Latest Release
- 22 SEPT 2023
- 15 Songs
- ¡Olé Tormé! Mel Tormé Goes South of the Border With Billy May · 1958
- Best of the Essential Years: Billy May · 1951
- Harp with a Beat · 1957
- Grandes Orquestas, Vol. 2 · 2006
- ¡Olé Tormé! Mel Tormé Goes South of the Border With Billy May · 1958
- The Unforgettable · 1972
- The Unforgettable · 1972
- South American All Stars (Guapachando) · 2015
- The Unforgettable · 1972
- Memphis In June · 2003
Live Albums
About 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
- HOMETOWN
- Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- BORN
- 10 November 1916
- GENRE
- Jazz