Ray Abrams (January 23, 1920 – July 1992) was an American jazz and

jump blues Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s a ...

tenor saxophonist, born Ray Abramson in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. His younger brother was jazz drummer

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. Ray Abrams first worked with Dizzy Gillespie in 1945, toured Europe with

Don Redman Donald Matthew Redman (July 29, 1900 – November 30, 1964) was an American jazz musician, arranger, bandleader, and composer. Biography Redman was born in Piedmont, Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. His father was a music teach ...

in 1946 and was with Andy Kirk in 1947. He went back and forth between Kirk and Gillespie for decades.

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All Music. Outside of his work with Gillespie he might be best known for the "Ray Abrams Big Band."Big Band database
/ref> Other bands with which he played into the early 1950s include those of

Hot Lips Page Oran Thaddeus "Hot Lips" Page (January 27, 1908 – November 5, 1954) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He was known as a scorching soloist and powerful vocalist. Page was a member of Walter Page's Blue Devils, Artie Sh ...

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, and Slim Gaillard.

Discography

As sideman

* Dizzy Gillespie, ''Odyssey 1945–1952'' (Savoy, 2002) * Dizzy Gillespie, ''Showtime at the Spotlite, 52nd Street New York City, June 1946'' (Uptown, 2008) *

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

, ''

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'' (Delmark, 1992) *

King Pleasure King Pleasure (born Clarence Beeks; March 24, 1922 – March 21, 1982) was an American jazz vocalist and an early master of vocalese, where a singer sings words to a well-known instrumental solo. Biography Born as Clarence Beeks in Oakdale, Te ...

, ''The Source'' (Prestige, 1972) *

Jimmy Scott James Victor Scott (July 17, 1925 – June 12, 2014), known professionally as Little Jimmy Scott or Jimmy Scott, was an American jazz vocalist known for his high natural contralto voice and his sensitivity on ballads and love songs. After ...

& Paul Gayten, ''Regal Records: Live in New Orleans'' (Speciality, 1991)

References

1920 births 1992 deaths Jazz tenor saxophonists 20th-century American musicians 20th-century saxophonists {{jazz-saxophonist-stub