Raymond Santos was an American Grammy Award-winning Latin musician, composer, and educator.
16 Facts About Ray Santos
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Ray Santos was born in East Harlem in New York on December 28,1928.
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Ray Santos's mother was a doll maker and his father was a doorman.
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When Ray Santos was thirteen, the family moved to The Bronx.
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Ray Santos played tenor sax while in high school at Haaren High School.
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Ray Santos started his career in music playing Latin-inspired big band music in the 1950s.
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Ray Santos played with bands in the Catskills and at the Palladium in New York City.
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Ray Santos served as music consultant and arranger for the soundtrack of the motion picture The Mambo Kings.
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Ray Santos arranged the Oscar-nominated song Beautiful Maria of My Soul.
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Ray Santos arranged and directed the orchestra for Linda Ronstadt's Frenesi album, for which he won a Grammy.
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Ray Santos was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2003 and received the Latin Grammy Trustees Award in 2011.
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Ray Santos taught at the City College of New York for over 20 years, directing the Latin Band.
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Ray Santos retired from City College in December 2013 at the age of 84.
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In 2016, Ray Santos received an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.
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Ray Santos arranged Jon Secada's album To Beny More With Love.
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In 2018, Ray Santos contributed arrangements to Eddie Palmieri's Mi Luz Mayor album.