Ray Conniff

Joseph Raymond Conniff, ranný pseudonym Jay Raye (* 6. november 1916, Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA† 12. október 2002, Escondido, Kalifornia, USA) bol americký spevák, trombónista, skladateľ, kapelník, dirigent a hudobný aranžér, ktorý sa preslávil v 60. rokoch 20. storočia vďaka svojej svetoznámej speváckej skupine Ray Conniff Singers. Ide o jedného z najvýznamnejších tvorcov pôsobiacich v oblasti zborového spevu v džezovej a populárnej hudbe 50. a 60. rokov 20. storočia.

Zo života 
Na trombón ho učil hrať jeho otec, hudbu a aranžovanie sa učil sám za pomoci učebníc. Po druhej svetovej vojne, počas ktorej slúžil v Americkej armáde, sa pripojil ku jazzovému Bigbandu, ktorý viedol Artie Shaw, tu neskôr úspešne pôsobil ako aranžér. Neskôr pracoval pre Mitch Millera, ktorý bol vedúcim vyhľadávačom talentov pre nahrávaciu spoločnosť Columbia Records. Spolupracoval aj s ďalšími známymi umelcami ako boli Rosemary Clooney, Marty Robbins, Frankie Laine, Johnny Mathis, Guy Mitchell a Johnnie Ray. Veľmi významnou sa v roku 1955 stala jeho práca pre speváka Dona Cherryho. V tej dobe tvoril a vystupoval pod umeleckým pseudonymom Jay Raye (čo bol akronym vytvorený z jeho krstného a rodného mena Joseph Raymond).

Najznámejšia a najdôležitejšia etapa jeho života nastala v roku 1959, keď prvýkrát účinkovala ním zostavená a vedená spevácka skupina Ray Conniff Singers, ktorú vtedy vytvorilo 25 spevákov - 13 mužov a 12 žien.

Jeho hudba bola použitá tiež vo filme Niečo na tej Mary je z roku 1998.

Conniff bol trikrát ženatý. Z prvého manželstva (1938) s Emily Jo Ann Imhof mal syna Jamesa Lawrencea a dcéru Jo Ann Patriciu. Jeho druhá manželka (august 1947), Ann Marie Engberg, priniesla do manželstva nevlastného syna Richarda J. Biba. Dňa 2. augusta 1968 sa oženil so Verou Schmidheinovou, mali spolu dcéru Tamaru Allegru.

Dielo

Piesne 

{{Stĺpce|2|
 I Don't Love Nobody But You (1956)
 Unwanted Heart (1956)
 A Girl Without A Fella (1956)
 Please Write While Im Away (1956)
 Love Her In The Morning (1956)
 No Wedding Today (1956; pod pseudonymom Engberg)
 There 's A Place Called Heaven (1956; pod pseudonymom Engberg)
 Three Way Love (1957)
 Walkin '& amp; Whistlin  (1957)
 Grown Up Tears (1957)
 Steel Guitar Rock (1957)
 LP Dance The Bop! (1957; všetky piesne)
 Ann 's Theme (1957 pod pseudonymom Engberg)
 (If 'n' You Nechcem) Somebody Else Will (1957)
 Just A Beginner In Love (1957)
 Window Shopping (1957)
 Soliloquy Of A Fool (1957; spoluator)
 When We are All Through School (1957)
 Make It Baby (1957/58)
 Let 'Walk (1957/58)
 Lonely For A Letter (1958)
 Early Evening (Theme From The Ray Conniff Suite) (1958)
 Let 'Be Grown Up Too (1958)
 Pacific Sunset (1958)
 A Love Is Born (1959)
 Stay (1959; co-written)
 Will You Love Me (1959; spoluator)
 African Safari (1961)
 To My Love (1962)
 Just Kiddin 'Around (1963; zložil v roku 1930)
 Scarlet (1963)
 Love Has No Rules (1963)
 The Real Meaning Of Christmas (1965)
 Midsummer In Sweden (1966)
 The Power of Love (1969)
 Everybody Knows (1970)
 Someone (1970)
 Someone (1970)
 With Every Beat Of My Heart (1971)
 A Man Without A Vision (1972; spoluator s dvoma ďalšími autormi)
 Here Today And Gone Tomorrow (1973)
 Frost Festival (1973)
 Ecstasy (1974)
 Ray Conniff In Moscow (1974)
 I Need You Baby (1975)
 Theme From An X-Rated Movie (1975)
 Vera 's Theme (1976)
 Dama Latina (1977)
 The 23rd Psalm (1979)
 Exclusivamente Latino (1980)
 Fantastico (1983; spoluator)
 Supersonic (1984)
 Campeones (1985)
 The Lord 's Prayer (1985)
 I Can Do All Things (1986)
}}

