Jerry Gray Orchestra

Jerry Gray is surely one of the finest arrangers of the big band era. He crafted hit after hit for Glenn Miller after establishing himself as a true creative genius with the iconic arrangement of "Begin the Beguine,"
"Carioca", "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise", and "Any Old Time,"  for Artie Shaw. His Miller hits include
many of the most recognizable and memorable recordings of the era. He arranged "Elmer's Tune", "Moonlight Cocktails", and "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" among others. His compositions included "Sun Valley Jump", "The Man in the Moon", "Caribbean Clipper", "Pennsylvania 6-5000" and his most famous song, "A String of Pearls". 

Jerry's principal instrument was accordian! And, he played it occasionally with his own excellent big band in the early 1950s.




Here's a real gem. It's a live broadcast by Jerry Gray from the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago - summertime of 1951 on NBC. The Edgewater was one of the windy city's finest and a fitting setting for this fine Jerry Gray Orchestra broadcast.

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