Post by Moz on Nov 25, 2007 19:13:29 GMT 7
Just listened to this album. Great big band orchestra with Ray's powerful, emotive voice.
A lost recording brought to life!
Quoted from Matthew Sherwin:
This CD is the result of an unusual set of circumstances: old tapes of Ray's and Basie's band were found tucked away after years of lying around gathering dust. The Basie tapes were unusable but Ray's vocals could be worked on--and they were restored after a great deal of effort, thanks to Gregg Field and Seth Present. John Burk at Concord Records had the brilliant idea of matching up Ray's restored vocals to the beat of the current Count Basie band. The result is this electrifying CD.
From Thomas Ryan of the American Hit Network
this disk contains some of the best Ray Charles recordings I've ever heard, and that is really saying something. It turns out that a record executive at Concord Records was sifting through the vault when he happened upon a reel-to-reel tape simply marked "Ray/Basie." Thinking that he just struck pure gold, the tapes were accessed, but it turns out that the box contained the two artists performing separately from one another. Furthermore, the Ray Charles recordings were poorly balanced, and presumed to be unusable. Then, the scribbling on the box provided the inspiration for a cure; If the historic recording doesn't exist, why not make it exist? So, two decades after the death of Count Basie, his orchestra was called in to provide instrumental back-up to Charles and his own band.
In theory, it sounds like it could be a mess, but the results are actually stellar. Charles has rarely sounded as inspired. He is at full power and completely in control on each of these recordings.
A lost recording brought to life!
Quoted from Matthew Sherwin:
This CD is the result of an unusual set of circumstances: old tapes of Ray's and Basie's band were found tucked away after years of lying around gathering dust. The Basie tapes were unusable but Ray's vocals could be worked on--and they were restored after a great deal of effort, thanks to Gregg Field and Seth Present. John Burk at Concord Records had the brilliant idea of matching up Ray's restored vocals to the beat of the current Count Basie band. The result is this electrifying CD.
From Thomas Ryan of the American Hit Network
this disk contains some of the best Ray Charles recordings I've ever heard, and that is really saying something. It turns out that a record executive at Concord Records was sifting through the vault when he happened upon a reel-to-reel tape simply marked "Ray/Basie." Thinking that he just struck pure gold, the tapes were accessed, but it turns out that the box contained the two artists performing separately from one another. Furthermore, the Ray Charles recordings were poorly balanced, and presumed to be unusable. Then, the scribbling on the box provided the inspiration for a cure; If the historic recording doesn't exist, why not make it exist? So, two decades after the death of Count Basie, his orchestra was called in to provide instrumental back-up to Charles and his own band.
In theory, it sounds like it could be a mess, but the results are actually stellar. Charles has rarely sounded as inspired. He is at full power and completely in control on each of these recordings.
