Archived News 2013

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Please click here for my Christmas letter, revealing plans for future Ray Conniff Fan Club conventions.

From the website of SOPTV: Experience the true spirit of a family Christmas with this special presentation of legendary Grammy-winning arranger and bandleader Ray Conniff’s 1965 holiday show – this marks the first time it has been broadcast on television in four decades. Conniff and his singers go on a joyous musical ride of traditional carols and stories including “O Holy Night,” We Three Kinds of Orient Are,” “Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly,” “We Wish You A Merry Christmas,” and many more. Plus, famed actor Alan Young gives a special reading of the “The Little Grey Lamb Christmas Poem.” “The Ray Conniff Christmas Show” takes us to a Christmas wonderland – a log cabin nestled in the snow, wood burning fire, a special visit to Santa’s house, a Frosty the Snowman marionette show, and the singers spreading their cheer. The show is interspersed with interview segments featuring Ray Conniff’s daughter Tamara, who talks about her family Christmas memories, touring and performing with her father, and where the Conniff “sound” originated from.

Please pay a visit to Doug Mitchell’s Ray Conniff Photo Gallery and watch some rare photographs taken in Russia during the recording sessions of the Melodiya album “Ray Conniff in Moscow” and during Ray’s appearance on Russian TV, kindly provided by Igor Karpov from Moscow, Russia. Click on the black and white photograph on the left for Igor’s collection.

Click here for Christmas greetings from Ray Conniff and here for Christmas greetings from Ray Conniff and the Singers (1962).

STATION: KVIE - Sacramento, CA: PREMIERE AIRING: Saturday, December 7, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. | REPEAT AIRING: Wednesday, December 11, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. STATION: KIXE - Redding / Chico, CA: PREMIERE AIRING: Saturday, December 7, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. | REPEAT AIRINGS: Sunday, December 8, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. | Monday, December 9, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. | Friday, December 13, 2013 at 9:30 p.m. STATION: WGVU / WGVK - Grand Rapids, MI: PREMIERE AIRING: Sunday, December 8, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. | REPEAT AIRINGS: Saturday, December 21, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. | Sunday, December 22, 2013 at 1:00 p.m.

Ray Conniff Live Originally scheduled for release in Brazil on Ray’s birthday, November 6, a DVD (left) and a CD (right) with the same repertoire, taken from his concert at Villa Lobos Park on October 17, 1999. It was broadcast on DirecTV in Brazil on December 24 and 25, 1999. Whether this is yet another version of a bootleg DVD titled “Ray Conniff in Concert (live in São Paulo, Gold Edition)”*, still has to be found out as soon as it becomes available. Click on the cover scans for details. (*Cf. details on the “DVDs” page.) Tracks include PENSE EM MIM | CIDADE MARAVILHOSA | OH, PRETTY WOMAN | NEW YORK, NEW YORK | STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT | MACK THE KNIFE | MY WAY | LUAR DO SERTÃO and more... Release date postponed! The DVD/CD did not become available before Christmas.

Click on the screen shot to watch a teaser video for the Ray Conniff Christmas Show, with introduction by Tamara Conniff. For more information about the program, or to receive a CD/DVD, visit http://kvie.org/support Reportedly, fans in the US received their copies of the DVD/CD on November 11.

Backings New subpage created: Links to video clips by various artists (such as Johnnie Ray, Marty Robbins, Johnny Mathis, and Guy Mitchell) performing arrangements by Ray Conniff. Please visit this page and let me have your comments, additions, corrections etc. Thank you!

Added September 1: The complete memorial concert can be watched here. The music has very littleto do with Ray, really, but the linking words include stories about Ray. Well, what kind of music can you expect from a Dixieland band? Many of us probably would have expected a tribute like this by the San Francisco Big Band Gandia. (Enjoy their tribute rendition of “On the Street Where You Live”.)

“Our Nixon” is the title of a documentary, which was shown on CNN recently. The full-length version will be in cinemas in the US from August 30. “The Ray Conniff Incident” is mentioned in it. For those who missed it, please click here to watch the coverage from my collection that I uploaded on YouTube a year ago. However, the sound in the documentary is better and there are many close-ups of the singers. Ray’s speech was omitted. For a short excerpt, click here.

