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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Jimmie Lunceford In Hi-Fi
Jazz - Released by CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92) on 1 Jan 1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grandes Orquestas, Billy May
Jazz - Released by Sotelysa Digital on 27 Oct 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les Grands Trompettistes De Jazz: Billy May, Vol. 1
Jazz - Released by Mpm on 1 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Band Is Born
Jazz - Released by CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92) on 1 Jan 1952
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Billy May Plays The Standards
Lounge - Released by EMI Catalogue on 1 Jan 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bill's Bag
Jazz - Released by CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92) on 21 Apr 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best Of "The Capitol Years"
Jazz - Released by CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92) on 1 Mar 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Yma Sumac Mambo! (Mono Version)
Yma Sumac, Billy May, The Rico Mambo Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Billy May's Big Fat Brass
Jazz - Released by CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92) on 12 Sep 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Big Band Bash!
Jazz - Released by CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92) on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Naughty Operetta!
Jazz - Released by CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92) on 5 Jul 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Plays For Fancy Dancin'
Jazz - Released by CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92) on 1 Jan 1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Girls And Boys On Broadway
Jazz - Released by CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92) on 17 Dec 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Trumpet of Billy May (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Master Tape Records on 4 Oct 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sorta-May
Jazz - Released by CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92) on 7 May 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Sweetest Swingin' Sounds Of No Strings
Jazz - Released by CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92) on 1 Jan 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Jazz Masters
Jazz - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 May 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Remastered Hits (All Tracks Remastered)
Lounge - Released by jjjedizionimusicali on 7 Sep 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Say It Isn't So : Dancing with Billy May
Dance - Released by Mach60 Music on 1 Feb 2016
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo