Dutch born musician Ray Vanderby has spent over 40 years composing, recording and performing in the Australian music scene. In 1964 aged 11 Ray attended Sunday school at the Orange Methodist Church, when one day he walked up to the piano and began playing by ear. This led to lessons on the Hammond organ and in 1965 he became the youngest semi-professional organist in Australia. At 16 he left school to become a piano tuner and while teaching himself to play the piano he found the minor blues scale. His excitement for improvisation changed everything as he began absorbing the jazz of Mike Nock, Andre Previn, Jimmy Smith, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck and Oscar Petersen. In his 20’s Ray was a session player at EMI 301 and a sideman to some of the country's most respected artists while also visiting Sydney jazz haunts like the Rocks Push. Ray had been writing songs and in 1991 he entered a composition in the WROC-BMG National Song Writing Competition, out of 2,500 entries he won first prize. Over the years Ray has had his own line ups leading to the release of 14 albums of original works in various genres.
With ongoing passion Ray formed the Ray Vanderby Jazz Quartet in early 2009. He wrote 10 compositions by ear which has led to the 2010 release of his debut jazz piano recording and 15th album, Amoresque. The music is visual like an artist’s painting of inter-woven layers, textures, flavors, moods and colors, invoking incantations of charms from far away places. Ray’s self taught piano style is untrained and natural as it flows with spirituality coupling the experienced rhythm section of drummer Warren Baker and bassist Adam Bodkin, who draw formidable lines adjoined to Greg Gibson’s mature flamboyant tenor, alto and soprano sax playing. Because Ray plays by ear there were only chord charts available to the players, so jazz being jazz and having over 100 years of combined experience between them, they allowed the compositions to manifest into their own naturalistic form resulting in Amoresque.
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