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Ray Vasquez
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Ray Vasquez
Ray Vasquez (12 February 1924 – 25 January 2019), also known as Ray Victor, was an American singer, musician, trombonist and actor, and a significant influence on the Latin jazz scene from 1940 through 2019.
Ray Moreno Vasquez was born in Los Angeles on February 12, 1924, to immigrant parents from Mexico. He was raised primarily by his father, Domingo Vasquez Sr., a Huasteco from San Luis Potosí. Growing up poor during the Great Depression era of the 1930s in the Watts section of Los Angeles, Vasquez attended Jordan High School. He was an academic major and music minor, a member of the track and basketball teams, and a featured soloist (as a tenor) in the a cappella choir. He also played trombone and sang in the high school jazz orchestra. A high school voice teacher spotted his potential and recommended he transfer to Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles because it was more prestigious and had a better jazz orchestra. Vasquez studied trombone with the renowned Dr. Hiner (first cornetist with John Philip Sousa) in Highland Park.
Vasquez was drafted into the military after graduating high school. He was sent to the Boeing School of Avionics and was a member of the Army Air Corps. Vasquez received four medals while in service and achieved the rank of sergeant. He was honorably discharged in 1946.
A brick in his name was entered in the Memorial Wall at the General Patton Memorial Museum in Chiriaco Summit, California.
Vasquez attended the Pasadena Playhouse theater on the G.I. Bill. The three-year accredited college offered classes in acting, voice and speech. He studied Shakespeare, theater technique, production, radio, television, dance, makeup and costuming. He graduated with a Theater Arts degree in 1952.
Ray Vasquez played trombone and sang with many local jazz bands in Los Angeles but soon broke away as a solo artist and began recording and touring. He recorded with Chico Sesma, Eddie Cano and on The Voodoo Suite with Perez Prado.
Vasquez recorded his own album, Ray Vasquez: In the Still of The Night on Tropicana Records with music director George Hernandez and produced by Oliver Berliner. The thirty-five-piece band behind him included musicians such as Paul Lopez and Anthony Ortega.
Ray was asked by numerous band leaders such as Chico Sesma, Eddie Cano, Perez Prado, Louis Prima, John T Williams, to be the vocalist on single releases recorded on Gold Star Records, Bean Monde, Accent Records (US), and RCA Records labels.
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Ray Vasquez
Ray Vasquez (12 February 1924 – 25 January 2019), also known as Ray Victor, was an American singer, musician, trombonist and actor, and a significant influence on the Latin jazz scene from 1940 through 2019.
Ray Moreno Vasquez was born in Los Angeles on February 12, 1924, to immigrant parents from Mexico. He was raised primarily by his father, Domingo Vasquez Sr., a Huasteco from San Luis Potosí. Growing up poor during the Great Depression era of the 1930s in the Watts section of Los Angeles, Vasquez attended Jordan High School. He was an academic major and music minor, a member of the track and basketball teams, and a featured soloist (as a tenor) in the a cappella choir. He also played trombone and sang in the high school jazz orchestra. A high school voice teacher spotted his potential and recommended he transfer to Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles because it was more prestigious and had a better jazz orchestra. Vasquez studied trombone with the renowned Dr. Hiner (first cornetist with John Philip Sousa) in Highland Park.
Vasquez was drafted into the military after graduating high school. He was sent to the Boeing School of Avionics and was a member of the Army Air Corps. Vasquez received four medals while in service and achieved the rank of sergeant. He was honorably discharged in 1946.
A brick in his name was entered in the Memorial Wall at the General Patton Memorial Museum in Chiriaco Summit, California.
Vasquez attended the Pasadena Playhouse theater on the G.I. Bill. The three-year accredited college offered classes in acting, voice and speech. He studied Shakespeare, theater technique, production, radio, television, dance, makeup and costuming. He graduated with a Theater Arts degree in 1952.
Ray Vasquez played trombone and sang with many local jazz bands in Los Angeles but soon broke away as a solo artist and began recording and touring. He recorded with Chico Sesma, Eddie Cano and on The Voodoo Suite with Perez Prado.
Vasquez recorded his own album, Ray Vasquez: In the Still of The Night on Tropicana Records with music director George Hernandez and produced by Oliver Berliner. The thirty-five-piece band behind him included musicians such as Paul Lopez and Anthony Ortega.
Ray was asked by numerous band leaders such as Chico Sesma, Eddie Cano, Perez Prado, Louis Prima, John T Williams, to be the vocalist on single releases recorded on Gold Star Records, Bean Monde, Accent Records (US), and RCA Records labels.