Editing Ray Nance

{{Short description|American jazz trumpeter, violinist and singer (1913–1976)}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name                = Ray Nance
| image               = Ray Nance (Gottlieb 06521).jpg
| caption             = 
| birth_name          = Ray Willis Nance
| alias               = 
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1913|12|10}}
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1976|1|28|1913|12|10}}
| birth_place         = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| instrument          = [[Trumpet]], [[violin]], [[vocals]]
| genre               = [[Jazz]]
| occupation          = Musician
| years_active        = 
| label               = 
| past_member_of      = [[Duke Ellington]]
| website             = 
}}

'''Ray Willis Nance''' (December 10, 1913 – January 28, 1976)<ref name="LarkinJazz">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-580-8|page=300}}</ref> was an American [[jazz]] [[trumpeter]], [[violin]]ist and singer. He is best remembered for his long association with [[Duke Ellington]] and his orchestra.

== Early years ==
Nance was born in [[Chicago]] on December 10, 1913. He started playing the violin at the age of 9 and was so proficient by the time he was 14 that he enrolled at the Chicago College of Music. In high school, he taught himself trumpet because “I wanted to hear myself on a louder instrument in way I couldn't do with a violin in an orchestra.” He was the leader of his own band in Chicago from 1932 to 1937.<ref name="LarkinJazz" /> An ad in a June 1933 prom book at the Edgewater Beach Hotel for the Staples Cafe, 6344 N. Broadway, Chicago shows "Ray Nance and His Ebony Aces." Then, he worked with [[Earl Hines]] from 1937 to 1939; and from 1939 to 1940 he worked with [[Horace Henderson]].<ref name="LarkinJazz" />

== Ellington tenure ==

Ellington hired Nance to replace trumpeter [[Cootie Williams]], who had joined [[Benny Goodman]], in 1940.<ref name="LarkinJazz" /> Nance's first recorded performance with Ellington was at the [[Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live|Fargo, North Dakota ballroom dance]].<ref name="allmusic7209">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ray-nance-p7209/biography |title=Ray Nance &#124; Biography, Albums, & Streaming Radio |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=May 5, 2016}}</ref> Shortly after joining the band, Nance was given the trumpet solo on the earliest recorded version of "[[Take the "A" Train]]", which became the Ellington theme.<ref name="LarkinJazz" /> Nance's "A Train" solo is one of the most copied and admired trumpet solos in jazz history. Indeed, when Cootie Williams returned to the band more than twenty years later, he would play Nance's solo on "A Train" almost exactly as the original.
[[File:Ray Nance 1943.jpg|thumb|upright|Nance in Duke Ellington's orchestra, 1943]]
Nance was often featured on violin, and was the only violin soloist ever featured in Ellington's orchestra (especially noteworthy is his violin contribution to the original 1942 version of "The 'C' Jam Blues"). He is also one of the better known male vocalists associated with Ellington's orchestra. On later recordings of "[[It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)]]", Nance took the previously instrumental horn riff into the lead vocal, which constitute the line "Doo wha, doo wha, doo wha, doo wha, yeah!"  He was often featured as vocalist on "Jump for Joy," "[[Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin']]" and "[[Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me)]]". His multiple talents (trumpet, violin, vocals and also dancing) earned him the nickname "Floorshow".

Nance was absent from the Duke Ellington Orchestra for three or four months in 1946, including the date of that year's Carnegie Hall concert.  In 1949, Nance participated, along with Ellington sidemen [[Russell Procope]], [[Johnny Hodges]] and [[Sonny Greer]] on several [[Ivory Joe Hunter]] sessions, for King Records of Cincinnati.

== Post-Ellington years ==
He left Ellington in 1963 during their Middle East tour after having played alongside his returned predecessor Cootie Williams for a year. He continued to make several guest appearances in the orchestra over the years and later toured and recorded in [[England]] in 1974.<ref name="allmusic7209" />

Nance made a few recordings as a bandleader, and also recorded or performed with [[Earl Hines]], [[Rosemary Clooney]], [[Jaki Byard]], [[Chico Hamilton]] and others.<ref name="allmusic7209" />

== Discography ==
=== As leader ===
* ''Ellingtonia'' (Wynne, 1959)
* ''A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing '' ([[Parker Records]], 1959)
* ''[[Body and Soul (Ray Nance album)|Body and Soul]]'' ([[Solid State Records (jazz label)|Solid State]], 1970)
* ''Huffin' 'n'  Puffin' '' ([[MPS Records|MPS]], 1974)