Watch and listen: • I would like to draw your attention to Chuck Jones’ excellent playlist of Conniff(-related) videos on the internet. • Of all the tributes to Ray Conniff, to me the rendition of “Amapola” by the San Francisco Big Band de Gandia is one of the best. Click on the screenshot to watch it. Enjoy! • Apart from many people’s favorite internet radio station “Humboldt 101”, which quite often plays a Conniff tune, I would like to recommend a radio station from Mexico, which plays instrumentals only. Its name is “Radio Ensenada Eres Tu”. Every second song is by Ray - most are from his Latin albums.

The first annual Ray Conniff Memorial Concert will be held in Attleboro, Mass., at Capron Park on Sunday July 21st, from 2-4 pm at the Ray Conniff Bandstand. The concert, graciously funded by an anonymous donation, will honor works of an amazing career that stretched from the 1930s into the 21st Century. Live music by the brass driven, "Dixie Diehards" will feature traditional jazz music this Attleboro native so loved, as well as to perform a number of tunes linked to the legendary musician. The concert is free and open to the public and those planning to attend are encouraged to bring a folding chair or blanket and enjoy the ambiance of an old time Sunday concert-in-the-park. Click on the screenshot on the left to watch the announcement on YouTube. For a written report, click here! Added July 29: TV coverage of the event. Click on the screenshot on the left to watch it. Thanks go to Igor Karpov from Moscow, who drew my attention to this event and let me have the links to the clips.

June 29, 2013:

Karaoke: “Sing like Ray Conniff”: Not really bare essential collector’s items, but interesting to know they exist...

The Continental, Somewhere My Love, Begin the Beguine, Cheek to Cheek, Brazil, The 12 Days of Christmas, Here Comes Santa Claus, and a Karaoke album with 4 songs (2 versions of each, one with “guide melody”) / On the right: The Karaoke album.

This website incorporates many pages of Doug Mitchell’s official Ray Conniff Page (www.rayconniff.info), such as the list of original albums, compilations, Ray’s biography etc. In order to get back from Doug’s pages to this website, please use the BACK button of your browser. Doug’s website is currently under construction.

Amazon lists a compilation CD by Raul Di Blasio & Ray Conniff, titled “Frente a Frente”, released in July by Sony Latin. It features 5 tracks by Ray: “Besame Mucho”, “Frenesi”, Tico Tico”, “Granada” and “Brazil”. Some websites list “La Bikina” and “Detalhes” instead of “Frenesi” and “Granada”. Sadly, this compilation does not feature any songs from Ray’s Latin albums, just five Columbia recordings from the 60s. The other 5 tracks are by pianist Raul Di Blasio from Argentina. He never performed with Ray, by the way. The literal translation of “Frente a Frente” is “facing each other”. Comment by Doug: “Ray's Latin tracks would have been a better mix with Paul Di Blasio whose music is very lush and electronic sounding.”

“Eight Classic Albums” to be released on a 4 CD set on the “Real Gone Music” label in early July 2013. They are as follows: “It’s the Talk of the Town” & “Young at Heart”, “Say It With Music” & “Memories are Made of This”, “Somebody Loves Me” & “’s Continental*”, “So Much in Love” & The Happy Beat”. * “Strange Music” (track No. 6 on “’s Continental” is listed as “Blue Moon”, like on the French edition of the LP in the early 60s (CBS S 62009). It is, however, included. This set is also downloadable with the title “Ray Conniff - The Collection 1959 - 1962”. For details click on the scan on the ríght.

New compilation CD, exclusively available from Jokers: “I’m in the Mood for Dancing” Tracks are as follows: I’ll be Seeing You / An Improvisation on the Fibich “Poeme” / Dancing with Tears in My Eyes / The Way You Look Tonight / I’ve Got You Under My Skin / Stranger in Paradise / Memories Are Made of This / A Wonderful Guy / It’s Been a Long, Long Time / Love Me Tender / Lullaby of Birdland / Unchained Melodie / Cheek to Cheek / What a Diff’rence a Day Made / April in Paris / I Found a Million Dollar Baby / Love Letters in the Sand / Deep Purple / As Time Goes By / Early Evening / Deep in the Heart of Texas / Brazil (Taken from the following albums: ‘s Marvelous, ‘s Awful Nice, Concert in Rhythm, Broadway in Rhythm, Hollywood in Rhythm, It’s the Talk of the Town, Conniff Meets Butterfield, Concert in Rhythm Vol. II, Young at Heart, Say It With Music and Memories Are Made of This.) This compilation has previously only been available as a downloadable album.

