He was the youngest of Gentle Giant’s three brothers and was regarded as the glue that held the band’s incredible music together. Bassist and violin player Ray Shulman’s influence can be heard all over the group’s best-known work, which includes The Power And The Glory, Free Hand and Octopus. His death at the age of 73, has left behind an impressive legacy for aspiring artists who prefer their music to have a more adventurous streak.

Words: Dom Lawson

In one way or another, Ray Shulman was destined to have a life in music. Born on December 8, 1949, he’s best known as a member of progressive rock mavericks Gentle Giant, but he could just as easily have become a star violinist in the classical world. The youngest of the three brothers who would form the band, Ray was a prodigious musical talent, skilled at both the violin and the guitar. His parents were eager for Ray to join the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, but brother Derek had other ideas. Electrified by the arrival of The Beatles, he set about forging his own musical legacy, forming his first band with friends from grammar school. One day, as they rehearsed in the Shulmans’ front room, Ray began strumming along on his violin. Noting that his brother was plainly the most talented musician in the room, Derek asked him to join.

“This was the beginning of the Shulman brothers’ journey into the sordid but incredible world of popular music,” says Derek Shulman. “I thought, ‘If The Beatles can make it, well, so can I!’ To our parents’ dismay, Ray preferred playing R&B and soul music to playing Bach and Bartók. I should be sorry but honestly I’m not, because if it wasn’t for Ray none of what transpired would have been able to happen.”

What transpired was the start of Ray Shulman’s career as one of the most extraordinary players in rock history. In 1966, the nascent project became Simon Dupree And The Big Sound, with Ray on lead guitar and elder brother Phil also now on board, bringing saxophone and trumpet to the table. Over the next three years, they enjoyed great success across Europe, embarking on multiple tours on the continent and scoring a Top 10 hit in the UK with the somewhat atypical psych-pop of Kites in the autumn of 1967. By the end of 1969, Simon Dupree And The Big Sound were no more, and the Shulmans were readying a vastly more adventurous and, yes, progressive endeavour.