Jimmy Gray

James B. "Jimmy" Gray was an American jazz disc jockey, publisher, record producer and label owner from Washington, D.C. From the mid-1960s to mid-1990s Gray was a jazz disc jockey on Washington, D.C. radio stations WGTB, WHUR and WPFW. He founded the jazz record label Black Fire in the mid-1970s, and produced records for the label until his death. Artists and groups he had worked with included Experience Unlimited (E.U.), Plunky and the Oneness Of Juju, [a296988] and Byard Lancaster. In the 1970s, he was a national promotional director for CTI Records, an independent record promoter, and a concert promoter. He had promoted concerts for Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, Thelonious Monk and Gil Scott-Heron. He also published a magazine under the name Black Fire, which featured articles on jazz musicians and advertisements from other like-minded jazz labels such as Strata-East and Tribe (3). Gray was a Washington, D.C. native, graduated from Dunbar High School, and was a veteran of the Navy. He died August 25, 1999 at his home in Washington, D.C. after a heart attack, he was 62 years old.