Steve Gray (musician)

Steve Gray (18 April 1944 – 20 September 2008) was a British pianist, composer and arranger.

Biography

Gray was born in Middlesbrough, England. At the age of 10, he began teaching himself to play the piano. He joined the Middlesbrough Junior Orchestra, at first playing the bassoon but later switching to the saxophone. The orchestra was directed by Ron Aspery, who would go on to create the fusion group Back Door.

During the 1970s he played sessions for Quincy Jones, Henry Mancini, Michel Legrand, Lalo Schifrin, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis Jr and John Barry.

Gray joined John Williams' band Sky in 1981, replacing Francis Monkman on keyboards.

Following Sky's last concerts in 1995, Gray continued his career as a respected composer (which he had been carrying out in parallel to his work with Sky). His compositions include two operas, a Requiem Mass for jazz big band and choir, a guitar concerto and a piano concerto written for French jazz pianist Martial Solal. He also provided a full orchestration of the works of Brian Eno (in collaboration with the original composer). From 1991, he worked closely with the North German Radio (NDR) Big Band in Hamburg (at the invitation of singer and composer Norma Winstone) and from 1998 he worked as guest professor of composition and arrangement in the jazz institute of Berlin's Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler also composing and orchestrating the albums Update, You're Everything for the Berlin Jazz Orchestra. The WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln posthumously released the CD Europhonia in 2014 which is a 2003 live recording of Steve Gray's music written for the group. Gray is the conductor and musical director for this release. Gray also composed production music for such labels as Amphonic, KPM and Bruton. Among his compositions is the song "Great Ovation", the opening fanfare of which was used for the Walt Disney Home Video "Feature Presentation" bumper from 1989 to 1999.

Steven Gray

Steve, Stephen or Steven Gray may refer to:

See also

Steve Gray (basketball)

Steve Gray is a retired American basketball player. He was a two-time West Coast Athletic Conference player of the year at Saint Mary's College.

A 6'4 guard, Steve Gray was named California Mr. Basketball as a senior at George Washington High School in San Francisco in 1959.

Gray played collegiately at Saint Mary's College from 1960 to 1963 and is one of the best players in Gaels' history. He was a three-time all-conference pick in the WCAC (now called the West Coast Conference). His freshman year, Gray averaged 11.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game as he teamed with forward Tom Meschery to lead the Gaels to a 19-7 record. The next two years, Gray was the premier player in the conference. As a junior, he averaged 20.3 points and 11.9 rebounds per game and shared WCAC player of the year honors with Pepperdine's Harry Dinnel. As a senior, Gray set a school record by averaging 23.8 points per game and was again named conference player of the year. He finished his career with 1,390 points and 745 rebounds.

Steve Gray (TV presenter)

Steven "Steve" Gray (born 11 July 1965) is a New Zealand blogger and broadcaster, best known as the former host and film reviewer of the weekday New Zealand morning television show, Good Morning. Before becoming a co-host, Gray was its long-serving film and DVD reviewer and gossip columnist.

Gray was raised in Hamilton, New Zealand. He worked as a barman, actor, fence builder, painter, singing telegram, drag performer and nanny before branching into film and media. He began his career reviewing film and video on student radio station bFM in 1996, and began appearing on television the following year. Steven is best known for his knowledge of musical theatre and American television series.

In December 2009, Television New Zealand decided to not renew his contract for his presenter role on Good Morning. No specific reason was given for this, but Gray later speculated it may have been due to his sexuality. Gray's final episode of Good Morning was Friday 11 December 2009.