George Sandford
Friday Listening: 23
After a summer break, Friday Listening returns.
Trumpeter Uan Rasey is widely regarded as one of the greatest studio musicians of all time. Between the late-1940s and the mid 1970s, Rasey recorded on the soundtracks of a phenomenal number of films and musicals including "Ben-Hur", "Singin' in the Rain", "West Side Story" and "Taxi Driver". Chances are, if you have watched a film from this era, Rasey played on the soundtrack.
Uan Rasey contracted polio as a child and spent most of his life on crutches. Despite this, he was a huge track and field fan and even had a clause in his contract with the orchestra for MGM Studios allowing him to not work Saturdays to go to track and field meets and time off to go to watch the 1952 Olympics.
Here is a the soundtrack from the end credits of the 1974 film "Chinatown". Rasey's stunning playing can be heard throughout the film, but is particularly on show here.