Birth Of A Band (With The Ray Charles Orchestra)

Album (DVD): O Gênio, Rhino/WEA, 16 November 2004.

This was one of the charts donated by Quincy Jones to the book of the new Ray Charles big band in 1961.

Don’t miss the tenor chase with Fathead and Tina Brooks in the O Gênio clip, from 1963. The full line-up in São Paulo: Musicians: Oliver Beener, Roy Burrows, Phil Guilbeau – trumpet; Julian Priester, Keg Johnson, James Harbert, Henderson Chambers – trombone; Harold Minerve, Danny Turner – alto saxophone; David Fathead Newman, Tina Brooks – tenor saxophone; Leroy Cooper – baritone saxophone; Wilbert Hogan – drums; Sonny Forriest – guitar; Edgar Willis – bass.

The 1961 renditions in Zurich and Paris (where Don Wilkerson was Fathead’s ‘chase’ partner) were even better.

O Gênio, São Paulo, 1963:

’61 LC Zurich
’61 LC Paris – 3x
’63 LC Gênio – Released
’64 LC Copenhagen