Sad News from Jersey Boys Las Vegas Family: Musician Jeff Ray Dies In Tragic Accident
January 19th, 2014
Jeff Ray
It is with sadness that Jersey Boys Blog has to share the news to our readers that a member of the JERSEY BOYS Las Vegas family, musician Jeff Ray has passed away in a tragic accident yesterday.
From John Katsilometes, Las Vegas Sun:
A well-liked and highly respected artist in the Las Vegas entertainment community and a member of the “Jersey Boys” family has died, killed in an almost unfathomable tragedy Saturday afternoon near Seattle.
Jeff Ray, a busy musician in Las Vegas who played guitar nightly in “Jersey Boys” and, occasionally, was the show’s onstage drummer, was killed after being hit by an Amtrak Commuter train in the Seattle suburb of Auburn. The 42-year-old musician was in the area to perform with the Top 40 cover band The Jone$ at Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn.
On Saturday afternoon, Ray and Trina Willardson, who is a singer in the band and the wife of Jason Tanzer, a Las Vegas musician and founder of Dustree Productions who booked the band on this two-night appearance, walked through an open crossing to an area where Mount Rainier could be seen in the background.
Word of Ray’s death spread rapidly among his friends and fellow artists in Las Vegas. “Jersey Boys” music director Keith Thompson has worked with Ray, a particularly gifted jazz guitarist who can play any genre, regularly since 2011.
“We at ‘Jersey Boys’ are in shock, total shock, about Jeff’s death,” Thompson said in a phone conversation today. “He was a complete and total delight to work with and be around and was one of the most positive, upbeat, joyous people I’ve known in the business. … He loved ‘Jersey Boys’ and being part of this show.”
Our hearts and prayers go out to Jeff’s family, friends, and the entire JERSEY BOYS Las Vegas family.
