Sax
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November 19, 2014
All I Ever Need Is You
Read moreAlbum: Volcanic Action Of My Soul, ABC/Tangerine 726, April 1971. Recorded at RPM International in Los Angeles. The musicians remained uncredited. Glen Campbell on mandolin, Jerry Reed on guitar.Ray may have played that alto solo (as he always did during live performances of the song). The demo that Ray used to brief Sid Feller on the […]
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November 17, 2014
Blue Stone (The Ray Charles Septet)
Read moreUnreleased. The Ray Charles ‘Septet’ had recorded this tune in October 1960 for Hank Crawford’s album Soul Clinic (Atlantic SD 1372, 1962).As a “Band Within The Band” they (John Hunt, Phil Guilbeau, Hank Crawford, David Fathead Newman, Leroy Cooper, Edgar Willis, and only Bruno Carr replacing Milt Turner on drums) were taped live three times during the […]
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November 13, 2014
Doot Doot Dow (With Orchestra)
Read moreUnreleased. First recorded on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, in early 1969. Ray Charles on alto saxophone, accompanied by the Nelson Riddle Orchestra: Update 01.02.2021: the video of this performance is no longer available on YouTube, please let me know in the comments below if you have any footage, thanks — Cyd He played it again […]
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November 8, 2014
Hot Rod (aka The Spirit-Feel) (With The Ray Charles Septet)
Read moreAlbum: Ray Charles At Newport, Atlantic 1289, October 1958.Album: Ray Charles In Person, Atlantic 8039, May 1960 (1959). The tune, written by Milt Jackson, is only known from the two earliest released live concerts in Newport (1958) and Atlanta (1959). 1958 line-up:Ray Charles – voice, piano, alto saxophone; Marcus Belgrave, Lee Harper – trumpets; David Fathead Newman – […]
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November 8, 2014
How Long Blues (aka How Long) (With Milt Jackson)
Read moreAlbum: Soul Brothers, Atlantic 1279, June 1958. Recorded in New York on 12 September 1957. How Long Blues is the most extended example of Ray’s sax playing on record. Milt Jackson – vibraharp, (during Ray’s sax chorus and Pettiford’s 1st bass chorus:) piano; Ray Charles – alto saxophone, piano; Billy Mitchell – tenor saxophone; Skeeter Best […]
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October 22, 2014
On Saturday Night (A Little Fun —) (With SNL Cast)
Read moreAlbum 3 (VHS): Saturday Night Live, Warner Home Video 085392902132, 23 August 1989; DVD: Universal Studios, 13 March 2011 – both with this SNL episode (#051, aka season 3, episode 5). The show aired on 12 November 1977. At the end Ray performed a 1-minute ditty – titled (A Little Fun) On Saturday Night – with the cast of […]
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October 12, 2014
The Story (With Ray Charles Septet)
Read moreCompilation album (DVD): Pure Genius: The Complete Atlantic Recordings, Atlantic/WEA, 20 September 2005. The tune was written by tenor saxophonist James Moody and arranged by Ray Charles. The small band first played it at the 1960 Newport Festival. Hank Crawford played it on his first album, More Soul, played with the small band ex Ray. In 1961 […]
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October 10, 2014
Unidentified Instrumental (Ray Charles On Alto)
Read moreAlbum (DVD): O Gênio, Rhino/WEA, 16 November 2004. The clip below shows the “unidentified instrumental” from the São Paulo concerts on 19 September 1963 at the Cultura Artística theater in São Paulo. It’s one of the oldest Ray Charles live-clips on YouTube. It keeps on amazing people who didn’t know that The Genius also could bop on his alto […]
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October 7, 2014
X-Ray Blues (With Milt Jackson)
Read moreAlbum: Soul Meeting, Atlantic 1360, February 1961 (1957 – 1958). Recorded in New York on April 10, 1958. Ray Charles – (to the end of guitar solo:) piano, alto saxophone, (after that:) electric piano; Milt Jackson – vibraphone, piano); Kenny Burrell – guitar; Percy Heath – bass; Art Taylor – drums.
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October 9, 2011
Birth Of A Big Band: Ray Charles’ October 1961 Concerts In Paris
Read moreDavid Newman Hank Crawford. Don Wilkerson. John Hunt. Phil Guilbeau. Keg Johnson. Leroy Cooper. Sonny Forriest. Bruno Carr. In 1961 Ray Charles conquered France. End of July he was the “artist in residence” (as we would now call it) at the Antibes festival, where he performed with his “small big band” (although he had established […]
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June 21, 2011
Ray Charles Ft. In Téléthon (1988)
Read moreVideo still from the show. On December 3, 1988 Ray Charles guested in an Antenne 2 Téléthon in Paris (INA ID CPB88015483), entitledChamps Elysées. The show – presented by Michel Drucker, Claude Serillon and Gérard Holtz – was raising funds for children. Ray performed a beautiful version of If You Go Away (even inserting a one-time “ne […]
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May 9, 2011
Ray Charles Live In Japan (1992)
Read moreAlthough he is not 200% positive (only recognizing the contours of a familiar Moon bass, but not his own profile), Nils Johnson thinks this footage may originate from the concert for Earth Day that was produced by the Japanese public broadcasting organisation (NHK) in Tokyo, in 1992. The program was either broadcast live on 22 […]