Re: The 2013 Convention in Brussels / Bruges • It is with great joy to inform you that both Tamara and Vera Conniff will give us the honour of attending the 2013 Ray Conniff Fan Club Convention in Brussels/Bruges. • Additionally, I would like to remind all the ones who have registered or expressed interest in attending that Claudine needs to know your choices of the dinners on Friday, September 13, and Saturday, September 14 by the end of May. • She also wants to know your preferences what to do for the stay in Bruges in order to make arrangements with guides and river cruise agents. • Suggestions, menus and updated booking information can be found here. • Claudine booked a coach for the daytrip to Bruges, which is much more convenient than travelling by train.

Currently, there is a commercial on US television for Bank of America that features 30 seconds of Ray's “Brazil” from “Say It With Music”. Click on any of the screenshots and go to commercial No. 7 of 11 or click here. (Description: “Before creating surprises on his anniversary and running to the butcher, baker and candlestick maker, Derek used BankAmeriDeals from Bank of America.”)

(Quote:) “We're busting open the Legacy Recordings Vault to offer rare and out-of-print original LP releases as digital downloads! We have more than 60 years of album releases from Columbia, Epic, RCA Victor, Arista, Buddah, and lots of other labels, and we want your input. If the albums we post get enough votes, we'll make them available as digital releases.” You can send your suggestions for digital releases of rare Sony Music LPs by Ray Conniff right here! Simply click on the logo on the left, go to the Legacy Vault website, and use the gray text field to search for music that has already been suggested by fans, or write in your own suggestion. After you've logged in, you can click the vote boxes next to each item to vote for your favorites and also add your own comments. I am wondering whether they also have access to Ray’s CBS International / Sony International /Abril Records and PolyGram recordings. Let’s find out. Please write to them! More on this subject...

Please visit my new “Concert Programs” page, where you can find the scans of all the Ray Conniff program booklets / leaflets in my collection. They range from the early 60s up to his last “World Hits”-tour in 2001. You can watch them online, but you can also download these pdf-files. If you have concert programs in your collection not featured on my website, please be so kind as to let me have scans of them. Thanks a lot. Next on my agenda is sheet music. As I do not want to risk copyright infringement, only covers and first pages are shown so that you can see the copyright owners and publishing companies.

The CD shown on the right, titled “La Mejor Seleccion de las Grandes Orchestas”, appears to be from Spain. Its price ranges from € 3.97 in Spain to € 11.99 in Germany, £ 10.00 in the UK, and € 21.94 in France. You can listen to the compilation with announcements in Spanish by clicking here.. The list of tracks is on the CD page.

Re-launch of the “Song Lyrics Page” accomplished! Jorge Iório eventually completed his internet page where you can find the lyrics of the titles as sung by the Ray Conniff Singers. In addition, all other tracks are also listed so that you can see what album they were released on. Furthermore, Jorge added a composers’ section. Please note that these are listed by their first names. I.e., Cole Porter is filed under the letter C. Check out the new page by clicking on the screen shot on the left. Thank you so much, Jorge, for the incredible amount of work you have done. As many of you know, most of the files of the old page were lost last year due to severe computer problems, and so Jorge had to invest many hours to restore them. Should you discover typos or incomplete information etc., please send a message to Jorge. Your cooperation will be highly appreciated.

Total website visits since August 1, 2011:

Arbeitgeber bewerten

A very happy New Year to all the fans of Ray Conniff and his music around the world! Please note that I archived last year’s news and that of previous years. Please use the “archive” buttons above.

January 4, 2013:

There is a clip from a 1957 TV show by Johnnie Ray on YouTube that you might like to watch and listen to. After his rendition of “Cry”, (at 2:34) Johnnie sings “Soliloquy of a Fool”, which was co-written by Ray Conniff. Interestingly, this arrangement features a full orchestra and chorus and has an even better “Conniff-Touch” than the studio recording Conniff fans are familiar with. Click on the picture and enjoy! I f you would like to watch the complete show (”The Big Record”), click here.

January 20, 2013:

February 10, 2013:

Officially released on CD March 6, 2013: “(The) Christmas Album”; previously available as a downloadable album. This disc features all twelve tracks from “Christmas with Conniff”. Note the spelling of Ray’s family name! Other albums, previously available as downloads, became also available on compact discs, such as “Christmas Greats”, “The Christmas Collection” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”.

