Ray Burghardt may not be quite a household name to the general public, but the remarkable musician, arrangercomposer and producer is certainly well
known in the music industry. While he has spent a large portion of his career in the background, uplifting and adding
creativity to a wide variety of other musicians' productions, he shows on this CD that he is also a superb jazz guitarist.
When an artist is a studio musician, it is not unusual for the artist to appear in a countless number of situations and settings
through the years. But even among the most prolific and skilled performerss, Ray Burghardt stands out. He spent four
years touring and recording as a rhythm guitarist with Phil Everly (of the Everly Brothers). He toured playing guitar for
ten years with The Champs with their hit song 'Tequila'. Ray was the musical director or much of seven years for both the Drifters and the Coasters and was musical director for Al Wilson and Marvin & Johnny. Ray also worked with Darlene Love, The Platters, The Shirelles, Billy Vera, Little Anthony, Del Shannon, The Penguins, Joanie Sommers, Mary Wells, Dionne Warwick on the Solid Gold TV show, Emmy Lou Harris and Wolfman Jack among many others. As a writer, Ray scored the music for the reality television show G-Thing. He wrote and produced tracks for Wyclef Jean, Richie Sambora, Jim Jones, Method Man KRS-1, Little Kim, Elan of the Dev, and Funk Master Flex. His songs have been heard in films (Joan Collins' Lady Boss and the HBO movie The Tavern), on television (G-Thing, Behind The Music on VH-1, HBO Hard Knocks and CSINY), and in many commercials.
A three-year contract with hip hop artist L L Cool J as a writer and producer resulted in seven songs on the Exit 13 CD including 'It's Time For War, ' 'I Fall In Love, ' 'Mr. President' and 'Speedin' On Da Highway/Exit 13. ' The recording went o #9 on the Billboard Pop chart, #3 on the R&B chart and #2 on the Rap chart. And yet, even with all of that experience, one is still not prepared for Ray Burghardt's beautiful guitar playing on this CD. Performing with the backing of string orchestra, Ray comes up with fresh variations on nine vintage jazz ballads.
...Scott Yanow, author of 11 books
including The Great Jazz Guitarists, The Jazz Singers,
