Trumpet player Michael Ray spent approximately 15 years with the Sun Ra Arkestra before he took the leap and established a band of his own, Michael Ray the Cosmic Krewe. He had previously contributed to the sound of Kool the Gang. While Sun Ra's outfit played free jazz, and Kool the Gang was more of a contemporary funk outfit, Ray and his Cosmic Krewe have learned how to deliver their own type of funk to a jazz audience, as evidenced on the song Earthrite. While the number gets the crowd moving in a big way every time during a live show, when Michael Ray the Cosmic Krewe debuted with an eponymous release in 1994, it was decided that the mix was too much of a gamble. Evidence Music didn't include Earthrite on the release, although the song later found a place on Funk If I Know.

In addition to leading the Cosmic Krewe, Ray still plays trumpet with the Arkestra. Tipping his hat to the late jazz visionary, Ray included a couple of Ra's numbers, Yolinda and Latin Monkey, on his Funk If I Know release. Ray also played with Phish on the album Phish: A Live One, as well as on-stage, and he contributed to Surrender to the Air by Trey Anastasio. His other work includes a soundtrack for PBS. Based in New Orleans, Michael Ray the Cosmic Krewe took home the honor of Best Funk Band in 1999 when the outfit appeared at the New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival. Ray actually supervises a pair of ensembles named Cosmic Krewe -- one based in the Crescent City, the other in Burlington, VT, and the surrounding region. Members of both Krewes are represented on the Funk If I Know CD. ~ Linda Seida, Rovi