Ray Ellis (July 28, 1923 – October 27, 2008) was an American

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, arranger, conductor, and saxophonist. He was responsible for the orchestration in

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

's '' Lady in Satin'' (1958).

Biography

Raymond Spencer Ellis was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He composed two extended themes for '' The Today Show,'' the first in 1971. It was used as the Friday closing theme (and eventually the show's full-time theme) until the end of the decade. However, in ''Herald Square Music v. Living Music'', the District Court of the Southern District of New York "found the instrumental arrangement and harmonization of defendant's melody to be substantially similar to that of ' Day by Day,'" a Stephen Schwartz song from the musical '' Godspell''. As a result, Ellis composed a second ''Today Show'' theme based on the trademark NBC chimes. That theme was the NBC show's signature from 1978 to 1985 and has appeared irregularly on the morning program ever since.

Work with Filmation

Using the name of his wife "Yvette Blais" as a pseudonym, Ellis and Norm Prescott, who used the pseudonym "Jeff Michael" after his sons Jeff and Michael) composed nearly all of the background music for cartoon studio Filmation from 1968 to 1982, according to DVD booklets for '' Ark II'', '' Space Academy'', and '' Jason of Star Command.'' This also included much of the music used in '' Star Trek: The Animated Series'', which was re-released on November 29, 2016 as part of that franchise's 50th anniversary.

Death

Ellis died of complications from melanoma on October 27, 2008, at an assisted-living facility in Encino,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He was survived by sons Marc and Jeffrey.

Selected discography

As arranger or conductor

* ''Mood Jazz'', Joe Castro (1956) * '' Lady in Satin'', Billie Holiday (1958) * ''Chris Connor Sings the George Gershwin Almanac of Song'', Chris Connor (1961) * '' The Third Album'', Barbra Streisand (1963) * '' Soul'', Lena Horne (1966) * ''There Is a Time,'' Liza Minnelli (1966) * ''And I Love Him!'', Esther Phillips (1965) * '' Seven Letters'', Ben E. King (1965) * '' Herbie Mann Plays The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd'', Herbie Mann (1965) * '' A Lazy Afternoon'', Harold Land (1995) * '' The Christmas Album'', Johnny Mathis (2002)

References

External links

*
Ray Ellis Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (1997) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Ray 1923 births 2008 deaths American male jazz composers American jazz musicians American music arrangers Record producers from Pennsylvania Musicians from Philadelphia MGM Records artists Filmation people RCA Victor artists 20th-century American jazz composers Deaths from melanoma in California American male conductors (music) Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians Animation composers