Ray Warleigh -

Ray Warleigh (Sept. 28, 1938 — Sept. 21, 2015) was an Australian-born alto saxophonist and flutist from Sydney who proliferated on the U.K. blues-rock/jazz-rock circuit across four decades, starting in the mid-Sixties. As a post-bop bandleader, he cut a 1969 self-titled album on Philips, followed by the 1978 Vinyl Records release Reverie.

Warleigh worked with Blues Incorporated, Soft Machine, Paz, and the Charlie Watts Orchestra across successive blues, jazz-rock, and post-bop settings. His session credits include albums by Nick Drake, John and Beverley Martyn, Roy Harper, Michael Gibbs, Phil Woods, Annette Peacock, Working Week, and Matt Bianco.

Background

Ray Warleigh was born Raymond Kenneth Warleigh on September 28, 1938, in Sydney, New South Wales, and grew up in a family with three siblings. Warleigh studied flute from age ten through the Burwood Police Boys Club and later took up clarinet. He attended Homebush Boys High School, followed by an electrician apprenticeship. Inspired by Paul Desmond of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Warleigh bought an alto saxophone. Amid the apprenticeship, he moonlit as a saxist in local dance and jazz bands.

In 1960, Warleigh boarded a one-way liner to London, England, where he joined show bands at holiday resorts and jazz groups that toured the continent. In 1964, Warleigh joined Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, featuring bassist Danny Thompson and fellow saxophonists John Surman and Alan Skidmore. On November 27, the Warleigh Blues Inc. lineup cut a session for the BBC program Top Gear.

By 1966, Warleigh proliferated as a sessionist on albums by Champion Jack Dupree (From New Orleans to Chicago), Tubby Hayes (100% Proof), Alexis Korner (Sky High), and Georgie Fame with the Harry South Big Band (Sound Venture). He joined the reed section of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers for the 1967 album A Hard Road, featuring Peter Green and Aynsley Dunbar.

In August 1967, Warleigh backed Scott Walker at the Fiesta Club in Stockton and joined the singer’s touring band. Walker used his Philips production arrangement to develop instrumental albums for guitarist Terry Smith and Warleigh, who closed 1968 with sessions for his bandleader debut, Ray Warleigh’s First Album.

1969–77: Session Work

Warleigh followed his bandleader debut with 1969 credits behind Bert Jansch (Birthday Blues), the Sallyangie (Children of the Sun), and the Keef Hartley Band (The Battle of North West Six). He also returned to Champion Jack Dupree on The Heart of the Blues Is Sound. Warleigh followed with 1970 credits behind Korner (Both Sides), John and Beverley Martyn (The Road to Ruin), John Renbourn (The Lady and the Unicorn), Blossom Dearie (That’s Just the Way I Want to Be), and Andy Roberts (Home Grown).

Between 1970 and 1975, Warleigh joined the Michael Gibbs Orchestra and played on the titles Michael Gibbs, Just Ahead, and The Only Chrome-Waterfall Orchestra. On Just Ahead, Warleigh joined recurring colleagues Stan Sulzmann, Kenny Wheeler, John Marshall, and John Taylor. He also joined the Spontaneous Music Ensemble on The Source – From and Towards beside Wheeler, Trevor Watts, Ron Mathewson, and drummer-bandleader John Stevens.

In 1971, Warleigh joined Mike Westbrook on Metropolis beside Wheeler, Taylor, Mike Osborne, and Alan Skidmore. Concurrently, he earned credits behind Nick Drake (Bryter Layter), Humphrey Lyttelton (Duke Ellington Classics), Shelagh McDonald (Stargazer), Claire Hamill (One House Left Standing), Andy Roberts (Nina and the Dream Tree), and the solo album by Paul Kent (ex-P.C. Kent). He also backed Iain Matthews on If You Saw Thro’ My Eyes and Tigers Will Survive, then joined Marc Ellington on Restoration.

