Ray Sings Basie Swings [Super Audio CD - DSD]

Ray Charles | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 25, 2007)
• Please Note: Requires SACD-compatible hardware
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Super Audio CD - DSD
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000UZ4FKQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,275 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Oh, What a Beautiful Morning

2. Let the Good Times Roll

3. How Long Has This Been Going On?

4. Every Saturday Night

5. Busted

6. Crying Time

7. I Can't Stop Loving You

8. Come Live with Me

9. Feel So Bad

10. The Long and Winding Road

11. Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma

12. Georgia on My Mind

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing but. . ., December 7, 2007

By 

Dennis Brandt (Red Lion, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ray Sings Basie Swings (Audio CD)

I admit I'm not a great Ray Charles fan, but the closer he gets to jazz, the better I like him. Crying Time and I Can't Stop Loving You can go the way of the dodo. But Oh! What a Beautiful Morning is a gass, and Let the Good Times Roll gets cooking. I'm not sure the pop/country oriented fans will like this album as much as jazz aficionados. And somewhere the Count is smiling at how his namesake band can still flat-out swing.

This recording is a miracle of modern technology. The vast difference in time between the two recordings just isn't audible. The vintage Charles' analog recording was copied to digital using 96 Khz, 24 bit technology, and the Count's band was recorded that way. Telarc then assumed the task of making a surround SACD version of it. Unfortunately, engineer Michael Bishop chose to place Charles' voice in all 5 (or 7) speakers. Why? Keep the voice up front where it belongs. Second, Bishop also put instruments in every speaker. Likewise, wrong. Surrounds generally are best served by carrying ambience, which would have been real easy to simulate. Frankly, if there were a two-channel version available in HDCD, that would be a better sonic choice than this SACD, or just play the two-channel version. Not that the sound is bad. Heavens no! Telarc isn't capable of making bad-sounding recordings. It's their philosophy to which I object in this particular instance, although Concord may have called the technical shots.

4.0 out of 5 stars Strange but Strong, July 7, 2009

By 

Karl W. Nehring (Ostrander, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ray Sings Basie Swings (Audio CD)

The immortality of Ray Charles refuses to die, and ghost bands still have rent to pay. But as disturbingly ghoulish and potentially exploitative as this post-mortal collaboration between the voice of Ray Charles and the legacy of Count Basie may be, the signing and swinging are both quite lively. The producers of this recording have combined the vocal track from an old Ray Charles concert performance with arrangements for the Basie band, blending them together to create a swinging session of Charles standards that is truly delightful.

5.0 out of 5 stars Ray Sings Basie Swings by Ray Charles, Count Basie Orchestra, March 21, 2009

By 

hansenmann (germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ray Sings Basie Swings (Audio CD)

Greatly recommended. Full blown big band sound. Swings, dances, rocks and space-surfs. Nothing greasy or phony throughout the whole CD. Still easily digestible for occasional Jazz listeners. Perfectly fitting vocal arrangements. All one piece. No "seams" or "glues" audible regarding the combined recordings. Very inspired and soulful singing from Ray Charles.