Six songs with a big band, six with strings, and Ray Charles holding it all together: The Genius of Ray Charles as a hybrid stereo SACD from the Atlantic 75 Series. The twelve songs run as one continuous sequence – from the horn charts of Quincy Jones straight into the string ballads of Ralph Burns.
Two orchestral worlds, one voice
The Genius of Ray Charles, released in 1959, brings two orchestral worlds together. Six performances are built on a big band, six more bring in strings, and Charles connects both with his voice and his piano. The album shows a singer widening his repertoire beyond rhythm and blues without giving up its feeling for musical speech.
On the SACD the twelve songs follow one another in their original order: first the six big-band titles, then the six ballads with strings. The change of ensemble arrives in the middle of one uninterrupted listen – which makes the moment the horns give way to the strings all the more striking.
Quincy Jones and the horns
The big-band arrangements come from Quincy Jones. Musicians from the orbit of Count Basie and Duke Ellington bring their experience, among them Clark Terry, Zoot Sims and Freddie Green, joined by players from Charles’ own musical circle. David “Fathead” Newman takes several solos, and Paul Gonsalves can be heard on “Two Years of Torture”.
“Let the Good Times Roll”, from Louis Jordan’s repertoire, makes the division of roles clear from the first bars. Listen to how Charles phrases a line and how the horns answer it. The size of the ensemble shows in more than volume – it shows in how many different answers a single singer can receive.
Strings by Ralph Burns
Ralph Burns wrote the string arrangements. The second half opens with “Just for a Thrill” and closes with “Come Rain or Come Shine”, with songs such as “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Cryin’” and “Am I Blue?” along the way. The strings give the same voice a different setting, and Charles does not have to change his musical identity to live in it.
It pays to listen for the distance between a sung phrase and its orchestral continuation. The album is more than two ensembles placed side by side: its sequence leads from the direct address of the big band to the longer lines of the ballads. Jerry Wexler and Nesuhi Ertegun oversaw the production, and Tom Dowd and Bill Schwartau were part of the recording team.
The Atlantic 75 hybrid stereo SACD
CAPA 066 SA is a hybrid stereo SACD from the Analogue Productions Atlantic 75 Series. The SACD layer plays on SACD-capable players, the CD layer on any conventional CD player. The disc contains the twelve songs of the original album.
You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and ship from Hilden.
More from the series: Atlantic 75 Series
Also in another edition: The Genius Of Ray Charles
More SACDs by Ray Charles: Ray Charles · What’d I Say
Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe
Musicians
Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.
| Name | Instrument / role |
|---|---|
| Ray Charles | Vocals, Piano |
| Clark Terry | Trumpet |
| Ernie Royal | Trumpet |
| Joe Newman | Trumpet |
| Snooky Young | Trumpet |
| Marcus Belgrave | Trumpet |
| John Hunt | Trumpet |
| Melba Liston | Trombone |
| Quentin Jackson | Trombone |
| Thomas Mitchell | Trombone |
| Al Grey | Trombone |
| Frank Wess | Tenor saxophone, Alto saxophone, Flute |
| Paul Gonsalves | Tenor saxophone |
| Zoot Sims | Tenor saxophone |
| Billy Mitchell | Tenor saxophone |
| David "Fathead" Newman | Tenor saxophone |
| Quincy Jones | Conductor |
| Bob Brookmeyer | Valve trombone |
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