Ray Charles, Basie orchestra jam posthumously

09/29/2006 1:09 PM, Reuters
Sue Zeidler

Ray Charles and Count Basie never recorded together, but a new CD pairs the two music luminaries posthumously.

The CD, "Ray Sings, Basie Swings," featuring Charles' vocals from recently unearthed archival reels and newly recorded tracks by the big band that still carries Count Basie's name.

Soul titan Charles died in June 2004 and Basie passed away in 1984, but the bandleader's Count Basie Orchestra continues to tour and record, directed by Bill Hughes.

The inspiration for the CD, to be released October 3 by Concord Records and Starbucks Corp.'s Hear Music, came after producer John Burk last year discovered tapes marked "Ray/Basie," in Concord Records' vaults in Berkeley, California.

While the artists shared the same bill during their careers, they had never recorded together, leading Burk to think he had struck gold. But he said he was disappointed to find the tape contained recordings of the two artists performing separately.

Little is known about the tape, which is believed to contain recordings from 1970s concerts in Europe produced by impresario Norman Granz, according to Concord Records.

"To the best of our knowledge, Ray and Basie were on the same bill in a concert in Europe, but they never played together. They played two separate sets," said Gregg Field, the producer of "Ray Sings, Basie Swings."

Field, who was as a drummer for both the Charles' and Basie bands nearly 30 years ago, said he was approached by Concord to produce a new recording using Charles' vocal tracks from the old tape backed by new arrangements played by the Basie Orchestra.

"This was kind of like a perfect storm. Charles' vocals were incredible but the instrumentals (on the tape) were unreleaseable. We thought, wouldn't it be great to bring in the Count Basie orchestra?" said Field, who called the process a labor of love.

The finished product features Charles vocals on standards like "Let the Good Times Roll," "Georgia on My Mind" and "I Can't Stop Loving You." Many of the arrangements were written by guest instrumentalists including jazz veterans Shelly Berg, Quincy Jones and Tom Scott.

The CD also contains "Every Saturday Night" a long-time concert favorite never before released on a record.

The often-painstaking work was worth the effort, Field said. "I would love to do this with more artists. It is one of Ray's greatest performances, thanks to 21st century technology," he said.

Posthumous collaborations are not new. Singer Natalie Cole teamed up with her late father Nat King Cole on the 1991 album, "Unforgettable," which sold over 5 million copies, while former Beatles Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr collaborated in the 1990s to embellish a couple of John Lennon demos from the 1970s with overdubs to create "Free as a Bird."

"It's a brave new world, but it's a technology that could be abused," said Field, adding, "You could even make the case that if Ray were alive, he would have wanted to record with this band. This was a correct pairing. It made musical sense."