Billy May: Biography

Billy May
Birth Name:
Edward William May Jr.

Born:
Nov 10, 1916 in Pittsburgh, PA

Died:
Jan 22, 2004 in San Juan Capistrano, CA

Genres:
Music, Jazz Music, Big Band Jazz Music, Classical Music, Swing

Decades Active:
1940's|1950's|1960's|1970's|1990's


Artistic Quality
High
Cultural Impact
High
Popularity
High



The last survivor of the club of great arrangers who wrote regularly for Frank Sinatra, Billy May has 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 has also done extensive scoring for television, film, and commercials. Although May has been reticent in recent years, 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.

- Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide

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