RAY BLUE

Ray Blue takes his audience on a musical ride of passion and precision, strong grooves and poetic phrasing. Raised in Peekskill, New York, Ray began playing clarinet at age 8 and added tenor saxophone and bass clarinet at age 14. Mentors like Arthur Blythe and Ornette Coleman, as well as a stint with the Sun Ra Arkestra, gave Ray the boldness to find new stories in old standards and push his originals into the universal without straying too far from the mainstream. Along the way he emerged as a triple threat: an accomplished composer, arranger, and performer on tenor and soprano saxophones.

Today, in addition to leading his own band, Cross Continental Spirit, Ray is a mainstay with Spirit of Life Ensemble. His performance history includes festivals, concerts, nightclubs, TV, documentary films and live theatre. He has recorded for Columbia and RCA, as well as several independent labels.
An educator and clinician, he performs and teaches in colleges, universities and public schools internationally.

Ray is a graduate of the University of Iowa and maintains close ties to the area. His second and third CDs were recorded live at Liars Theater in Marion. In 2006, Ray released Transvision, a collection of songs composed while traveling and meeting people around the world. Now dividing his time between New York and Berlin, Ray returns to Africa each year to perform, study and conduct workshops and is working on an American-African World Music production for a new release.
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With Dick Watson and James Culver, Jr.
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Fri Sept 19 | 7 pm
First Presbyterian Church | Marion
Free admission | Donations welcome

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