Ray Charles On Jay Leno’s Tonight Show (1993)

Ray Charles was a guest on the Tonight Show on 15 September 1993. Ray brought his Orchestra. They played Oh, What A Beautiful Morning. The other guests were Halle Berry and Jerry Seinfeld.
Seinfeld did two segments, leaving no time for Berry. Halle cried sour tears backstage because – even though she would be re-scheduled – it would not be on a night with stars as big as Ray and Jerry.
Much to Ray’s chagrin (being used to many guest appearances at the series hosted by Sullivan and Carson), it would remain the only Leno show where he was ever invited. Source here.

Personnel*:
David Hoffman, Larry Foyen, Kurt Weiss, Ken Scharf – trumpet; Michel Guerrier, Steve Sigmund, Marc Fields, Pete Beltran – trombone; Al Waters – tenor saxophone; Al Jackson – alto saxophone, band leader; Steve Elliot, Rudy Johnson, James Farnsworth – saxophone; Kenny Carr – guitar; Nils Johnson – bass; Peter Turre – drums, Ernest Vantrease – organ.
*Information kindly provided by Nils Johnson and David Hoffman. 

Photos 5 – 9 by Ray Norton / NBC / Getty.