Ray Kamalay started playing music in the Detroit-area coffeehouses of the late 1960's, while still in high school.  It was a time of great social ferment, and the music he was exposed to there was greatly diverse, from the blues of John Lee Hooker to the jazz of Yusef Lateef to the traditional music of Jim Perkins and Roweena.  Perhaps this explains his lack of allegiance to any musical category.  His large repertoire includes ragtime, blues, jazz, Irish, Brazilian, Bach, and minstrel music as well as original music.

Ray attended college at the University of Detroit, graduating in 1974 in political science with emphasis on philosophy. (Don't talk politics with him!) By then he had developed an entire repertoire and worked in many places around Detroit regularly.  In 1975 he relocated to the Lansing, MI, area, where he took up with Joel Mabus, the notable musician and songwriter.  They formed a group, The Native Sons, which performed extensively throughout the Upper Midwest.  Now old friends, Joel and Ray continue to perform in a duo format.

In 1982 Ray formed “Ray Kamalay and his Red Hot Peppers,” a swing-jazz group with emphasis on the early period of mainstream jazz.  In recent years Walter White (formerly lead trumpet with Harry Connick, Jr., Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman) and Andrew Speight (formerly with Nat Adderley, Wynton Marsalis) joined the Red Hot Peppers, turning it into one of the premier jazz groups in the Midwestern United States.  

In the late 1980's Ray also started to perform with Ralphe and Howard Armstrong, a relationship that continues to this day.  Howard Armstrong , age 94, is a National Heritage Fellow with the National Endowment for the Arts.  This trio's '97 CD "Louie Bluie" on Blue Suit Records was nominated for the W. C. Handy Award.  The strong artistic relationship stimulated Ray to further inquiry, resulting in a college-level lecture called "Freedom, Slavery and American Popular Music."  The lecture, with musical examples played by Ray himself, traces the development of American popular music and its unique relationship with slavery.  It emphasizes the dependence of various African-American styles on the conventions of the slave masters and traces the unique perspective of a musician and devoted student of the African-American tradition.

In the late 1990's, Ray joined with Phil Shepard and John Sands to form Shepard's Folly, betraying a deep and abiding passion for Celtic music. This interest has spanned many years since the early 1970's, with trips through Scotland, Ireland, and even the Shetland Islands. Ray has performed in Galway and Westport in Ireland and at the Edinburgh Festival.

Recordings:
   Ray Kamalay and his Red Hot Peppers -
     "I Saw Stars"
     "The Joint Is Jumpin'"
     "Love's Hope"
     "Meet Me Where They Play The Blues"
   Ray Kamalay (with Joel Mabus and Evan Price)
     "Vignettes"
   The Howard Armstrong Trio
     "Louie Bluie"

Performances:
     The Philadelphia Folk Festival
     Kenyon College
     The Edinburgh Festival (Scotland)
     The University of Michigan
     The Toronto Jazz Festival
     Ohio Northern University
     The Winnipeg Folk Festival (Canada)
     Kent State University
     The Montreux/Detroit Jazz Festival
     Lourdes College (OH)
     The Mariposa Folk Festival (Canada)
     Central Michigan University
     Owen Sound Summerfolk (Canada)

Lectures:
     Michigan State University
     Kent State University
     Heidelberg College (OH)
     St. Thomas Aquinas College (MI)