He moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1937, where he began playing professionally with such band leaders as Sonny Dunham, Ozzie Nelson and Alvino Rey.
[3] He reportedly turned down MGM’s initial offer to join their film studio orchestra because he wanted his contract to stipulate that he would not be required to work Saturdays, when he attended track meets, and that he could go on leave during the 1952 Summer Olympics.
[1] One of his most memorable performances was in the film "All the Fine Young Cannibals" (1960) where he provided the music for Robert Wagner's trumpet-player character Chad Bixby.
Rasey was an active session musician and performed on many albums in the 1950s and 1960s, including those of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Mel Tormé, Doris Day, Frankie Laine, Judy Garland, and the Monkees.
[2] He died in Los Angeles on September 26, 2011, at the Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center, from a heart disorder.