Talk:Wardell Gray

NPOV

The tag is on account of the introduction, which reads like an obituary. Someone who knows something about him should rewrite it. Falcon 02:24, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Crown Records "Hi-Fidelity CLP 5420", Entitled "JAZZ JAZZ"

First off, I would like to thank the contributor for the excellent, indeed poignant, writing. I can add a tidbit- an LP I have, "JAZZ JAZZ". The personnel listed are Erroll Garner, Gerald Wiggins, Barney Kessell, and Wardell Gray. A uncredited trumpet player also performs. The cuts are: The Grind (Parts 1 and 2), Little Girl, One O'clock Jump, and Across Town. It is a live recording, but the jacket gives no details whatsoever. Each cut is fantastic, that I can attest to. As to Gray's playing, he mixes effortless, agile bop with sassy lyrical passages, the latter being reminiscent of (I can only say) Johnny Dodds.

If the author or others would like access to "JAZZ JAZZ", I would be happy to assist, though I currently have no means of digitizing LP recordings. Stone2home (talk) 21:58, 1 May 2010 (UTC)Stone2home

WG death

I would like to share here a testimony from Daniel (Danny) Barrajanos, percussion player and Drummer. I kept it for myself for all these years but it may makes sense sharing it here to add more context the WG death circumstances. I did several gigs with Daniel Barrajanos in Italy during the 1990s. Daniel sadly passed away in 2001. At the end of a gig on our way home Daniel told me that he was sharing that hotel room with Wardell Gray and another musician, I believe a singer. When they were working WG was resting in the room and vice versa. After a band shift Daniel and his bandmate went back to the hotel room and found WG on the floor lifeless and with a broken neck, his head was at an impossible angle Daniel told me. They found drug paraphernalia and as already mentioned got very scared to lose their engagement in Las Vegas and to get in troubles with the Police and lose their work permit. They dressed WG and dragged him to their car pretending he was drunk. They left his body in the desert as described. Daniel told me they assumed WG somehow fell either from the bed or while standing and hit the bedside table with his head, the position of the body, and the state of the room and bed side table were consistent whit such a tragic accident. Maybe we will never know but maybe WG did not die of overdose but of an accident in his hotel room. Daniel told me that story in the late 1990s shortly before his passing away in 2001, maybe he didn't want to take it with him without telling it to someone. Robmansax66 (talk) 12:25, 28 October 2023 (UTC)

Here there is an interesting article in Melody Maker from the time:

https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Melody-Maker/50s/Melody-Maker-1955-06.pdf Robmansax66 (talk) 18:41, 28 October 2023 (UTC)