Billy May
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William E. May, better known as Billy May (10 November, 1916 – 22 January, 2004) was a United States composer, arranger and musician.
May was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He played trumpet professionally in big bands such as those of Charlie Barnet starting in 1939, but became best known as a talented arranger. His arrangement of the Ray Noble composition Cherokee became a major hit of the swing music era.
May worked as an arranger for the bands of Glenn Miller and Les Brown before being hired as staff arranger first for the National Broadcasting Company radio network, then for Capitol Records. At Capitol his studio big band accompanied such artists as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole, producing many hit records. He was also a longtime collaborator with Stan Freberg, featured with his orchestra on many of Freberg's comedy recordings.
May also did the arrangements for Ella Fitzgerald's 1961 album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook, the sixth in Fitzgerald's 'Song Book' series for Verve Records.
His charts often featured brisk tempos and intricate brass parts. A distinctive feature of his style is his frequent use of trumpet mute devices.
One of his most popular compositions was the theme music of the Naked City (TV series) in the early 1960s, "Somewhere in the Night."
Billy May died of heart failure at the age of 87 in his home in San Juan Capistrano, California.
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