UCLA's First Jazz Ensemble Is Born
When the time was ripe for UCLA to have its first Jazz Ensemble, Gary Gray
was the right man to get things moving. Although he came to UCLA “through
the classical door”—as orchestral assistant to Mehli Mehta, director of UCLA’s
orchestra—and he studied and later taught classical clarinet, Gray also understood
that “part of my musical nature really wanted to play jazz.”In 1969, Gray led a Jazz Quartet during a concert series in the Powell Library Rotunda, and soon that quartet grew into a full-scale band “of students who were just dying to play no matter whether it was a credit class or not.” However, Gray, then a young faculty member, wanted the Jazz Ensemble “to have some respect”—an official place to rehearse and course credit for participants.
At the time, the Department of Music was getting “more and more pressure from students and teachers to have a jazz ensemble,” Gray says, and in 1970 or 1971, the band made the transition from informal sessions to programmatic status. “The chairman at that time trusted me to take on this responsibility, and I felt good about that,” Professor Gray says.
The Jazz Ensemble quickly thrived, playing for audiences on and off campus. An important early gig was the Department of Music’s annual awards, presented by Frank Sinatra. After the 1976 show, Sinatra praised “the marvelous entertainment” and urged the dean to send Gray and his Ensemble “a big bouquet of appreciation.”
At first, the band was all white males, probably reflecting the university’s demographics, but by the mid-1970s, African Americans and women had found seats. Some jazz stars appeared with the Jazz Ensemble—including the inimitable Kenny Burrell. Other stars were born there. Student saxophonist Mary Fettig went on to play with Stan Kenton and other top groups. Another veteran of the Jazz Ensemble, Grammy-nominated saxophonist Dave Koz, was named artist of the year in 2001 by the National Smooth Jazz awards and has a radio show on KTWV, The Wave. Professor Gray encouraged student trumpeter Don Davis to develop his writing skills. Since then, he has composed for TV (winning an Emmy) and movies, most recently doing the scores for The Matrix series of films.
In 1988, when Professor Gray was named first clarinet with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, he turned the Jazz Ensemble over to Gordon Henderson. “It was an interesting ride,” he says, “a fun ride for me.”