Customer Reviews

Genius After Hours

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A lot of folks forget that Ray Charles was a killer jazz-blues pianist. And this CD showcases that side of his talent. An all instrumental set that focuses on his jazz piano style with a heavy dose of the blues!
This is perfect late night listening. An especially nice are the trio cuts, which make up about half of the CD.
Late-night stripped down Ray with a serious case of the blues is what you get here!

This is a rare opportunity to hear Ray playing straight ahead jazz with legends Joe Harris on drums and Oscar Pettiford walking the bass. Listen to Ray bop along side Joe as he stirs the soup on the brushes during "Dawn Ray". Make no mistake this rhythm section swings hard; after all bop mastro Dizzy Gillespie hired Joe to play drums in his band during the mid 1940's. Enjoy all 38 minutes!

As the title indicates this is lovely set of recordings of Ray Charles playing Blues/Jazz Piano either with a Trio or with various horn and/or Trumpet players. The best known being Dave 'Fathead' Newman on Tenor Sax.
Another well known musician featured is Oscar Pettiford on bass.

This set shows that even if Ray Charles had never sung a note in his life his Blues and Jazz Piano playing would have been good enough to make a good career out of. My favourite track is 'Joy Ride' a bebop (Parker) inspired blues variation which I'm fond of playing to friends and saying "Who's the Piano player?". Nobody has answered the question correctly yet! It just isn't a style of Piano playing you associate with Ray Charles.

The recordings were made in 1961 and the running time is only 38 minutes. Listening to them again recently it only confirmed my view that Ray Charles was one of the most important figures in black American music full stop.

If I was in a quiet bar, enjoying a quiet drink, late at night, feeling mellow and relaxed ... this is the music I'd be listening to. I know nothing about jazz (my wife told me) but even I know a stunning recording when I hear it. Released in 1961, therefore only 38 minutes of music on this album, but hey, it's 1961 right? If you want more, play it twice.

The genius could do it all. You want straight ahead jazz with a little something extra on the piano, ask Ray. This one will let you cozy up to that special someone on one of those quiet nights.

Quite simply, this is a great record (and I owned the original vinyl). Great presence from Ray, terrific jazz and blues. Ray doesn't sing on this but his piano playing is both easy to listen to and very soulful. Everything you's expect from Mr. Charles focused onto the piano and into the songs. For me, this is must have.

The only reason one might not like this would be because they simply don't like Ray Charles and that would be reason enough not to buy it. But if you do like him as I surely do, then this is a must have of his work if you don't have it.