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BIO – THE RAY MANN THREE

“The Ray Mann Three fuse D’Angelo’s sex appeal with the grit of Tom Waits” – Sydney Morning Herald

The Ray Mann Three are Australia’s troubadours of minimal Soul music. Three well-dressed cats: sitting, jamming, sketching with minimal strokes; inhabiting a world of their own, but inviting you to visit – and maybe stay awhile…

RECORDING
After leaving his role of longtime lead guitarist in Sydney band Kid Confucius, singer/songwriter Ray Wassef went on with bassist Byron Luiters (who now also plays with John Butler Trio) and drummer Bart Denaro (since replaced by Grant Gerathy) to independently release a debut album, The Ray Mann Three: recorded in three days, produced by Tony Buchen, the album blends soul, jazz and hip-hop with timeless songwriting that calls to mind Al Green, D’Angelo, The Beatles and The Roots, and perfectly captures the band’s warm, intimate sound.

AUSTRALIA
Ray Mann has toured Australia continuously since 2005, regularly selling out dates and in 2009 having his band’s performance televised Australia-wide on Live At The Basement on ABC TV. The live shows of The Ray Mann Three and of Ray Mann (solo) have earned them spots supporting international acts such as Al Green, Tori Amos, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Jamie Lidell and Roy Ayers, and local acts ranging from Ash Grunwald and The Bamboos to Kate Miller-Heidke and Holly Throsby.

INTERNATIONAL
As the band has quietly gone about building its underground following in Australia, the sounds of The Ray Mann Three managed to reach the ears of record label P-Vine in Japan, who signed the band and released the debut album in Japan in May 2009 – where, twelve months later, the band visited for the first time to perform at Greenroom Festival (alongside Arrested Development, G. Love & Special Sauce, 10CC, Rickie Lee Jones, Blue King Brown and more).

ART & VIDEO
Spring 2009 saw Ray Mann debut in yet another new territory – the art world. The Ray Mann: Art Exhibition in Sydney was the first time that various sketches, designs and videos Ray has created for the Three over the years were displayed together in a gallery. Prior to this, Ray had already created a series of music videos for $50 each, featuring live action and animation, in support of the series of digital-only singles the band has released since the album. The first, ‘Smile’, was featured on Japanese TV’s Billboard Top 40 show. The second, ‘Hook Me Up’, was ‘Indie of The Week’ on Rage on ABC TV in Australia.

“The Ray Mann Three have the ability to propel you into a higher sphere allowing your soul and intellect to waltz into the lofty clouds of the unique” – Drum Media

“Classic soul music with a modern twist… The musical atmosphere’s right for a band like this to break into the bigtime” – The Brag

Feature Album – PBS Radio (Melbourne)

Feature Album – RRR Radio (Melbourne)

Indie Album of the Week – The Brag (Sydney)