March 9, 2013:

March 26, 2013:

April 16, 2013:

April 18, 2013:

May 10, 2013:

May 13, 2013:

June 3/8/28, 2013:

If you accessed this page using “rayconniff.com” and found that some of the links do not work properly, please copy this URL: “http://mthoenicke.magix.net/public/conniff/index.htm” and paste it into the address bar of your browser.

June 21, 2013/ August 15, 2013:

July 20, 2013/ July 24, 2013/ July 31, 2013/ Sept. 1, 2013:

July 29, 2013:

August 6, 2013:

Sept. 2, 2013:

Sept. 17, 2013:

The 2013 Ray Conniff Fan Club Convention in Brussels and Bruges Click on the screenshot of Doug Mitchell’s Ray Conniff Page on the left to read a first report of the convention. THANKS A LOT, DOUG! More details and pictures will follow soon.

Sept. 29, 2013 / October 2, 2013:

The 2013 Fan Club Convention in Brussels and Bruges Links to Internet photo albums, slide shows, the Ray Conniff Quiz, Manfred’s report, Tamara’s dinner speech and more... (last updated Oct. 15)

October 17, 2013:

The Ray Conniff Christmas Show “Here We Come A-Caroling” will be broadcast in select markets on public television this fall. It was aired four times on KVIE in Sacramento, California: • Sat Oct. 19 at 6:00pm (KVIE HD 6.1) • Sun Oct. 20 at 9:00am (KVIE HD 6.1) • Sun Oct. 20 at 2:30pm (KVIE HD 6.1) • Sun Oct. 20 at 6:30pm (KVIE2 6.2) The Ray Conniff Christmas Show was originally broadcast in 1965 and featured Ray, his Singers and guest Alan Young. The programme was syndicated and a staple of Christmas programming for many years. At the 2013 Ray Conniff fan club convention in Brussels, Tamara Conniff shared news that the programme had been restored and would be rebroadcast in selected markets on public television this autumn. The show will air during 90 minute blocks and Tamara will be interviewed during the programme. Check out this page for future broadcast dates. (SEE ABOVE FOR UPDATED INFORMATION!)

At the moment (Oct.19), Tamara is in Sacramento, where she is giving interviews on behalf of the broadcast of The Ray Conniff Christmas Show on KVIE. For broadcast dates and times updates please see Doug's page at www.rayconniff.info. There you can also find the artwork of the DVD of the Ray Conniff Christmas Show and a CD titled “The Real Meaning of Christmas”. It features tracks from "'s Christmas", Ray Conniff's fourth Christmas album. Both can be obtained by means of a donation to KVIE at https://kvie.sparkforms.com/rayconniff. As you can see, Kermit the Frog is already taking pledges.

October 20, 2013:

October 25/ November 3/ December 8, 2013:

“Ray Conniff Masterworks: The 1955-62 Albums” Two different CD sets with the same title. (Left:) Box set (7 CDs) available from fnac, released in France and Spain in September 2013, featuring 14 albums: “‘s Wonderful (1956), “'s Marvelous (1957), “'s Awful Nice (1958), “Broadway in Rhythm” (1958), “Hollywood in Rhythm” (1958), “It's the Talk of the Town” (1959), “Conniff Meets Butterfield” (1959), “Young at Heart” (1960), “Say It with Music” (1960), “Memories Are Made of This” (1960), “Somebody Loves Me” (1961), “So Much in Love” (1961), “'s Continental” (1961), and “Rhapsody in Rhythm” (1962). It comes with a 20 page booklet. Thanks for this information, Francisco! Update (December 8): It is also available from Amazon Europe now. For the excellent liner notes click here. (Right:) This CD set of 6 CDs includes the same albums with the exception of “Conniff Meets Butterfield” and “Rhapsody in Rhythm”. For full details click on the right cover scan. Missing on both sets are both volumes of “Concert in Rhythm”.and “Dance the Bop!”.

November 4/ November 28/ December 23, 2013:

November 7/ November 11, 2013:

November 30/ December 7 and 15, 2013:

STATION: OPB - Oregon Public Broadcasting - Portland, OR: PREMIERE AIRING: Sunday, December 1, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. (Both OPB and OPB DT2) | REPEAT AIRINGS: Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 8:00 a.m. (OPB DT2) | Sunday, December 8, 2013 at 9:30 p.m. (OPB DT2) STATION: WGCU - Fort Myers, FL: PREMIERE AIRING: Monday, Dec. 2, 12:00 Noon | REPEAT AIRINGS: Saturday, Dec. 7, 3:00 p.m. | Monday, Dec. 16, 12:00 pm | Friday, Dec. 20, 1:30 pm | Saturday, Dec. 21, 2:30 pm

December 6, 2013:

December 18, 2013:

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Please click here for my Christmas letter, revealing plans for future Ray Conniff Fan Club conventions.

