For example I didn't know he had played pure jazz like on the four “big band” instrumentals tracks filled with saxes and trumpets that open the album : “Hot Rod”, “Blues Waltz”, the excellent mischievous mambo-flavored “In A Little Spanish Town”, or the more classic jazz piece “Sherry” where he appears a skilled jazz pianist. Lesser did I know that he also played alto sax as he does here on “Hot Rod” & “The Spirit Free”!
The “genius of soul” proves he perfectly deserves his dub name on his heartfelt rendition of “A Fool For You”. The superb “I Got A Woman”, “Talkin' 'Bout You” (where his roaring voice must have impressed the younger James Brown), “Swanee River Rock” (2) and “Yes Indeed!” are outstanding R'n'B blended with a heavy dose of “secular gospel” (or the other way around), one of Charles trademarks which announces the legendary “What'd I Say” that will close the album. This mix of the sacred spiritual music (gospel) with the “music of the devil” (blues) had shocked many at the time, including musicians.
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| Ray & Margie Hendrix |
On the second version of “The Right Time”, as mentioned above, Charles shares the vocals with his darling Margie whose energetic performance could compete with a Koko Taylor.
Back to jazz with a couple of instrumental numbers which allow his musicians, particularly sax player David “Fat Head” Newman and drummer Teagle Fleming, to express their skillful playing : another mambo-spiced title, “Frenesi”, and the bebop “The Spirit-Feel” where he is on alto sax, as mentioned earlier.
Return to R'n'B with “Tell The Truth”, screamed by Charles, and Soul with the emotional intensity of the slow “Drown In My Own Tears”. The big moment is the long awaited “What'd I Say” which concludes superbly this reconstituted concert featuring the best moments of two performances : at The Newport Jazz Festival in July 1958, and in Atlanta, Georgia (3), in May 1959.
This album has been very intelligently edited so that the intensity of Charles performances raise track after track, alternating jazz numbers with his unique soul-dominated mix of gospel and R'n'B. A perfect CD to discover the multiple facets of this huge artist. ■
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| With Frank Sinatra |
(2) The 16th track, “Swanee River Rock”, was included only in the 1987 CD edition with a new track order, the one reviewed here.
(3) In March 1961, two years after the 1959 concert in Atlanta, a few month after the release of "Georgia on My Mind", Georgia-born Charles was in Augusta to give a concert. When he learned by a telegram that the auditorium was completely segregated, he refused to play and left right away in protest. His resulting banishment from ever playing again in Georgia, is not authentic.
■ Ray Charles in concert
► Madrid, Spain, 1975 : https://youtu.be/uxfjJ2lB1A0 |
| With the Raylettes |
► With B.B. King, Tokyo, 1990 : https://youtu.be/NLKmF_wjRrE
► Melbourne, Australia, 1997 (feat. Kylie Minogue in the final part) : https://youtu.be/Pdqz38yCy6w?t=214 - or - https://youtu.be/81Y9vLkJZy0?t=3629
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