The audience at a Ray Charles concert was an almost perfect cross-section of American culture, his fans representing every age, race, ideology, and preference in music genre. The unifying factor was Charles himself, and his timeless, universal appeal.
Catching Some Rays! A Jazz Celebration of Ray Charles explores that diversity, through song and narrative anecdotes. The program weaves its way through Charles’ life, music, and how he became the father of soul music when he combined gospel music with secular lyrics.
Catching Some Rays! features many of Charles’ original compositions (“Unchain My Heart,” “Hit the Road Jack”), blues standards (“I Don’t Need No Doctor”), Charles’ masterful interpretation of the Great American Songbook (“Come Rain or Come Shine” “Hard Hearted Hannah” “Georgia On My Mind”), his take on pop tunes (“A Song for You”), Charles’ affinity for Country & Western (“I Can’t Stop Loving You”) and even his 1972 arrangement of “America the Beautiful”, at the time a daring foray for an African-American artist on the heels of the turbulent 60’s and the struggling civil rights movement.
Check out our official Catching Some Rays! A Jazz Celebration of Ray Charles video demo!
MORE videos from Catching Some Rays!
