Meet Ray Olan...
The Un-official Bio 
Ray Olan
...well It all started back in the early 1965
I had the pleasure of meeting Danny Ramierz
a Brooklyn born Timbal and assorted percussion player at a rehearsal that took place in Brooklyn...
it was the first time that we had played together, he was the best of the best in his Era...only Tito Puente himself was his match.
and through a series of Latin Jam sessions Danny and I got the idea
that performing together was our destiny, so Danny took the player
friends that he had and united them with me. They needed a piano
player that had his own equiptment, played rock and Latin music...
the rest is history as we started to explore the new fad Salsa. It was the late sixties...Woodstock, the Love and Peace no war era...we had just missed the draft pick, Vietnam was in full swing...Danny and I had a band...the Orchestra Sason. We were the youngest cats out there in our Style...I was 16 and Danny 19...playing with the new crowd of musicians that were coming into Brooklyn to spread there sound...Willie Colon, Johnny Colon, the Lebron Brothers, Orquestra DJ, Frankie Dante and the Flambouant...and the otherside of the coin in NYC were guys we admired playing in the Village on West 4th St...James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Blood Sweat and Tears, some weird guy that was in a place called the Cave called Jimmy Hendricks. Santana was just getting noticed...But we were one of the First Crossover latin Bands in Broolyn... We played rock Salsa before it was even accepted. Theres more...come listen to my Blog...and get the real bio of " THE LATIN SALA DAYS IN 1969 New York" by Ray Olan
Multi-Talented, Multi-Cultural, Mega-Busy Man
by Floyd Egner
Publisher, Tropical Breeze
Ray Olan and his crew are in a mood to celebrate this month. The company. who moved to Safety Harbor about five years ago from Venezuela are beginning a new season as musical theater instructors for the Dunedin Fine Art Center; Ray and his friend and fellow musician Hector Mayoral are headliners at the local Restaurant Chain Ceviche. www.ceviche.com
“It’s a great time to focus attention on the contributions of people of Hispanic heritage to the history of the U.S.,” he said.
Ray Olan and his band Jazz Olé are performing Nationally . Olan, who is known as “Mr. Ray,” was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Brooklyn. He met his partner/ Choreographer Maria, a native of Venezuela, in Orlando Florida. While visiting family in her native country, he was hired as a producer for Warner Brothers International Television, in part because of his multi-lingual talents. He developed a series of short entertainment segments called “Inside the Series,” which gave him an opportunity to interview some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
His current emphasis is on “Mr. Ray’s Musical Theater,” which is presenting musical theaterworkshops for children at the Dunedin Fine Art Center (DFAC) and other sites in the Tampa Bay area. Classes run quarterly with the current session offering a class for ages 4-5 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, followed by a class for ages 6-12 from 5-6 p.m. Enrollment is ongoing. “We are always recruiting,” he said.
MR RAY"S MUSICAL THEATER Summer 2008
“Our program is unique in that our students are also given instruction in theater, drama, dance, visual arts, and music,” he said. Students explore historical musical styles, music theory and the elements of music (melody, rhythm, form and tone color) through a variety of vocal, instrumental, rhythmic and creative dramatic listening activities.
Heritage and promoting multi-cultural understanding are important to Olan, whose first project in Safety Harbor was to create a multi-cultural musical theater program for children.
“Mr. Ray’s Musical Theater works to create an environment for training, which is based on trust, mutual respect and passion,” he said. “We believe that it is from within this environment that students will be secure enough to take huge creative risks. In addition, I believe that the individual performer learns best from within the group, and that the theatre ensemble grows from the pro-active input of every individual.”
Olan began his musical journey when he was 11 years old, playing guitar with a Latin band called the “Young Lads.” He said he was inspired by his father, who played with musical trios including Los Sancez and Daniel Santos. “They were the first Guaracha bands (trios) I ever heard,” he said.
After moving to New York, Olan chaperoned his older sisters to Latin dances. “I was band boy for groups like Eddie & Charlie Palmeri, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto and Richie Ray.”
He learned to play Latin piano — salsa music — and at age 16 formed his first band along With Danny Ramierez life long friend and one of the best percussionist of the time, , “Ray Olan y su Sason,” which he said was known as “that salsa hippie band.” The band got a record deal with Alegre Records, a division of Roulette Records.
“We were playing the New York area, but with a twist,” Olan said. “I brought in great rock guitar players to play the funky guitar solos along with the two trombones that were the signature of my band. It was fusion salsa rock in its infant stage — little did Santana know!”
He graduated from Hofstra University in Long Island, NY with a degree in musical theater, but was focused on his music influences and Latin roots. He returned to Puerto Rico and studied in the University of Puerto Rico’s dramatic arts program, “Libertad” as a musical theater director.
“I have traveled across the globe and met adults and their families living in remarkably different communities yet as I travel, it is not the differences that strike me, but rather the magnificent similarities that make us all very much alike,” he said. “We all have curiosity, fears, hopes and dreams as well as an extraordinary gift to open our hearts to each other."
For more information about the DFAC classes, call 727-298-DFAC (3322).
.jpg)
