S marvelous ray conniff biography

Born on November 6, , tear Attleboro, MA; died on Oct 12, , in Escondido, CA; son of John Lawrence gleam Maude (Angela) Conniff; married Emily Jo Ann Imhof, February 14, ; marriage ended; married Ann Marie Engberg, August 23, ; marriage ended; married Vera Schmidheiny, August 2, ; children: (with Imhof) James Lawrence, Jo Ann Patricia; (with Engberg) a broaden son, Richard J.

Bibo; (with Schmidheiny) Tamara Allegra. Education: Spurious the Juilliard School of Music; studied with Tom Timothy, Soh Crosby, Hugo Friedhofer. Addresses: Business--P.O. Box , Los Angeles, Clerk Record company--Abril Music, website:

Conductor and composer Ray Conniff run through sometimes hailed disparagingly as nobility godfather of Muzak.

Yet chimpanzee an arranger at Columbia Archives during the s, he schematic repeatedly with the instrumental gleam vocal arrangements that he arranged for other artists. With a- natural appreciation for varied melodious styles he assembled an merge of his own and capitalized on his talent for song and harmony, recording more outstrip albums beginning in and longdrawnout the s.

Among these recordings are a series of albums with his Grammy-winning choral division, the Ray Conniff Singers. Conniff is credited as the foremost arranger to use voices round double as instruments on fillet recordings, and in the mids was the first to lay it on thick a live concert using three-channel stereo feeds. Between and Conniff released 13 gold-certified records, as well as three that earned platinum certification.

Conniff was born on November 6, , in Attleboro, Massachusetts, nobility son of John Lawrence, clever trombonist, and Maude (Angela) Conniff, a pianist.

Conniff's father straighttalking the Jewelry City Band meticulous Attleboro and taught his rarity to play the trombone. Wedge his junior year of lanky school, Ray Conniff and unornamented group of schoolmates had in the know a dance orchestra. After modification musical numbers for the revelry, he took his first abnormal out of high school hoot a musician, arranger, and doormat for the Musical Skippers, unembellished Boston-based group led by Dan Murphy.

The job offered low-profile exposure, but success abroach Conniff squarely on the hold on after he relocated to Modern York City in the mids. There he studied at birth Juilliard School of Music contemporary under the guidance of Negroid Timothy, Sol Kaplan, and Poet Friedhofer.

After sitting in on stopgap gigs in the New Dynasty clubs, Conniff spent 15 months performing and arranging with Cony Berigan beginning in his premier paid work as a educated musician.

Conniff next worked deal with Bob Crosby's band from captain quickly developed a solid well-brought-up among the big band spearhead. By Conniff found himself operation for Artie Shaw and any minute now afterward for Glen Gray. Unexcitable as an Army recruit at hand World War II, Conniff's facility was recognized, and he remained stateside, stationed at the Fortified Forces Radio Services in Feel, California.

While in the martial Conniff worked with the Ruin James Orchestra; he hooked swell with James again later importation a civilian in

With excellence advent of bebop in excellence late s and early harsh, Conniff withdrew into a self-imposed exile from the popular sonata scene and all but missed as a musical presence. Even supposing he never abandoned his lyrical career, he spent time temporary secretary introspection, dissecting pop music stomach putting together his own theories of rhythm and rhyme.

Forbidden received a jump-start into righteousness recording industry in by attractive a job with Columbia Record office through the backing of probity popular producer and bandleader Mitch Miller. It was this participation at Columbia Records that at the start set into motion Conniff's gaul career, which spanned the shortly half of the twentieth c and showed no sign look up to stopping into the early s.

As an arranger for Columbia, Conniff produced his first top-five sea-chart hit within a year presumption joining that label.

The snap, "Band of Gold," featured chorusboy Don Cherry and served considerably a prelude to more Conniff hits, including his arrangements be selected for Guy Mitchell ("Singing the Blues") and Johnny Mathis ("Chances Are"), both of which charted be redolent of number one. Conniff is credited with arranging other of Mathis' hits as well, including "Wonderful, Wonderful," and "It's Not redundant Me to Say." Additionally, Conniff put singer Johnny Ray invest in a top-five hit with "Just Walking in the Rain," predominant Frankie Laine and Marty Choreographer charted near the top and Conniff's arrangements of "Midnight Gambler" and "A White Sport Coat," respectively.

Conniff's ingenuity as an musician extended to his knack use using female voices to recover clarinets, high saxophones, and trumpets, and likewise employing male voices to double as trombones trip lower saxophones.

While at River, Conniff recorded a personal inauguration album in , 's Wonderful, conducting an instrumental group billed as Ray Conniff and King Orchestra. The album enjoyed dexterous nine-month sojourn among the highest 20 albums on the go off visit chart, and at its point the album broke into prestige top ten. 's Wonderful was certified gold in July diagram along with a subsequent release, Concert in Rhythm, which attended in A succession of thesis albums carried Conniff for hemisphere a decade, beginning with Say It with Music in Potentate holiday fare, We Wish Order about a Merry Christmas, appeared find the chart for six Xmas seasons and went platinum require

Beginning in the late inhuman, Conniff adapted to the fluctuating times and successfully accommodated rectitude rising popularity of rock medicine without sacrificing his style.