 Diskografia 

'S Wonderful! (1956)
Dance the Bop! (1957)S Marvelous (1957, gold album)
S Awful Nice (1958)Concert in Rhythm, Vol.1 (1958, gold album)Broadway in Rhythm (1958)Hollywood in Rhythm (1958)It's the Talk of the Town (1959)Conniff Meets Butterfield (1959), with Billy ButterfieldChristmas with Conniff (1959, platinum album)Concert in Rhythm, Vol.2 (1959)Young at Heart (1960)Say It with Music (A Touch of Latin) (1960)Memories Are Made of This (1960, gold album)Somebody Loves Me (1961)
S Continental (1962)So Much in Love (1962, gold album)Rhapsody in Rhythm (1962)
 We Wish You a Merry Christmas (1962, platinum album)The Happy Beat of Ray Conniff, His Orchestra and Chorus (1962)Just Kiddin' Around (1962), with Billy Butterfield #85 Hot 200 You Make Me Feel So Young (1963) #73 Hot 200 Speak to Me of Love (1963) #50 Hot 200 Friendly Persuasion (1964) #141 Hot 200 Invisible Tears (1964) #23 Hot 200 Love Affair (1965) #54 Hot 200 Music From 'Mary Poppins', 'The Sound of Music', 'My Fair Lady' & Other Great Movie Themes (1965) #34 Hot 200 Here We Come A-Caroling (1965, platinum album)Happiness Is (1965) #80 Hot 200 Somewhere My Love (1966, platinum album) #3 Hot 200 
 Ray Conniff's World of Hits (1966) #78 Hot 200 En Español (The Ray Conniff Singers Sing It in Spanish) (1966) #180 Hot 200 This Is My Song and Other Great Hits (1967) #30 Hot 200 Ray Conniff's Hawaiian Album (1967) #39 Hot 200 It Must Be Him (1967, gold album) #25 Hot 200 Honey (1968, gold album) #22 Hot 200 Turn Around Look at Me (1968) #69 Hot 200 I Love How You Love Me (1969) #101 Hot 200 Ray Conniff's Greatest Hits (1969) #158 Hot 200Live Europa Tournee 1969/Concert in Stereo (1969)Jean (1969) #103 Hot 200 Concert In Stereo: Live at 'The Sahara Tahoe (1969) #177 Hot 200 Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970) #47 Hot 200 We've Only Just Begun (1970) #120 Hot 200 Love Story (1970) #98 Hot 200 Great Contemporary Instrumental Hits (1971) #177 Hot 200 I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (1971) #138 Hot 200 Love Theme from "The Godfather" (1972) #114 Hot 200 Alone Again (Naturally) (1972) #180 Hot 200 I Can See Clearly Now (1972) #165 Hot 200 Ray Conniff in Britain (1973)You Are the Sunshine of My Life (1973) #176 Hot 200 Harmony (1973) #194 Hot 200 The Way We Were (1973)"Ray Conniff Plays Carpenters" (1974)The Happy Sound of Ray Conniff (1974)Ray Conniff in Moscow (1974)Laughter in the Rain (1975)Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song (1975)Love Will Keep Us Together (1975)"Ray Conniff Plays The Beatles" (1975)I Write the Songs (1975)Live in Japan (1975)Send in the Clowns (1976)Theme from 'SWAT' and Other TV Themes (1976)After the Lovin (1976)
Exitos Latinos (1977)
Ray Conniff Plays the Bee Gees and Other Great Hits (1978)
I Will Survive (1979)
The Perfect '10' Classics (1980)
Exclusivamente Latino (1980)
Siempre Latino (1981)
The Nashville Connection (1982)
Musik für Millionen (partly produced for a German TV show in 1982)
Amor Amor (1982)
Fantastico (1983)
Supersonico (1984)
Campeones (1985)
Say You Say Me (1986)
30th Anniversary Edition (1986)
Always in My Heart (1987)
Interpreta 16 Exitos De Manuel Alejandro (1988)
Ray Conniff Plays Broadway (1990)
S Always Conniff (1991)Latinisimo (1993)40th Anniversary (1995)Live in Rio (aka Mi Historia) (1997)I Love Movies (1997)My Way (1998)
'''S Country (1999)S Christmas (1999)Do Ray Para O Rei (2000)Three volumes of "The Singles Collection"''.

Referencie

Iné projekty

Externé odkazy 
 The Ray Conniff page
 SpaceAgePop.com biography
 Ray Conniff CDs released on the Collectables label

Speváci USA
Džezoví hudobníci USA
Trombónisti USA
Hudobní skladatelia USA
Interpreti Columbia Records
Držitelia ceny Grammy
Osobnosti z Massachusetts
Dirigenti USA