Ray Gelato

Life and career

Gelato is of Jewish ancestry, and was born in London, England, the son of a Jewish mother and an American soldier who was stationed in the UK. Through his father's record collection, Gelato heard the music of the swing bands of the 1940s, and the R&B and rock and roll prevalent in the 1950s. Music provided by Louis Jordan and Louis Prima proved inspirational, a love nurtured in his teens when Gelato visited local clubs to hear music played live. His admiration for the playing of Sam Butera led Gelato to commence learning to play the tenor saxophone at the age of 19, and he was sufficiently competent to begin playing semi-professionally the following year. the Montreal Jazz Festival, San Sebastian Jazz Festival, and toured both Italy and the United States. In 2006, the band took part in one of their largest UK theatre tours to that point.

The band were the opening act in 2011 for Robbie Williams and his Swing When You're Winning concert at London's Royal Albert Hall, and performed at Bryan Adams' birthday party the same year.

Following George Melly's long-standing residency, Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club's Christmas seasonal slot was occupied in 2015 by Ray Gelato and the Giants. In 2016, Gelato and Claire Martin appeared at the Ribble Valley Jazz Festival, promoting their joint album, We've Got a World That Swings, which was released by Linn Records.

Discography Albums Year Title Record label Credited to 1989 Giants of Jive Blue Horizon Ray Gelato's Giants of Jive 1993 Gelato Espresso Durium Records Ray Gelato and the Giants of Jive 1997 Gangsters of Swing Durium Records Ray Gelato Meets The Good Fellas 1998 The Full Flavour Linn Records The Ray Gelato Giants 1998 The Men From Uncle Double Scoop Records The Ray Gelato Giants 2000 Live in Italy Double Scoop Records The Ray Gelato Giants 2001 The Ice Cream Man (compilation) Double Scoop Records Ray Gelato 2002 Smokin' Double Scoop Records The Ray Gelato Giants 2003 Gelato All'italiana Durium Records Ray Gelato Meets The Good Fellas 2004 Ray Gelato T2 Records Ray Gelato 2006 Hey There Double Scoop Records Ray Gelato 2008 Ray Gelato Salutes The Great Entertainers Double Scoop Records Ray Gelato 2011 Hey Boy! Hey Girl! Double Scoop Records The Ray Gelato Giants and Kai Hoffman 2012 Wonderful Double Scoop Records Ray Gelato and the Giants 2015 Original Flavours Double Scoop Records Ray Gelato and the Giants 2016 We've Got a World That Swings Linn Records Ray Gelato and Claire Martin 2017 The Italian Song Collection Double Scoop Records Ray Gelato 2019 The Big Sound - Live In London Double Scoop Records Ray Gelato and the Giants