Ray took over the leadership of Jubilation Jazz beginning the 2006 season after the retirement of Glen Ennes. He has been with Jubilation Jazz since 1997 playing trombone, occasionally bass, and serving as assistant director. His real job is band director in the Jacksonville, Texas, Independent School District. Ray holds a BME and a MME from Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas with doctoral studies at the University of Southern Mississippi and Texas A & M Commerce. He has taught eighteen years in public schools in Arkansas, 5 years at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and sixteen years in public schools in Texas. Ray has been a bi-vocational Music Minister for several churches in Arkansas and Texas during his 35 years of teaching.