Ray Copeland
Ray Copeland (July 17, 1926 – May 18, 1984) was an American jazz trumpet player and teacher.
Ray Copeland
- Name
- Ray Copeland
- Born
- July 17, 1926
- Birthplace
- Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
- Died
- May 18, 1984 (aged 57)
- Place of death
- Sunderland, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- trumpeter · music educator · university teacher · musician
- Fields
- jazz
- Education
- Boys and Girls High School
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Ray Copeland (July 17, 1926 – May 18, 1984) was an American jazz trumpet player and teacher.
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Ray Copeland (1926–1984) was a music educator, musician and trumpeter, among other activities, of American nationality. The music educator died in Sunderland.
Ray Copeland was educated at Boys and Girls High School. The music educator worked for Hampshire College and was a member of Thelonious Monk Septet. The work spans jazz.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ray Copeland • Born — July 17, 1926 • Birthplace — Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. • Died — May 18, 1984 (aged 57) • Place of death — Sunderland, Massachusetts, U.S. • Genre — Jazz • Instruments — Trumpet
Early life
Early life
Copeland was born in Norfolk, Virginia. He studied at Boys High School in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Career
Career
Copeland's active career spanned from the 1940s to the 1980s. Throughout his career he participated on many swing and hard bop dates, appearing on the well known Monk's Music by Thelonious Monk recorded in June 1957. Copeland played with a swinging, upbeat approach, but was undoubtedly overshadowed by other top trumpeters of the era such as Lee Morgan and Clifford Brown. He toured with Thelonious Monk in 1968, and appeared at the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival. Later, Copeland was a Music Professor at Hampshire College, teaching jazz composition. In 1974, he published the book The Ray Copeland Method and Approach to the Creative Art of Jazz Improvisation. Copeland never recorded as a session leader.
Personal life
Personal life
Copeland's son, Keith Copeland, was a noted jazz drummer. Ray died of a heart attack in 1984 in Sunderland, Massachusetts.
Discography
With Thelonious Monk • Blue Monk, Vol. 2 (Prestige, 1954) • Monk (Prestige, 1954) • We See (Dreyfus, 1954) • Monk's Music (Riverside, 1957) • Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (Riverside, 1957) • Complete Live at the Five Spot 1958 with John Coltrane (1958) With Specs Powell • Movin' In (Roulette, 1957) With Randy Weston • The Modern Art of Jazz by Randy Weston (Dawn, 1956) • Little Niles (United Artists, 1958) • Highlife (Colpix, 1963) • Randy (Bakton, 1964) – rereleased in 1972 as African Cookbook (Atlantic) • Monterey '66 (Verve, 1966) • Tanjah (Polydor, 1973) With Jimmy Witherspoon • Goin' to Kansas City Blues (RCA Victor, 1958) with Jay McShann With others • Top Brass, Ernie Wilkins (Savoy, 1955) • Jazz Spectacular, Frankie Laine (1956) • Look!, Lionel Hampton (1956) • Art Blakey Big Band (Bethlehem, 1957) • The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi Volume Two (ABC-Paramount, 1957) • Dinah Washington Sings Fats Waller, Dinah Washington (1957) • Sugan, Phil Woods (Status, 1957) • Cat on a Hot Tin Horn, Cat Anderson (1958) • Out There, Betty Carter (1958) • Rites of Diablo, Johnny Richards (1958) • A Map of Jimmy Cleveland, Jimmy Cleveland (Mercury, 1959) • Portrait of the Artist, Bob Brookmeyer (Arista, 1960) • I Can't Help It, Betty Carter (1961) • Listen to Art Farmer and the Orchestra, Art Farmer (Mercury, 1962) • Manhattan Latin, Dave Pike (Decca, 1964) • Booker 'n' Brass, Booker Ervin (Pacific Jazz, 1967) • Big B-A-D Band in Concert, Live 1970, Clark Terry (1970) • Attica Blues Big Band, Archie Shepp (1979)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Colin Larkin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Guinness Publishing. 559/560. 1992. 0-85112-939-0.
- 2.Randy Weston, Willard Jenkins, African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston, Duke University Press Books, 2010, p. 71.
- 3.Ray Copeland Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More. AllMusic.
- 4.Ray Copeland Credits AllMusic. AllMusic.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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