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Ray Charles, Count Basie Swing Posthumously
Genius loves company, even in the afterlife.
The late great Ray Charles is making a posthumous gig with the Count Basie Band for a new album from the brain trust behind the Grammy-winning, chart-topping Genius Loves Company.
Concord Records and Starbucks are combining to release Ray Sings, Basie Swings, combining hitherto lost Charles vocals backed by new arrangements from the legendary bandleader's orchestra. The disc will be available in retail outlets, as well as all Starbucks stores across the U.S. and Canada, beginning Oct. 3.
The driving force behind the project is Concord Records head John Burk, who unearthed tapes labeled "Ray/Basie" late last year while combing through the label's vaults in Berkeley, California. Initially, Burk believed that Charles and Basie may have played together. But upon closer examination, the recordings, made in the mid-1970s, featured the R&B legend with his backing band and a separate set from Basie's orchestra.
"The quality of these reels wasn't great," Burk said in a press release. "They appeared to be recordings from the live soundboard with Ray's vocal way up front, and the band way in the background. At first, the tapes seemed unusable, but Ray sounded amazing."
Burk and fellow producer Gregg Field digitally stripped out the background music from Charles' songs and then approached Count Basie's group to record new compositions that were mixed with the iconic crooner's lines. (Although Basie died in 1984, his eponymous band continues to perform.)
"I was disappointed that Ray wasn't performing with the Basie band. But, then I thought that we could rerecord the music with the current Basie Orchestra," Burk continued. "The end result is a beautiful, authentic and irreplaceable piece of music. These tapes were just waiting for technology to catch up so we can help Ray do what he always did so naturally--make magic happen."
Ray Sings, Basie Swings features new versions of such Charles' classics as "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Let the Good Times Roll," and "Georgia on My Mind," a cover of the Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road" and "Every Saturday Night," a long-time concert favorite that he never included on a record.
Burk can only hope the collaborative effort approximated the success Genius Loves Company, a series of duets Charles recorded before his death in 2004 with the likes of Norah Jones, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt and Natalie Cole. The collection sold 3.2 million copies and earned Charles five posthumous Grammys, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year.
Speaking of Cole, Ray Sings, Basie Swings takes its inspiration from 1991's Unforgettable...with Love. on which she spliced her own vocals opposite her late father, Nat King Cole, for a duet on the title cut.
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