=== As sideman ===
'''With [[Ahmed Abdul-Malik]]'''
* ''[[Spellbound (Ahmed Abdul-Malik album)|Spellbound]]'' (Status, 1964)
'''With [[Jaki Byard]]'''
*''[[Jaki Byard with Strings!]]'' (Prestige, 1968)
'''With [[Duke Ellington]]'''
* ''[[Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live|The Duke at Fargo, 1940: Special 60th Anniversary Edition]]'' ([[Storyville Records|Storyville]], 1940 performance)
* ''Duke Ellington and His Great Vocalists'' (Sony, c. 1940s)
* ''Cabin in the Sky Soundtrack'' ([[Rhino Records|Rhino]], 1942 performance)
* ''Indispensable Duke Ellington, Vol. 11–12 (1944–1946)'' (RCA, 1944–1946 performances) or ''The Best of the Complete Duke Ellington RCA Recordings, 1944–1946)'' ([[RCA Records|RCA]], 1944–1946 performances)
* ''[[Ellington Uptown]]'' (includes Harlem Suite, Controversial Suite, Liberian Suite) (Columbia, 1947, 1951, 1952 performances)
* ''[[Masterpieces by Ellington]]'' (Columbia, 1950, 1951 performances)
* ''[[Ellington '55]]'' (Capitol, 1955) or ''Jazz Profile'' (Blue Note, 1950s, 1960s performances)
* ''[[A Drum Is a Woman]]'' (Columbia, 1956)
* ''[[Blue Rose (album)|Blue Rose]]'' (With Rosemary Clooney) (1956)
* ''[[Historically Speaking (Duke Ellington album)|Historically Speaking]]'' (1956)
* ''[[Ellington at Newport]]'' (Columbia, 1956)
* ''[[Such Sweet Thunder]]'' (Columbia, 1957)
* ''[[All Star Road Band]]'' (Doctor Jazz, 1957 [1983])
* ''[[Black, Brown and Beige (1958 album)|Black, Brown and Beige]]'' (Columbia, 1958)
* ''[[Live at the Blue Note (Duke Ellington album)|Live at the Blue Note]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Newport 1958]]'' (Columbia, 1958)
* ''[[Festival Session]]'' (Coilumbia, 1959)
* ''[[Blues in Orbit]]'' (Columbia, 1959)
* ''[[Anatomy of a Murder]]'' (Columbia, 1959)
* ''[[Jazz Party]]'' (Columbia, 1959)
* ''[[Piano in the Background]]'' (Columbia, 1960)
*''[[Hot Summer Dance]]'' (Red Baron, 1960 [1991])
* ''[[The Nutcracker Suite (Duke Ellington album)|The Nutcracker Suite]]'' (Columbia, 1960)
* ''[[Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G.]]'' (1960) (Peer Gynt Suite/Suite Thursday)
* ''[[First Time! The Count Meets the Duke]]'' (Columbia, 1961)
* ''[[All American in Jazz]]'' (Columbia, 1962)
* ''[[Midnight in Paris]]'' (Columbia, 1962)
* ''[[Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins]]'' (Impulse!, 1962)
* ''[[The Great Paris Concert]]'' (Atlantic, 1963)
* ''[[Duke Ellington's Jazz Violin Session]]'' (Atlantic, 1963)
* ''[[My People (Duke Ellington album)|My People]]'' (1963)
* ''[[Afro-Bossa]]'' (Reprise, 1963)
* ''[[The Symphonic Ellington]]'' (1963)
* ''[[Ellington '66]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Concert in the Virgin Islands]]'' (1966)
* ''[[In the Uncommon Market]]'' (1966)
'''With [[Horace Henderson]]'''
* ''Horace Henderson 1940, Fletcher Henderson 1941'' (Classics, 1992)
'''With [[Earl Hines]]'''
* ''Rosetta'' (Jazz Archives, 1937–1939 selections)
* ''1937–1939'' (Classics, 1937–1939 performances)
* ''Harlem Lament'' (Sony, 1937–1938 selections featuring Nance)
* ''Piano Man!'' ([[ASV Records|ASV]], includes c. 1937–1939 RCA selections)
* ''Earl Hines and the Duke's Men'' ([[Delmark Records|Delmark]], 1944–1947 performances)
* ''1942–1945'' (Classics, 1942–1945)
'''With [[Johnny Hodges]]'''
*''[[Ellingtonia '56]]'' ([[Norgran Records|Norgran]], 1956)
*''[[Duke's in Bed]]'' (Verve, 1956)
*''[[The Big Sound (Johnny Hodges album)|The Big Sound]]'' (Verve, 1957)
*''[[Not So Dukish]]'' (Verve, 1958)
*''[[Triple Play (Johnny Hodges album)|Triple Play]]'' (RCA Victor, 1967)
'''With [[Budd Johnson]]'''
*''[[Budd Johnson and the Four Brass Giants]]'' (Riverside, 1960)
'''With [[Joya Sherrill]]'''
*''[[Joya Sherrill Sings Duke]]'' (20th Century Fox, 1965)

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
*{{Citation
 | last = Lambert
 | first = Eddie
 | year = 1998
 | title = Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide
 | place = Lanham, MD
 | publisher = Scarecrow Press
 | isbn = 978-0-8108-3161-2
}}.

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
*[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p7209|pure_url=yes}} allmusic.com biography]

{{Duke Ellington}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nance, Ray}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:Singers from Chicago]]
[[Category:American jazz trumpeters]]
[[Category:American male trumpeters]]
[[Category:American jazz violinists]]
[[Category:American male violinists]]
[[Category:American jazz singers]]
[[Category:Swing trumpeters]]
[[Category:Swing violinists]]
[[Category:Swing cornetists]]
[[Category:Duke Ellington Orchestra members]]
[[Category:Swing singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American violinists]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Illinois]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:Black Lion Records artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]