Written by
Bob Stumpel

March 2
2012


Ray Charles Live In Rio (1986)


'86 LC RioConcert 1986 Rio

Photo by Sergio Amara.

On 2 and 3 September 1986 Ray Charles performed at the Free Jazz Festival(at the Teatro do Hotel Nacional) in Rio de Janeiro. (The event was not about free jazz, but the jazz was free). One of the shows was taped for TV. Gregorio Robin directed the program.

Before the concert part there’s a brief interview (at the end of it, as a thank you, Ray takes and strikes the interviewer’s wrist). The songs got a ‘fast edit’ with flashy fade-overs between the numbers. Ray’s voice and piano were not ideally balanced against the orchestra sound.
I do not know the air date of the TV program. A segment with only the 5th and 6th tracks of the taping was televized in Brazil on September 21st, in episode 2 of a series of five 25-minute magazines about the festival.

The full TV show had the following track list:

  1. Intro
  2. You Made Me Love You (solo Clifford Solomon – ts)
  3. Georgia On My Mind
  4. Feel So Bad (solo Jeff Pevar – g)
  5. If You Wouldn’t Be My Lady
  6. She Knows (solo Morris Pleasure – b)
  7. The Pages Of My Mind (with The Raelettes)
  8. I Can’t Stop Loving You
  9. I Can See Clearly Now
  10. What’d I Say
  11. We Are The World
  12. Outro

(Collection André Monnot).

#5 served more or less as a long intro to a marvelous rendition of She Knows (#6). #7, The Pages Of My Mind, is a rare live version of this title song of the 1986 album.

The “promotional” 2-disk album set, pictured left, titled Free Jazz Festival – Brasil ’86 was offered for sale on Ebay a while ago. It simply compiled earlier recordings by the festival’s stars.
The choice for Ray was a bit surprising. Disk 1, Side B, track #1 had Rock And Roll Shoes (the duet with B.J. Thomas). For Disk 2, Side A, track #3 they picked Seven Spanish Angels (the duet with Willie Nelson).


Comments

Bob Stumpel — 2012-03-19 15:10:14

I had it attributed to Angie Workman (not Elaine Woodard), but if that's a mistake, who do you think it was?

Anonymous — 2012-03-19 14:14:46

Hi Bob La chanteuse sur "The Page Oy Mind" n'est-elle pas "Elaine Woodard"?JPV

Bob Stumpel — 2012-03-08 16:24:39

Cher Anonymus, You can open en email account within 1 minute here: mail.google.com/

Bob Stumpel — 2012-03-06 11:25:12

To anonymous: I would love to discuss your last message, but I can not do that here. Please contact me over email: bob@result.com Best regards, BOB

Anonymous — 2012-03-04 21:48:01

Cher Bob Stumpel, Je suis prêt à t'envoyer le concert complet (avec d'autres concerts, parce que j'ai 186 concerts du Ray Charles) seulement si vous avez une photo ou une vidéo d'Arturo Sandoval avec Ray Charles, ou si vous avez le concert complet du "Moulin Rouge - Le 100è anniversaire". Je te réponds ici parce que je n'ai pas d'e-mail.

Bob Stumpel — 2012-03-03 22:30:54

Thank you very much for your compliment;-! I started this blog in 2010. I'd love to see that segment of the Rio concert. Can you please contact me directly? My email address is bob@result.com.

Anonymous — 2012-03-03 19:50:41

Je suis un grand fan de Ray Charles. Je te pose cette question parce que j'ai le segment du concert qui a été télévisé. J'ai assisté à cet magnifique (comme tous les concerts du Ray Charles) concert. Je vous remercie pour la création d'un blog comme celui-ci. Il est génial. Quand vous avez créé ce blog?

Bob Stumpel — 2012-03-03 11:22:32

Nope. Who are you, and why are you asking?

Anonymous — 2012-03-03 08:40:18

Hello, how do you do? Have you got the segment of the concert that was televized? Merci beaucoup.

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