Billy May
b. 10 November 1916, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. May's first impact on the big band scene came in 1938, when he joined the trumpet section of the Charlie Barnet Band and, most notably, began contributing arrangements. Amongst his best-known charts was Barnet's hit record of the old Ray Noble song, Cherokee. In 1939, he joined Glenn Miller, bringing a previously absent vitality to the trumpet section and more fine arrangements. In 1942, he also wrote arrangements for Les Brown and Alvino Rey. The early '40s found him in great demand in radio and film studios, but he continued to write for popular bands of the day. When Capitol Records was formed, with a policy which called for the highest standards of musicianship, May was employed to write and direct for many major singing stars, including Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and Nat King Cole. During the '50s, May also began making big band albums, on which he gave full rein to his highly distinctive arranging style. Although adept at all kinds of big band music, he had a particular fondness for voicing the reed section in thirds, creating a so-called ‘slurping’ saxophone sound. Among his band's successes were arrangements of All Of Me, Lulu's Back In Town, Charmaine, When My Sugar Walks Down The Street, Lean Baby and Fat Man Boogie (the last two also his own compositions). His recording of the movie theme, The Man With The Golden Arm, made the UK Top 10 in 1956. For his studio band, May called upon such reliable sidemen as Murray McEachern, Ted Nash and Alvin Stoller. He also wrote for television, lending musical quality to series such as NAKED CITY and to the occasional commercial. More recently, he was musical director on the recording dates on which swing era music was recreated for a series of albums issued by TIME-LIFE.