Uan Rasey

Biography

Rasey was born in Glasgow, Montana, on August 22, 1921. He taught himself to play the trumpet as a child. He moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1937, where he began playing professionally with such band leaders as Sonny Dunham, Ozzie Nelson and Alvino Rey.

He contracted polio as a child and spent his career playing trumpet while using crutches. Despite his condition, Rasey was a track and field fan, regularly attending events. Reportedly, he initially turned down MGM’s offer to join their film studio orchestra because he wanted in his contract a provision whereby he'd be able not to work on Saturdays, so that he'd get to go to track meets, and he'd be on leave throughout the 1952 summer for the Olympics.

Rasey became a first-call trumpet player for MGM studios from 1949 until the early 1970s, and other studio orchestras. Rasey played trumpet for many film soundtracks, including An American in Paris, Ben-Hur, Bye Bye Birdie, Cleopatra, Gigi, How the West Was Won, My Fair Lady, Singin' in the Rain, Spartacus and West Side Story. One of his most memorable performances was in the film "All the Fine Young Cannibals" (1960) where he ghosted for Robert Wagner's trumpet player character Chad Bixby. Later films included Taxi Driver, High Anxiety and Pennies From Heaven He is known for his solo in composer Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar-nominated score for Roman Polanski's 1974 film Chinatown. He also played on many scores for television and radio, as well as in live orchestras throughout Los Angeles.

Rasey was an active session musician and performed on many albums in the 1950s and 1960s, including those of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Mel Tormé, Doris Day, Frankie Laine, Judy Garland, the Monkees, and others.

He lived in Southern California, where he taught privately into his old age. His pupils included Arturo Sandoval and Jack Sheldon. He died on September 26, 2011, at the Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center, from heart problems.

Legacy

Rasey was widely considered as one of the finest musicians in Hollywood history. His accomplishments were recognized in May 2009 by the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) with their Honorary Award, the guild's most prestigious award.

Instrument

Rasey started using an Olds Recording-model trumpet, made for him in 1949 shortly after he was hired by MGM. In an interview, he related how they made it using the Olds' Ambassador valve section, with the bell length the same as the Super, and the mouthpipe from the old Super Recording. In 1974, he began playing also a King Silver Flair trumpet, which he used for the Chinatown soundtrack, and alternated between the two.

EP's

Albums