Homekid Tributes
TRIBUTE TO FORREST RAY - TIFFIN HOMEKID
By
Apr 6, 2008, 18:09

Remembering Ray

Concert Band pays tribute to late musician, community leader

By IVY MOORE
Item Features Editor
ivym@theitem.com

The late Forrest Ray, shown working with soprano Laura Ballard

The Sumter Community Concert Band

The concert planned as a tribute to beloved Sumter musician Forrest Ray is still that, but sadly, the Sumter Community Concert Band will find itself performing without its longtime string bass player when it takes the stage at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 15. The concert is now dedicated to the memory of Ray, who died in February.

The Rev. Ken Thomas, president of the SCCB, knew Ray for several years while they were both in the band. But even before that, he said, Thomas admired Ray as a musician.

"I always made it a point to go to the concerts even before I joined," he said. "I remember watching Forrest. He made (playing the bass) look easy, like it came without any effort."

Once they met, Thomas said, "It was like I'd known him for decades. He was just one of those fellows that had the marvelous gift of being personable."

Thomas said the band had planned to honor Ray while he was still living, rather than presenting next Sunday's concert as a memorial.

"We're going to play the U.S. Air Force Academy Fight Song, which he wrote," Thomas said.

Another longtime SCCB member, trumpet player Rick Mitchum said of his friend Ray recently, "Through music, he really touched a lot of people. He did a lot for young people through teaching them to play various instruments. ... He did a lot for the Sumter community as a whole."

Music was Ray's lifelong passion. Although from age 5, he expressed his musical talent through singing, he was also proficient on the trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba and the upright bass, or bass fiddle, which he played with the SCCB for many years. As a member of the USAF Academy, he became one of the "55ers," the original members of the academy's band.

Ray retired from the USAF after 21 years, but dedicated himself to music, both as a teacher and as an instrumentalist. He also served as music director for several Sumter Little Theatre plays, volunteered with the Sumter Civic Chorale and occasionally played in bands backing visiting artists.

As Ray often said, "have string bass, will travel" was one of his mottos. He was a band director in Sumter School District 2, teaching at Hillcrest, Furman and Ebenezer High schools, and then at Sumter Catholic and St. Anne Elementary schools. He led music for the Protestant, then the Catholic, parishes on Shaw Air Force Base for 27 years, accompanied by his wife, Virginia. He also taught in adult education programs in the county, both at Central Carolina Technical College and for Sumter Adult Education.

During his long career, both professional and after retirement, Ray made many friends. One of them has been invited by the SCCB and its director, James Mills, to join in its tribute next Sunday.

Professional trumpeter Bob Ransom, a USAFA bandmate, will play several selections as soloist with the SCCB jazz band, including a medley of tunes made famous by Harry James and "Contemplation," composed by Ransom himself. In addition, Ransom will be the featured soloist with the SCCB Jazz Ensemble performing "A Child is Born," composed and arranged by Thad Jones, and the entire concert band will play several other pieces.

Virginia Ray noted that Ransom "is still one of America's best jazz trumpeters."

Ransom recently retired after teaching music at Hampton University for 22 years. He received his bachelor of arts degree in music at Hampton Institute and his master's degree in music from Norfolk State University. He continued his studies at Peabody Conservatory of Music, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the New England Conservatory of Music. He also spent 20 years as Air Force Bandsman, where he met and became friends with Forrest Ray.

 Serving often as a clinician and soloist, Ransom has performed with Mel Torme and the big band of Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, as well as Tony Martin, Eartha Kitt, The Spinners, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Mitzi Gaynor, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole and many others.

He is a member of the Great American Music Ensemble, The Roy Muth Jazz Band and the Now and Then Jazz Trio. He performed with the Virginia Symphony until 2004 and is listed in the Who's Who in Entertainment.

Before Ray's death, Virginia Ray was assisting the Sumter Community Concert Band in planning the tribute to her husband. She obtained musical scores that Forrest had written, including the U.S. Air Force Academy Fight Song, "Falcon Fight."

Virginia also shared excerpts from Forrest's journals, in which he wrote:

After an AFMA (Air Force Musicians' Assn.) convention in 2006, my wife Virginia felt inspired to "surf the Internet" one evening and play tunes from the Air Force Link. She called me back to her "home office" and said, "Honey, listen to this. Does it sound familiar?"

As she played FALCON FIGHT, I admitted I'd heard the tune several times at university games — esp. when we attended football games at her alma mater Florida State. I thought I'd also heard it at our daughter's alma mater — Clemson University — and at a few other major college games.

Virginia responded, "You should recognize it. It says here you wrote it."

I'd written tunes in the early 60s, as did many of the band members, because the Academy had no alma mater, no fight songs, no traditions. When I left USAFA, I assigned copyrights to the band and forgot about them. Now I find they've been playing them for 40 years.

As a board member of the Sumter-Shaw Community Concert Association, Ray was also largely responsible for getting military bands to perform free concerts in Sumter each year. They were some of the best attended performances in the area, usually standing room only. In February 2006, he was instrumental in bringing the U.S. Air Force Academy Winds to Patriot Hall. He wrote of that concert:

These six musicians literally brought the house down. So much talent in a few individuals was almost incomprehensible. My musician friends in the audience, including 6 or 8 band directors, couldn't say enough about the Winds.

After intermission I was asked to come on stage and was introduced as one of the founding members (55ers) of the USAFA Band. Needless to say, I received a standing ovation — thanks to their performance.

Being the only string bass player in Sumter County, I already enjoyed a measure of respect that comes with playing free gigs for any group. But their introduction cinched my local celebrity status.

In other journal entries, Ray remembered musicians who inspired and helped him, as well as several he had played with during his career. Included is the late Pat Veltre, former conductor of both the Sumter Community Concert Band and the Sumter Civic Chorale. Ray wrote, "My final boss in the Air Force was the late Patrick F. "Pat" Veltre. Pat was a master when it came to programming. ... Pat also directed numerous musical productions where I played in the orchestra."

Ray will be remembered next Sunday through music played by the band he loved. In another of his journal entries, he wrote, (like Joel Chandler Harris' character, Uncle Remus) "... music is, and always will be, my 'laughing place,'" the place where one can enjoy life, laugh a little or a lot and forget his troubles.

The Sumter Community Concert band will share that place with the public and Ray's family and friends at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 15, at Patriot Hall. Admission is free, no tickets are required.

Listen to "Falcon Fight" http://www.af.mil/library/band/marches.asp.

Reach Features Editor Ivy Moore at ivym@theitem.com or (803) 774-1221.