Gentle Giant cofounder Ray Shulman has died, aged 73

Ray Shulman – a multi-instrumentalist best known for his work in the seminal prog-rock band Gentle Giant – has died at the age of 73.

His passing was confirmed on Saturday (April 1) by his brother and Gentle Giant bandmate Derek, who wrote in a statement on Facebook: “I am deeply saddened to announce that my younger brother and my best friend Ray Shulman passed away on March 30th at his home in London.”

According to Derek, the late Shulman “bravely battled a long illness” and died with family at his side. “At least I know he is now at peace,” he wrote, praising Ray as “such a kind and caring soul” who “really was a genius in so many ways”. 

“[Ray] will be deeply missed by the music community as a whole,” Derek added. “More importantly, I will miss him as my brother and truly my best friend. He leaves behind his wife Barbara Tanner [and] his older brother Philip. To all who knew Ray or know of him, ‘Think of him with kindness.’”

A Portsmouth native, Ray was born on December 8, 1949. He, Derek and brother Phil – the latter two born in Glasgow before the family headed south – were encouraged by their father, an army musician who later performed as a jazz trumpeter, to learn multiple instruments. Ray and Derek started a band together in the early 1960s, galvanised by their interest in traditional R&B. Phil initially served as an informal manager and somewhat of a caretaker for the younger pair, but later found a role in the band itself.

The trio initially performed as The Howling Wolves, then The Road Runners, before re-debuting themselves as Simon Dupree And The Big Sound in 1966. Derek took on the titular moniker, with Ray mostly playing guitar and violin (and occasionally trumpet) while he sung backing vocals. That band – which briefly featured a young Elton John on piano – was dissolved at the turn of the century, with the brothers growing tired of its soul-imbued pop direction.

From there, the Shulmans formed Gentle Giant as an ambitiously complex prog-rock project, with their modus operandi (as per the liner notes of their 1971 album, ‘Acquiring The Taste’) being to “expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of becoming very unpopular”. Their self-titled debut album arrived in 1970, with 10 more following over the next decade (their last being 1980’s ‘Civilian’).

The band was particularly successful in the mid-1970s, charting at Number 78 with their sixth album, 1974’s ‘The Power And The Glory’, and at Number 48 with ‘Free Hand’ the following year. 

After Gentle Giant broke up in 1980, Ray kept active as a producer, linking up with such acts as The Sugarcubes, The Sundays, The Trash Can Sinatras and The Defects. He later went on to release two EPs of trance music, working under the moniker Head-Doctor, and scored original music for video games like Azrael’s Tear and Privateer 2: The Darkening.

In his Facebook post, Derek said of Ray’s unique musical talents: “He was an incredible composer, musician, music producer [and] tech wizard. He was a true artist and preferred to stay in the background and let his body of work speak for him rather than talk about himself… More recently he devoted his tech and musical expertise in authoring and remixing other artists.”

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