From 1973 through 1975, Warleigh backed Roy Harper on Lifemask and HQ. He joined Scaffold on Fresh Liver, then earned further credits with Keith Christmas (Brighter Day), Ashley Hutchings & John Kirkpatrick (The Compleat Dancing Master), and Annette & Victor Brox (Rollin’ Back).

On the 1975 Soft Machine album Bundles, Warleigh joined Karl Jenkins, Mike Ratledge, Allan Holdsworth, Roy Babbington, and John Marshall for the track “The Floating World.” He returned to John Stevens on Chemistry with Wheeler, Trevor Watts, and Jeff Clyne. Warleigh earned further 1975/76 credits behind Ken Hensley (Eager to Please), Bob Pegg (Ancient Maps), and the Surprise Sisters, a London-based Australian retro-vocal quartet.

In 1977, Warleigh earned credits with The Movies (Double A) and the ethno-jazz/funk ensemble Paz (Kandeen Love Song). On the latter session, he reconnected with Spontaneous ME bassist Ron Mathewson, a sideman on Warleigh’s second bandleader album, Reverie.

1978–89: Session Work

Following Reverie, Warleigh appeared on 1978 albums by Paz (Paz at Chichester), Phil Woods (I Remember), Annette Peacock (X-Dreams), the Chanter Sisters (Shoulder to Shoulder), Graham Dee (Somethin’ Else), Miquel Brown (Symphony of Love), and Marti Caine (Behind the Smile). On I Remember, he reunited with First Album pianist Gordon Beck alongside Stan Sulzmann and Kenny Wheeler.

In 1979, Warleigh played on albums by Long John Baldry (Baldry’s Out!), Delegation (Eau de Vie), Judie Tzuke (Welcome to the Cruise), Paul Brett (Eclipse), Evelyn Thomas (Have a Little Faith in Me), Georgie Fame (Right Now), Waldorf & Travers (Night Blindness), and Jane Aire and the Belvederes, whose self-titled album paired the American singer with British post-punk band The Edge.

Warleigh reunited with Allan Holdsworth, John Marshall, and John Taylor on Land of Cockayne, the 1981 Soft Machine swan song with reedist Dick Morrissey. He also played on Wonderin’ by Rollercoaster, a Softs offshoot with Mathewson, Jenkins, Ratledge, and Chris Pyne. At this time, Warleigh earned further credits on the second Delegation album and the soundtrack to Shock Treatment, the sequel to the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

In 1982, Warleigh reunited with Roy Harper on the songwriter’s eleventh album Work of Heart. He also joined the original London cast recording of Song and Dance, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical starring Marti Webb. Meanwhile, Warleigh rejoined Reverie colleagues Mathewson and Frank Gibson for the 1982 Spotlite release Paz Are Back. He continued with Paz on Look Inside and backed the RAH Band on their 1983 release Going Up. At London’s Snake Ranch Studio, Warleigh joined the sessions for Šta mi radiš, the fifth album by Bosnian singer Zdravko Čolić.

By the mid-1980s, Warleigh diversified with credits behind English musical diva Elaine Paige (Cinema), American country-pop singer Maria Muldaur (Live in London), and Italian singer Riccardo Cocciante (Il mare dei papaveri). He also played on albums by the sophisti-pop combos Matt Bianco (Whose Side Are You On?) and Working Week, whose debut Working Nights also featured guest appearances by Larry Stabbins, Chris Biscoe, Harry Beckett, and Annie Whitehead.

In 1986, Warleigh joined the Charlie Watts Orchestra for the CBS release Live at Fulham Town Hall, a big band jamboree with recurring colleagues Ron Mathewson, John Stevens, and Alan Skidmore. He also backed David Bowie on the soundtrack to the singer’s Jim Henson-directed fantasy film Labyrinth, scored by Trevor Jones. Warleigh closed the period with credits behind Beaver Storm (Live at Ronnie Scott’s), Mike Figgis (Stormy Monday), and Matt Bianco (Indigo).

Discography: