music Manager on 25 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Sweetest Swingin' Sounds of No Strings
World - Released by TP4 Music on 6 Jan 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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In a Dressing Room
Jazz - Released by dressing room on 3 Feb 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Main Title Theme From 'Man with the Golden Arm'
Jazz - Released by Black Sheep Music on 1 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo