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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Essential Collection
Jazz - Released by Essential Collection on 15 Sep 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Nostalgic Memories-The Very Best Of Billy May-Vol. 112
Jazz - Released by RP-DSP on 3 Oct 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billy May's Big Fat Brass (Mono Version)
Jazz - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Cha Cha! (Mono Version)
Pop - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bacchanalia
Jazz - Released by Past Classics Jazz on 22 Jul 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of Billy May
Jazz - Released by Past Classics Jazz on 23 Jul 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Girls and Boys On Broadway
Jazz - Released by Ling Music Group on 7 Sep 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Big Fat Brass
Jazz - Released by West Oak Records on 19 Apr 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May
Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 1 Jan 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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By Arrangement
Jazz - Released by Jasmine Records on 30 Oct 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo