Ray Wetzel

Ray Wetzel ( born September 22, 1924 in Parkersburg (West Virginia ); † August 17, 1951 in Sedgwick, Colorado) was an American trumpeter and arranger of swing and modern jazz. He was Scott Yanow, according to " highly appreciated by the other trumpeters ".

Life and work

Wetzel played first trumpet with Woody Herman (1943-1945) and Stan Kenton (1945-1948), and then from 1949 to work with Charlie Barnet, where he was exposed to songs like Over the Rainbow. He was then for a time at Henry Jerome back to Kenton Orchestra, for which he also worked as an arranger. Since 1949 he was married to bassist Bonnie Wetzel. He had his last engagement ( with his wife ) at Tommy Dorsey. On a car trip with Dorsey, he was killed.

Wetzel took on with Charlie Parker and Eddie Safranski and 1947 with the Metronome All-Stars, which included at that time Vido Musso and Neal Hefti. For he composed Kenton Intermission Riff.

Lexigraphic entries

• Carlo Bohländer: Reclams jazz leader. Stuttgart 1970