Ray Carlucci was one of the kindest, generous and most modest experts on music I have ever met. I had the honor and good fortune to work with Ray at both WNTI and at Homegrown Radio. I also had the opportunity to share more than a few live jazz concerts in Ray's good company and it was always a joy to indulge in conversation and good cheer with him. I think that is the one memory that I will always have about Ray. It felt good to be around him. His spontaneity, energy, erudition, wit and humor all made for a tangible aura that radiated and enveloped those in his company. Ray also had the ability to be totally self deprecating and to embrace the opportunity when the humor was turned on him. He was egoless in an art form where that is often times not the case. He lived for the music and served the artistic muse selflessly. A sad day for us left behind; a happy day in heaven. I know Ray Carlucci will shine on in the hearts and memories of the many lives he touched.
Ray was my first and closest jazz friend. When I met him at Seton Hall in 1957 he was the only other person I knew with a passion for jazz equal to mine. And since he was five years ahead of me in years, he had a much bigger record collection and experiences hearing jazz live. It was with Ray that I first went to such legendary jazz clubs as the original Birdland and Cafe Bohemia. We saw Monk dance at the Five Spot and Mingus berate inatentive audiences at the Half Note. After I became a music critic at the Star-Ledger, Ray was always my first call as a Plus One (free tickets and/or admissions to jazz events). It was a good arrangement too, because Ray loved to drive and I didn't. I'm glad Ray got to do a radio show on jazz in his final years; it was great he got share his enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, jazz with more that just his jazz friends like me. I'll miss him.