Click here for Christmas greetings from Ray Conniff and here for Christmas greetings from Ray Conniff and the Singers (1962).

Public Television in the US is currently showing THE RAY CONNIFF CHRISTMAS SHOW "Here We Come A-Caroling" on the following stations in their upcoming DECEMBER 2013 membership drives. Be sure to tune in and tell your friends! The stations listed below will be offering exclusive thank you gifts, including the Ray Conniff CD “The Real Meaning of Christmas” and a DVD of the show: “The Ray Conniff Christmas Show: ‘Here We Come A-Caroling’”. STATION: SOPTV - Southern Oregon Public Television - Medford / Klamath, OR: Saturday, November 30, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. STATION: OPB - Oregon Public Broadcasting - Portland, OR: PREMIERE AIRING: Sunday, December 1, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. (Both OPB and OPB DT2) | REPEAT AIRINGS: Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 8:00 a.m. (OPB DT2) | Sunday, December 8, 2013 at 9:30 p.m. (OPB DT2) STATION: WGCU - Fort Myers, FL: PREMIERE AIRING: Monday, Dec. 2, 12:00 Noon | REPEAT AIRINGS: Saturday, Dec. 7, 3:00 p.m. | Monday, Dec. 16, 12:00 pm | Friday, Dec. 20, 1:30 pm | Saturday, Dec. 21, 2:30 pm

Watch and listen: • I would like to draw your attention to Chuck Jones’ excellent playlist of Conniff(- related) videos on the internet. • Of all the tributes to Ray Conniff, to me the rendition of “Amapola” by the San Francisco Big Band de Gandia is one of the best. Click on the screenshot to watch it. Enjoy! • Apart from many people’s favorite internet radio station “Humboldt 101”, which quite often plays a Conniff tune, I would like to recommend a radio station from Mexico, which plays instrumentals only. Its name is “Radio Ensenada Eres Tu”. Every second song is by Ray - most are from his Latin albums.

June 29, 2013:

Karaoke: “Sing like Ray Conniff”: Not really bare essential collector’s items, but interesting to know they exist...

January 4, 2013:

January 20, 2013:

February 10, 2013:

March 9, 2013:

March 26, 2013:

April 16, 2013:

April 18, 2013:

May 10, 2013:

May 13, 2013:

June 3/8/28, 2013:

June 21, 2013/ August 15, 2013:

July 20, 2013/ July 24, 2013/ July 31, 2013/ Sept. 1, 2013:

July 29, 2013:

August 6, 2013:

Sept. 2, 2013:

Sept. 17, 2013:

Sept. 29, 2013 / October 2, 2013:

The 2013 Fan Club Convention in Brussels and Bruges Links to Internet photo albums, slide shows, the Ray Conniff Quiz, Manfred’s report, Tamara’s dinner speech and more... (last updated Oct. 15)

October 17, 2013:

The Ray Conniff Christmas Show “Here We Come A- Caroling” will be broadcast in select markets on public television this fall. It was aired four times on KVIE in Sacramento, California: • Sat Oct. 19 at 6:00pm (KVIE HD 6.1) • Sun Oct. 20 at 9:00am (KVIE HD 6.1) • Sun Oct. 20 at 2:30pm (KVIE HD 6.1) • Sun Oct. 20 at 6:30pm (KVIE2 6.2) The Ray Conniff Christmas Show was originally broadcast in 1965 and featured Ray, his Singers and guest Alan Young. The programme was syndicated and a staple of Christmas programming for many years. At the 2013 Ray Conniff fan club convention in Brussels, Tamara Conniff shared news that the programme had been restored and would be rebroadcast in selected markets on public television this autumn. The show will air during 90 minute blocks and Tamara will be interviewed during the programme. Check out this page for future broadcast dates. (SEE ABOVE FOR UPDATED INFORMATION!)

October 20, 2013:

October 25/ November 3/ December 8, 2013:

November 4/ November 28/ Dec ember 23, 2013:

November 7/ November 11, 2013:

November 30/ December 7 and 15, 2013:

December 6, 2013:

December 18, 2013:

’S WONDERFUL! The Ray Conniff Page

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’S WONDERFUL! The Ray Conniff Page