Glenn Gray Knoblauch (June 7, 1900 – August 23, 1963), known professionally as Glen Gray, was an American

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 majo ...

saxophonist and leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra.'' The Mississippi Rag'', "Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra," George A. Borgman, October 2006, page 1

Early years

Gray was born to Lurdie P. and Agnes (Gray) Knoblauch in Roanoke, Illinois, United States. His father was a saloon keeper and railroad worker who died when Glen was two years of age. He had an older sister. His widowed mother married George H. DeWilde, a coal miner, and moved her family to Roanoke. Gray graduated from Roanoke High School, in 1917 where he played basketball and acquired his nickname, "Spike".

Career

Gray attended the

American Conservatory of Music The American Conservatory of Music (ACM) was a major American school of music founded in Chicago in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt (1851–1931). The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It developed the Conservato ...

in 1921 but left during his first year to go to Peoria, Illinois, to play with George Haschert's orchestra. From 1924 to 1929, he played with several orchestras in Detroit, Michigan. Gray served as leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra though the orchestra itself had been formed as a collective group, with no designated leader. Their mid-1930s appearances on the long-run radio comedy-variety program, the ''Camel Caravan'', (introduced with their theme, "Smoke Rings") increased their popularity. Gray chose not to conduct the band in the early years, playing in the saxophone section while violinist Mel Jenssen acted as conductor. In 1937, the band overwhelmingly voted in favor of Glen leading the orchestra, and Gray finally accepted the job. By the mid-1940s, Gray would come to own the band and the Casa Loma name. For a time, during this period, the band featured guitarist Herb Ellis, trumpeter Bobby Hackett, pianist Nick Denucci and cornetist Red Nichols. By 1950, the Casa Loma band had ceased touring, and Gray retired to Massachusetts. The later recordings on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

(beginning with Casa Loma in Hi-Fi in 1956 and continuing through the Sounds of the Great Bands series) were done with Gray leading a group of studio musicians in Hollywood (though several of Gray's "alumni" occasionally featured.) In all, some 14 high-fidelity and stereo recordings were made for Capitol under the name of Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra before Gray's death in 1963.

Major recordings

He recorded and released the original version of the jazz and big band standard " Sunrise Serenade" featuring

Frankie Carle Frankie Carle (born Francis Nunzio Carlone, March 25, 1903 – March 7, 2001) was an American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Keyboard". " Sunrise Serenade" was ...

on piano in 1938. His other recordings consisted of "Blue Moon", "Blue Champagne", "True", "The Old Spinning Wheel", and "Learning".

Personal life

Gray and his wife had one son. In 1963, Gray died in

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known a ...

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enl ...

, aged 63.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. , p. 114.

References

External links

*
Glen Gray biography at Swingmusic.net
* Th

are located in the Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department, Boston, MA.
Glen Gray recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Glen 1900 births 1963 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Big band bandleaders People from Woodford County, Illinois Deaths from lymphoma Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts People from Plymouth, Massachusetts Illinois Wesleyan University alumni American bandleaders Swing bandleaders 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Massachusetts Jazz musicians from Illinois 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Casa Loma Orchestra members