Brian Wray was a veteran Canadian musician and musical arranger. He had been a member of three major Canadian bands,

Natural Gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

in the late 1960s, Motherlode and

Truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

in the early 1970s. He also worked with Lisa Hartt, Freedom North,

Moe Koffman Morris "Moe" Koffman, Order of Canada, OC (28 December 1928 – 28 March 2001) was a Canadians, Canadian jazz saxophonist and flautist, as well as composer and arranger. During a career spanning from the 1950s to the 2000s, Koffman was one of Cana ...

, David Johannesson and other artists. In later years he moved more towards the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

genre.

Background

Born Brian Francis Wray, coming from Montreal, he was an organ & piano player. He was once a member of the group Five of a Kind which also had a pre-

Mashmakhan Mashmakhan was a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 in L'Île-Perrot, Quebec. The band is best known for their 1970 hit single " As the Years Go By". The song reached No. 1 in Canada, and the Top 40 in the United States. The song was also a maj ...

Brian Edwards in their line up. While he was a member of

, he arranged the track "

Eleanor Rigby "Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album ''Revolver''. It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with " Yellow Submarine". The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to L ...

", and arranged the band's hit "

All Powerful Man "All Powerful Man" is a song by Canadian jazz-rock group, Natural Gas. Composed by George Olliver and released in 1970, it was the group's only single and only hit. Background Music magazine '' Record World'' reported in their January 24, 1970 is ...

". He had played piano and handled the horn arrangements on Freedom North's self-titled album that was released in 1970. He also played keyboards in Canadian singer, Lisa Hartt's first band. Like former Truck members, Larry Ernewein and Sandy MacKay (When the band was called

Sound Spectrum In the physical sciences, the term ''spectrum'' was introduced first into optics by Isaac Newton in the 17th century, referring to the range of colors observed when white light was dispersed through a prism. Soon the term referred to a plot ...

), Wray's later in life preference was playing jazz.

Career

1960s to 1970s

;Five of a Kind During the 1960s, Brian Wray was in the group Five of a Kind which also had a pre-

Brian Edwards in their line up. ;Natural Gas He joined George Olliver's group

in May, 1969. In January, 1970 while Natural Gas were playing at the Laugh In on Victoria Street, Montreal, the group surprisingly played the "2001: A Space Oydessy" theme. Wrays keyboard playing was noted in an article, "Natural Gas a natural treat" by ''The Gazzette'' with the writer saying ''"he plays piano and organ like a man who's being doing it for a long time"'' adding ''" adds just the right touch to the band"''. While in the band he played piano, organ, flute and added his vocals to the recordings. He did the arrangements on the A side of the single, "

" bw "What Do You Want From My Life" which was released on Firebird FR 1806. The single got to #76 on May 9, 1970, spending seven weeks in the Canadian charts. It also at #12 on the Top 50 Canadian Content chart on the same date. Their album that featured his arrangements on four tracks (two of them co-arrangements), got into the Canadian Top 10. It also made the Top 50 in the United States. ;Motherlode By March 1971, he was a member of the fifth version of Motherlode. The line up also included Dave Berman (saxophone), Brian Dewhurst (drums), Gerry Legault (bass, vocals), Joey Roberts aka Joey Miquelon (guitar). They didn't get around to recording any material and became part of

with the addition of

Graham Lear Graham Lear (born July 24, 1949) is an English-born Canadian rock drummer, best known for his time with Gino Vannelli, Santana and REO Speedwagon. He was born in Plymouth, United Kingdom. Background In 1952 his family moved to London, Ontario, ...

. ;Truck In 1972, and now a member of Truck, he was part of the lineup which also included

Jimmy Roberts Jimmy Roberts (born 1957) is a sportscaster for NBC Sports. Roberts joined NBC in May 2000 after serving as a sports reporter for almost 12 years at ESPN and ABC Sports where he won 11 Sports Emmy Awards. Early life and career Roberts grew up i ...

, Larry Ernewein, Joey Miquelon, Mike Curtis and Graham Lear. He composed the A side for the group's second single, "Get It Together" bw "Can't Wait (Until Tomorrow)", released on Capitol 72687 in 1972. The B side was composed by James O. Roberts. In early March, "Get it Together" was getting spun on Ron Moore's play list at Radio Western in London, while "Can't Wait Until Tomorrow" (the B side) was getting play on Ron Foster's play list at CKLW-FM in Windsor. By mid-March, "Get It Together" was on John Oliver's play list at CHEC in Lethbridge. The following week it was in the "Breakout Markets" section and on Ted Hayward's playlist at CJCJ Woodstock. He also played on the album ''

'' which wasn't released until 1973. He co-wrote the opening track, "Rollin's On My Mind" with Graham Lear. The album entered the RPM100 Albums Chart at #100 on April 21, 1973. and at #85 was still charting on May 26th. At some stage in 1973, he left the band and was replaced by Gord McKinnon who was from the group Heat Exchange. ;Further activities In 1975, he was part of vocalist / flautist Jesse Foster's backing group that also included drummer Jim Norman, guitarist Mike Rodden and electric bassist Keith Jones. Their set called "Life Is Colour" was performed at the Percussion Festival, held at St. Pauls Annex Theatre in Toronto on June 29th.

1980s to 1990s

He played synthesizer on Moe Koffman's 1982 album, ''If You Don't Know Me by Now...'', released in Canada on Elektra XE1-60046. The album which was produced by

Domenic Troiano Domenic Michele Antonio Troiano (January 17, 1946 – May 25, 2005) was a Canadian guitarist and songwriter, best known as a member of Mandala, Bush, James Gang, and The Guess Who. He also recorded music for film and television, often made guest ...

got a good review with Andy Gemza of ''Medium II'' saying that Brian Wray played superbly, finding a niche within the band which enabled him to be exploratory on the keyboards without taking taking anything away from the traditional jazz feel that is the norm for a Moe Koffman album. He added piano to Ralph Foster's ''Voice of Elvis'' album that was released in 1994. Along with vocalists Rena Gaile and Debbie Flemming, guitarist Brian Legere, bassist Jim Morgan, saxophonist John Macmurchy, Wray was one of the session men on David Johannesson's blues/rock album, ''Hard Times'' which was released on Mighty Joe Music MJM-CD111 in 1998.

2000s

In December, 2000, his group, The Brian Wray Jazz Trio was appearing at The Rex Jazz Bar. In June 2001, they were appearing at the Montreal Bistro. He helped with the arrangements on Canadian jazz singer, Carol McCartney's ''Be Cool'' album that was released in 2014.

Death

According to George Olliver's post on 12 March 2019 at his George Olliver R&B/Blues Facebook page, Brian Wray had died.Facebook, George Olliver R&B/Blues
Brian Wray our keyboardist for NATURAL GAS has passed
/ref>

Discography (selective)

References

External links

Discogs:Brian Wray

Truck - "Get It Together" composed by Brian Wray

Truck - "Rollin's on My Mind" arranged by Brian Wray
* Retired Canadian Youtube channel
Natural Gas entire LP, 1970, First song "All Powerful Man" Arr. Brian Wray
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wray, Brian 20th-century births 2019 deaths Canadian flautists Canadian jazz flautists Canadian rock keyboardists Canadian male pianists 20th-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian pianists Canadian jazz pianists Canadian jazz musicians Canadian organists Canadian rock pianists Canadian music arrangers Canadian male composers Natural Gas (musical group) members Motherlode (band) members Truck (Canadian band) members