Primary Instrument: Sax, tenor
In addition to regular headline slots at ‘Ronnie’s’, Ray has also performed throughout the UK, Europe, USA, Canada and Brazil at prestigious venues, festivals and events such as The Blue Note (NYC), Edinburgh Festival, VE Day celebrations in Trafalgar Square, Proms In The Park, Montreal Jazz Festival, Sir Paul McCartney’s wedding, The Ritz London for HM The Queen and opened for Robbie Williams at The Royal Albert Hall. Recently Ray headlined the 1940’s Torch Club at the inaugural Vintage At Goodwood Festival held in August 2010. His multiple award nominations include BBC Radio 2 Jazz Awards, Jazz Artist Of The Year, Best Of Jazz, BBC Radio 2 ‘Heart Of Jazz’ Award. In 2007 Ray won Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Award for ‘Best UK Small Band’. Gelato has performed live with his band on TV shows such as Strictly Dance Fever, ITV’s This Morning, TOTP2 , The Terry & Gaby Show and BBC News. Ray's songs have made many TV and movie appearances including Enigma, Scandal, Inventing The Abbotts, The Perfect Man, Levi’s Dockers commercial, No Reservations and most recently his version of ' If You Were The Only Girl In The World' was featured in the US TV series ‘Hung’. Ray’s first musical influences stemmed from his father, a US airman, living in London. Ray's dad had a huge collection of records by artists such as Sammy Davis, Dean Martin and Bill Haley. Later Ray discovered the sounds of Louis Jordan and Louis Prima, who would become huge influences on his music. On taking up tenor sax as a teenager, Ray was introduced to such sax greats as, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet, Ben Webster etc. Around this time, Ray would ask to sit in with any live band that would let him! It was then that he realised that music was to be his life. Now considered by many to be one of the last in a long line of classic jazz entertainers and a true showman, Ray’s live repertoire includes a mixture of classic swingin’ standards from ‘the greats’ mixed with original self- RAY GELATO GIANTS ” 13 DATE RESIDENCY AT RONNIE SCOTT’S Dates: Mon 13th - Sat 18th December 2010 Mon 20th - Thu 23rd December 2010 Wed 29th - Fri 31st December 2010 Venue: Ronnie Scott’s 47 Frith Street London W1D 4HT Tel: 0207 439 0747 Times: Monday to Thursday: Doors open 6:00pm Friday and Saturday: Doors open 6pm and 10:30pm Sunday: Doors open 6.30pm Ticket prices: £25 - £41.50 (31st Dec call for details) Ticket Sales: http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/ penned songs which have become audience favourites such as ‘A Pizza You’ and ‘Mambo Gelato’. The Times newspaper got it spot on when they wrote, “Gelato evokes an era when musicians understood that the point of jazz was not to keep the public at a polite distance” Ray also combines his love of music and food with a cookery book that features his favourite recipes that he has picked up on his travels. ‘Cooking With Ray’ comes with 7 track CD of Ray Gelato’s music to cook by and the end of 2010 will add another string to the front man’s bow with the launch of a ‘Cooking With Ray’ YouTube channel! In addition, Ray is currently working with American singer Kai Hoffman on a brand new album of classic vocal duets called ‘Hey Boy! Hey Girl!’. Due for release in 2011, the album will be showcased with a new touring show in theatres across the UK.
Awards:
His multiple award nominations include BBC Radio 2 Jazz Awards, Jazz Artist Of The Year, Best Of Jazz, BBC Radio 2 ‘Heart Of Jazz’ Award. In 2007 Ray won Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Award for ‘Best UK Small Band’.A swingin' collection of classic , jumpin' songs and originals. Ray pays tribute to his musical heroes on this fantastic new 14 track album. This one is a must have!
Hey There
A great live in the studio recording from Ray and the band, including Mambo Italiano and many other classic tunes and original songs!
Live DVD: At Umbria Jazz
All of the excitement of Ray's show captured in front of thousands of Italian fans at the world famous Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy! See some samples on the Multimedia page! (This DVD will play on any DVD player, but your TV must be NTSC compatible to view picture correctly. Most modern televisions are NTSC compatible, but check before ordering.)
Ray Gelato
Studio album packed with favourites from the live show, also including Ray's very own "Pizza You" and his humorous look at today's celebrity culture in "The Celebrity Club". This album is currently not available for download, only on CD.
Smokin'
Now deleted, the tracks from this studio album can all be found on the "Ray Gelato" album, apart from the 6 tracks listed here : Forget About Livin'
Recipe For Makin' Love I Only Have Eyes For You After You've Gone Sophisticated Lady You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You exclusively available for download on iTunes
The Ice Cream Man
Compilation album covering Ray's selection of favourite tracks from 1985 - 2000, plus the exclusive bonus track "Winter Wonderland".
Gelato Dal Vivo - Live in Italy
Recorded live on a hot summer's night in Italy, this show is really swinging!
The Men From Uncle
The first Double Scoop Records release, from 1998, no less than 17 tracks of great swinging sounds from Ray and the Giants!
The Chevalier Brothers - Live and Still Jumping
Way back in the early 1980's, Ray's band 'The Chevalier Brothers' were the kings of the London club circuit. Hear what all the fuss was about on this live recording from 1985 of raw, jumping, crazy tunes!
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