“Henry Gray”
2015 - Baton Rouge Blues Foundation Gala, Baton Rouge, LA

Henry Gray (born January 19, 1925, in Kenner, Louisiana) is an African-American blues piano player and singer. He has been playing for more than seven decades and has performed with many artists, including Robert Lockwood, Jr., Billy Boy Arnold, Morris Pejoe, the Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. He began studying the piano at the age of eight, taking lessons from a neighborhood woman, Mrs. White. A few years later, he began playing piano and organ at the local Baptist church, and his family eventually acquired a piano for the house. Playing the blues was not encouraged in his family, but Henry played blues at Mrs. White's house, and by the time he was 16 he was playing blues at a club in Alsen. His father initially disapproved of the job but became supportive after seeing how much money his son was making.

In 1943, during World War II, Gray joined the United States Army and was sent to the South Pacific. While in the Army, he would frequently entertain other soldiers by playing the piano and singing. After the war he relocating to Chicago, where he had relatives, including a new baby sister, Annette, born in 1951.

Henry Gray - 10x15 E-Surface Matted Print / 19x23 Final Frame size