Uan Rasey

Biography

The annals of jazz and popular music have their share of star trumpet players: Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Maynard Ferguson Harry James, Wynton Marsalis, Bunny Berigan, Al Hirt, Doc Severinsen, and Wingy Manone come to mind. But the chances are very good that, ahead of all of these renowned figures, the average music listener may well have heard the music of Uan Rasey. A trumpet virtuoso to equal all rivals, Rasey has played with everyone from Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra to the Monkees, and on film scores from An American in Paris to Chinatown. His trumpet can be heard throughout Jerry Goldsmith's score for the latter film, one of the great, classic uses of the solo instrument in the history of cinema. Rasey spent the years 1949 through 1974 working for MGM Studios, and played lead trumpet on movies like An American in Paris and West Side Story. As a recording artist, he's played with the likes of Sinatra, Crosby, Nat "King" Cole, Mel Tormé, Anita O'Day, Doris Day, the Andrews Sisters, Benny Carter, Ray Anthony, Frankie Laine, Louis Prima, Judy Garland, Ella Mae Morse, and the Monkees. Since his retirement from MGM, he continued to participate in commercial recordings.

From: International Trumpet Guild Lifetime Achievement members