Ray Angry
Ray Angry is a pianist, producer, composer who is one of the most in-demand artists today.
Classically trained with roots in gospel, one foot firmly planted in jazz and the other stirring the pot of pan-global pop, Ray Angry is the musician that the sharpest and shrewdest up-and-coming musicians aspire to be. As a tireless and ceaselessly inspired pianist, keyboardist, composer, producer, arranger and all-around coveted sideman—in the studio and on the road—Ray is the busiest, most eclectic musical talent crisscrossing the globe and genres for collaborations with today’s most exciting new and veteran artists. Ray’s resume since the ‘90s bursts with names such as Jeff Beck, Wynton Marsalis, Mark Ronson, Q-Tip, Yolanda Adams, Daniel Winans, Joss Stone, Sting, Me’Shell Ndegéocello, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Cindy Blackman, a duo of Mick Jagger & Dave Stewart, Estelle, Richard Smallwood, Dionne Warwick, Dianne Reeves, Queen Latifah, D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Kelis, Christina Aguilera and ongoing associates The Roots.
In collaboration with Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, Ray co-produced and co-composed “It Ain’t Fair” (for Oscar consideration) from the film Detroit, placed “Running” (sung by Yahzarah) in Spike Lee’s 2017 Netflix reboot of She’s Gotta Have It, received co-composing and co-production credits for the score of the 2016 revamp of the TV movie classic Roots, was music consultant on the song “It Ain’t Easy” for Chris Rock’s movie Top Five, plus wrote and co-produced the song “Peace” for the Showtime TV drama The Chi. He composed the theme songs for television’s “The Rundown with Robin Thede” (BET) and “Inside Amy Schumer” (Comedy Central). Under his production alias Mister Goldfinger, along with his muse Butterfly (Kendra Foster), he created the single/video “Daylight,” as well as soon to come work with Leslie Odom Jr., an album project by Michael Bloom, and a cinema-esque turn from Parisian actress Nora Arnezeder.
In the midst of his near three decades of blissful productivity at the service of others, Ray has finally recorded his long-awaited first album as a leader, simply titled Ray Angry One. As much as anyone could have hypothesized how it might sound, the result is completely unexpected, profound and on another level musically. The instrumental ten-song album is a meditation on the concept of higher love—the love it will take to unite people, turn the tide in America and make the world at large a kinder more compassionate place. “Music is meant to inspire and bring about change,” Angry explains. “It’s also meant to make you think about who you are as a person and the meaning of your existence. Music is a powerful tool. Why not use it to connect the world? It doesn’t have to be an elitist thing. To me, it’s like, ‘Listen, I have an idea. Let’s explore it.’ Ray Angry One is a playlist of what I love about music…music being all about energy, camaraderie and community.”
As one of the most exciting artists out today,
with even more remarkable projects to come, Angry has become the one to watch with his chameleon like adaptability and innovation truly worthy of his stellar reputation in the industry and among fans. Angry has his finger well on the pulse of music today, and with a touch that’s undeniably golden, it is easy to see – and even easier to hear – why the moniker Mr. Goldfinger is well earned.