I've got some nice relaxing tunes for you today... I'm sure most of you have heard of Ray Charles either from the recent film about him Ray!, or just from hearing your pops play his old records. Charles was one of the R&B/soul icons in the 1960's. He wasn't necessarily the greatest person in the world (heroin addict, fathered children to 7 women, etc.), but he sure put out a whole cache of memorable hits. Georgia on my Mind, Hit the Road Jack, I Got a Woman....just a few of his tunes that once you hear the title you can begin to sing.
Before Charles hit the top of the Billboard charts with his singing, he actually put out a couple of jazz records with buddy and jazz-vibraphonist extraordinaire Milt Jackson. Milt Jackson, along with Lionel Hampton are probably two of the most influential and famous vibraphonists of all time. Milt always felt a little bit smoother to me. With him you would want to kick back and smoke a cigar, but with Lionel you would sit up on your seat and hang on every note.
Soul Brothers/Soul Meeting is the name of the CD which combines two sessions that Jackson and Charles recorded. The first song, "Bags of Blue" is an 8 minute masterpiece where Jackson starts it off with some excellent vibe work. Ray Charles, who predominantly plays piano on this record then hops in with a little bit of saxophone. The traditional jazz swing keeps the number moving and after a while Ray hops back on the piano and riffs over the top of it all. "Deed I Do" is a more romantic-feeling tune where the vibes and piano seem to call back and forth to one another. It almost seems made for a man/woman singing duet. Enjoy!
Ray Charles and Milt Jackson - Bags of Blue
Ray Charles and Milt Jackson - Deed I Do
No comments:
Post a Comment