Ray Meets Ahmet In Embarquement Porte N°1 (2000)
Embarquement Porte N°1 was a TF1 series of 26 minute cultural documentaries. In 2000 they aired an episode titled La Nouvelle Orléans, bringing Michael White, Allen Toussaint, Aaron Neville, and Ahmet Ertegun on camera. The latter acted as a guide for the film makers. There’s one sequence in a hotel lobby where he briefly introduces (in flawless French) Ray Charles to the camera team – reminiscing about their first meeting in the Big Easy, in 1953, when they recorded with Guitar Slim (cf. this post).
The meeting probably took place on 27 April 2000, when Ray played the Jazz & Heritage Festival.
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