Lenny founded the Shore Jazz ensemble and was also leader of the Len Gray Orchestra, an 18-piece big band. After studying piano and composition at the Peabody and Julliard Conservatories during the late 1950s, he went on to work with some of the finest jazz singers and musicians of the period including: Lou Rawls, Johnny Hartman, Della Reese, Zoot Simms, Morgana King, Al Cohn, Maynard Ferguson, Bob Brookmeyer, Chris Connor, Chet Baker, Clark Terry, Barney Kessel and J.J. Johnson. He worked in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C. before making his home in Berlin, Maryland in 1964.
_For more than 40 years Len Grazier was recognized as one of the premier jazz pianists on the Delmarva Peninsula. He founded the Shore Jazz ensemble upon relocating to Maryland from New York City in 1964 and made the promotion and preservation of American jazz music a lifelong pursuit. Since his passing in 2005 Shore Jazz has continued that tradition under the guidance of Mike McShane and John Ewart. The ensemble draws from a regional group of talented musicians, performing a variety of jazz styles ranging from Traditional/ Dixieland, Swing to Latin Jazz and Bebop, offering trios to swinging sextets. The emphasis is on performing versions of classic “Jazz Standards” written by such legendary composers as Cole Porter, the Gershwin’s, AC Jobim, Duke Ellington, Horace Silver, Dizzy Gillespie – and many others. The group currently works extensively as an instrumental Trio with Pianist Joe Holt, John Ewart on Saxophone and Mike McShane on Drums.