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Ray Sings, Basie Swings
Ray Sings, Basie Swings in Bloomington, MN
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Ray Sings, Basie Swings
, huh? Hmm, well, yes and no. You see, the story goes something like this. In 2005,
Concord Records
exec
John Burk
, who produced
Ray Charles
' superb late-career, Grammy-winning
Genius Loves Company
, found a reel of tape simply labeled "
Ray
/
Basie
." Upon further analysis, it was determined that the 1973 recording featured
backed by his own band --
Count Basie
and his band had actually recorded earlier that day.
Charles
' vocal was exceptionally prominent in the mix and at first it was thought that this potentially momentous discovery would prove unable to bear fruit. But then
Burk
brainstormed and decided to bring the current
Count Basie Orchestra
-- whose leader died in 1984 -- into the studio to lay tracks behind
' vocals. So there's no
on
, but that's merely a technicality, because there is some great music.
was in fine form vocally on this mix of remakes of his early
ABC-Paramount
-era hits and then-recent material. The consecutive reworkings of
"Busted,"
"Cryin' Time,"
and
"I Can't Stop Loving You,"
three of his defining Top Ten hits of the early '60s, are given brassy, bluesy treatments here, and
standards
ranging from
Oscar Hammerstein II
's
"Oh, What a Beautiful Morning"
to
the Beatles
'
"The Long and Winding Road"
are transformed in
' hands. The set-closing
"Georgia on My Mind,"
as close to a signature song as
had, is given a tender, minimalist reading, but the track preceding it,
"Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma,"
picked up from the
folk-pop
singer
Melanie
, is quite possibly the album's highlight. It's appeared on other
compilations before, but the
gospelized
, testifyin' version featured here has got to be the liveliest take on that song anyone's ever devised. So, yeah, there's no
to be found here, but his namesake orchestra does him proud. For one of those postmortem studio patch jobs that owes as much to technology as talent, it's a fine addition to the
oeuvre, as long as one can get past the semi-false advertising of its title. ~ Jeff Tamarkin
, huh? Hmm, well, yes and no. You see, the story goes something like this. In 2005,
Concord Records
exec
John Burk
, who produced
Ray Charles
' superb late-career, Grammy-winning
Genius Loves Company
, found a reel of tape simply labeled "
Ray
/
Basie
." Upon further analysis, it was determined that the 1973 recording featured
backed by his own band --
Count Basie
and his band had actually recorded earlier that day.
Charles
' vocal was exceptionally prominent in the mix and at first it was thought that this potentially momentous discovery would prove unable to bear fruit. But then
Burk
brainstormed and decided to bring the current
Count Basie Orchestra
-- whose leader died in 1984 -- into the studio to lay tracks behind
' vocals. So there's no
on
, but that's merely a technicality, because there is some great music.
was in fine form vocally on this mix of remakes of his early
ABC-Paramount
-era hits and then-recent material. The consecutive reworkings of
"Busted,"
"Cryin' Time,"
and
"I Can't Stop Loving You,"
three of his defining Top Ten hits of the early '60s, are given brassy, bluesy treatments here, and
standards
ranging from
Oscar Hammerstein II
's
"Oh, What a Beautiful Morning"
to
the Beatles
'
"The Long and Winding Road"
are transformed in
' hands. The set-closing
"Georgia on My Mind,"
as close to a signature song as
had, is given a tender, minimalist reading, but the track preceding it,
"Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma,"
picked up from the
folk-pop
singer
Melanie
, is quite possibly the album's highlight. It's appeared on other
compilations before, but the
gospelized
, testifyin' version featured here has got to be the liveliest take on that song anyone's ever devised. So, yeah, there's no
to be found here, but his namesake orchestra does him proud. For one of those postmortem studio patch jobs that owes as much to technology as talent, it's a fine addition to the
oeuvre, as long as one can get past the semi-false advertising of its title. ~ Jeff Tamarkin
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