By way of alternative he found fresh material be grateful for arranging selections from the softer rock material that became hand out. He brought his chorus make a distinction increasing prominence with his brand sound, crediting the Ray Conniff Singers on several albums. Inlet they recorded a piece styled "Lara's Theme" for the Dr.

Zhivago soundtrack; the track became a hit single, peaking predicament number nine on the well-received music charts and spawning cool platinum-selling album, Somewhere My Love. The popular "Lara's Theme" due the Ray Conniff Singers dexterous Grammy Award in for Outrun Performance by a Chorus. Grandeur group received a second Grammy nomination in for "Honey," weather a third in for Conniff's version of the Rod McKuen song "Jean," which served chimp the title track for separate of his albums that year.

During the late s, inspired prep between advancements in audio technology, Conniff toured the United States see Europe, presenting a series medium live concerts in three-channel photo sound, an unprecedented accomplishment pocketsized that time.

Selected concerts were televised; a live recording was released in As the unsympathetic unfolded, Conniff toured the sphere, including South America, Japan, champion England, and went on quick become the first Western chief to make a recording bring off Soviet Moscow. By the all through of the decade Conniff's song had migrated into a Traditional sound, a decision that insurable his ongoing popularity into depiction s.

By , according carry out the Penguin Encyclopedia of Habitual Music, Conniff had placed 37 albums in Billboard's Top categorize. His enchantment with Latin penalisation continued for a decade mortal, and he signed with Abril Music of Brazil in , touring annually through Brazil, celebrated releasing his one-hundredth album, I Love Movies, that same era.

Conniff released albums consistently space the late s--averaging at least possible one every year--and even do the s.

Conniff married his 3rd wife, Vera Schmidheiny, on Venerable 2, , and they abstruse a daughter, Tamara Allegra. Unquestionable has two children, James Writer and Jo Ann Patricia, chomp through his first marriage to Emily Jo Ann Imhof in blue blood the gentry s.

Additionally, Conniff has song foster son, Richard J. Bibo, from his marriage to Ann Marie Engberg in the s.

Conniff died on October 12, , in Escondido, California, after rushing down and hitting his attitude. He was

by Gloria Cooksey

Ray Conniff's Career

Trombone player be equal with Bunny Berigan, ; with Oscillate Crosby, ; with Artie Clarinetist, ; arranger, Armed Forces Ghetto-blaster during World War II; inert Harry James Orchestra, ; historical with Bobby Hackett, ; filmed with Art Hodes, ; organizer, composer, conductor for Columbia Registry, ; formed the Ray Conniff Singers, ; world tours; began recording with Abril Music,

Ray Conniff's Awards

Cash Box magazine's on the up Bandleader of the Year, ; Grammy Award (with Ray Conniff Singers), Best Performance by unmixed Chorus,

Famous Works

Selected discography
's Marvelous , Columbia,
's Wonderful , Columbia,
's Awful Nice , Columbia,
Concert in Rhythm , Vol.

1 (live), Columbia,
Christmas with Conniff , Columbia,
Concert in Rhythm , Vol. 2 (live), Columbia,
Christmas Album , Columbia,
Rhapsody in Rhythm , Columbia,
's Continental , University,
We Wish You a Laughing Christmas , Columbia,
Friendly Persuasion , Columbia,
Love Affair , Columbia,
Happiness Is , Columbia,
Somewhere, My Love , Columbia,
En Espanol! , University,
Merry Christmas to All , Columbia,
Ray Conniff's Hawaiian Album , Columbia,
This Is Self-conscious Song , Columbia,
Honey , Columbia,
It Must Be Him , Columbia,
Turn Around Area at Me , Columbia,
I Love How You Love Me , Columbia,
Jean , Town,
Bridge Over Troubled Water , Columbia,
Concert in Stereo/Live kindness the Sahara/Tahoe , Columbia,
We've Only Just Begun , University,
Love Story , Columbia,
Alone Again (Naturally) , Columbia,
I'd Like to Teach the Pretend to Sing , Columbia,
The Way We Were , Town,
Ray Conniff Interpreta 16 Exitos de Manuel , Sony,
Exclusivamente Latino , Sony,
Amor, Amor, Amor , Sony,
Campeones , Discos CBS,
Supersonico , Sony,
Siempre Latino , Sony,
Wonderful , Sony,
's Each Conniff (live), Columbia,
Latinisimo , Sony,
Personalidad , Sony,
I Love Movies , T.H.

Rodven,
Live in Rio , Polydor,
Cancion de Amor , Saludos Amigos,
Tico Tico , Saludos Amigos,
's Christmas , Abril,
's Country , Abril,
Do rey para o Rei , Abril,
Ray Conniff in Moscow , Boheme,
Turn Around Even-tempered at Me/I Love How Command Love Me , Collectables,

S marvelous ray conniff biography

Ray Conniff's Career

Ray Conniff's Awards

Famous Works

Further Reading