Jimmy Gray

James "Jimmy" Gray (1937-1999) was an American jazz disc jockey, publisher, record producer and label owner from Washington, D.C. most famous for starting Black Fire.

From the mid-1960s to mid-1990s Gray was a jazz disc jockey on Washington, D.C. radio stations WGTB, WHUR and WPFW. He founded the jazz record label Black Fire in the mid-1970s, and produced records for the label until his death. Artists and groups he had worked with included Experience Unlimited (E.U.), Plunky and the Oneness Of Juju, Hamiet Bluiett and Byard Lancaster. In the 1970s, he was a national promotional director for CTI Records, an independent record promoter, and a concert promoter. He had promoted concerts for Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, Thelonious Monk and Gil Scott-Heron. He also published a magazine under the name Black Fire, which featured articles on jazz musicians and advertisements from other like-minded jazz labels such as Strata-East and Tribe (3).

Gray was a Washington, D.C. native, born in 1937. He graduated from Dunbar High School, and was a veteran of the Navy. He died August 25, 1999 at his home in Washington, D.C. after a heart attack, aged 62.