Editing Don Murray (clarinetist)

{{short description|American jazz clarinet and saxophone player (1904–1929)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name             = Don Murray
| birth_name       = Donald Murray
| birth_date       = June 7, 1904
| birth_place      = [[Joliet, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_date       = June 2, 1929 (aged 24)
| death_place      = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], U.S.
| genre            = [[Jazz]]
| instruments      = [[Clarinet]], [[saxophone]]
}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2017}}'''Don Murray''' (June 7, 1904 – June 2, 1929) was an American [[jazz]] [[clarinet]] and [[saxophone]] player.

==Early life==
Murray was born in [[Joliet, Illinois]], and attended high school in [[Chicago]]. In his teens, he made a name for himself as one of the best young jazz clarinetists and saxophonists in the city.

== Career ==
In 1923, Murray recorded with the [[New Orleans Rhythm Kings]]; according to Rhythm Kings leader [[Paul Mares]], Murray was not a regular member of the band, but was a friend who sometimes sat in with them. Murray also made early recordings with [[Muggsy Spanier]]. He then joined the [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]] based band of [[Jean Goldkette]], with whom he remained until 1927. It was here that he mentored the young Jimmy Dorsey. He also played baritone saxophone on some recordings with Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang, under the band name “Joe Venuti’s Blue Four” playing the baritone saxophone very much like Adrian Rollini’s bass saxophone style. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Senior |first=Andy |title=Don Murray – The Syncopated Times |url=https://syncopatedtimes.com/don-murray/ |access-date=2022-06-27 |website=syncopatedtimes.com |date=May 28, 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref>

After a brief stint with [[Adrian Rollini]]'s band, during which he contributed to several highly regarded recordings by [[Bix Beiderbecke]], Murray was hired by [[Ted Lewis (musician)|Ted Lewis]]. Ted Lewis said that Murray was the greatest clarinetist he ever had in his band. Murray can be heard on the soundtrack of the Ted Lewis film ''[[Is Everybody Happy? (1929 film)|Is Everybody Happy?]]'' (1929), which is considered a "lost film."<ref>{{Cite web |title=IS EVERYBODY HAPPY? (1929) |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200016419/ |access-date=2022-06-27 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref>

In 2021, the Bix Beiderbecke Museum and World Archives in [[Davenport, Iowa]], announced that it would raise $12,000 to renovate its permanent exhibit, including Murray's saxophone.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-05-13 |title=Bix Museum Raising $12,000 For Renovation With Three Vital Artifacts {{!}} Quad Cities > QuadCities.com |url=https://www.quadcities.com/arts-and-entertainment-news/bix-museum-raising-12000-for-renovation-with-three-vital-artifacts/ |access-date=2022-06-27 |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Death ==
Murray died in 1929 at a Los Angeles hospital after injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Apparently, he was standing on the running board of a moving roadster and fell; he struck the back of his head on the pavement and was then hospitalized with serious head injury. Murray is buried at the Memorial Park Cemetery in [[Skokie, Illinois]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lion |first=Jean Pierre |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D4Ynu1-HmugC&dq=Don+Murray+is+everybody+happy&pg=PA222 |title=Bix: The Definitive Biography of a Jazz Legend : Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke (1903-1931) |date=2005-01-01 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-1699-5 |language=en}}</ref>

== References   ==
<references />{{Clarinet}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Don}}
[[Category:American jazz clarinetists]]
[[Category:American jazz saxophonists]]
[[Category:American male saxophonists]]
[[Category:Musicians from Joliet, Illinois]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Chicago]]
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1929 deaths]]
[[Category:Dixieland clarinetists]]
[[Category:Dixieland saxophonists]]
[[Category:20th-century American saxophonists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:New Orleans Rhythm Kings members]]