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06 July 2013

Ray Charles Live At The Wolf Trap (1997)

On June 21, 1997 Ray Charles gave a concert at the Wolf Trap in Vienna (VA). An audience-taped recording, with a very reasonable quality has survived.
  1. Woody 'n' Bu (The Ray Charles Orchestra); solos KS - tp, RJ - ts, EV - p 
  2. Unidentified instrumental* (The Ray Charles Orchestra); solos AW - ts, TM - tp
  3. Easy Living (The Ray Charles Orchestra); solos DH - fh, KS - tp, JF - bs
  4. Intro RC
  5. Then We'll Be Home (Sadies Tune)
  6. Busted
  7. Georgia On My Mind
  8. Mississippi Mud
  9. Still Crazy After All These Years
  10. Hallelujah I Love Her So
  11. Say No More
  12. Blues For Big Scotia
  13. A Song For You
  14. Intro Raelettes (by RC)
  15. Alexander's Ragtime Band
  16. Guess Who I Saw Today (The Raelettes)
  17. Hit The Road Jack
  18. I Can't Stop Loving You
  19. What'd I Say
  20. Outro
Personnel:
The line-up was highly similar or identical to the personnel listing during the Europe tour in July 1997.
Musicians: Ted Murdock, Roger Ingram, David Hoffman (fh), Ken Scharf - trumpets; Mike Guerrier, Steve Sigmund, Clay Lawry, Wayne Coniglio - trombones; Al Waters, Al Jackson, Steve Elliott, Rudy Johnson, James Farnsworth - saxophones; Peter Turre - drums; Kenny Carr - guitar; Tom Fowler - bass; Ernest Vantrease - keyboards. The Raelettes: Estella Yarbrough, Katrina Harper Cooke, Kathy Mackey, Karen Evans, Tonette McKinney.

Many thanks to David Hoffman. * Help in naming this tune appreciated!

Ray Charles Live At The ArtPark (1990)

On 20 June 1990 Ray Charles played at the ArtPark in Lewiston. An audience-taped recording can be found here.

1. Sister Sadie - partial (The Ray Charles Orchestra); solo Scott Frillman - bs
2. Fire Up (The Ray Charles Orchestra)
3. The Shadow Of Your Smile (The Ray Charles Orchestra)
4. Unidentified instrumental (The Ray Charles Orchestra)
5. Metamorphosis (The Ray Charles Orchestra)
6. Orchestra outro Jam
7. Intro RC
8. Riding Thumb
9. Busted
10. Georgia On My Mind
11. Mississippi Mud
12. The Brightest Smile In Town
13. Feel So Bad
14. She Knows (Tape Flip Edit At 50:14)
15. Intro Raelettes (by RC)
16. Don't Set Me Free (ft Estella Yarbrough)
17. Guess Who I Saw Today (with The Raelettes)
18. Hit The Road Jack
19. I Can't Stop Loving You
20. Smack Dab In The Middle
21. Lay Around And Love On You (All I Wanna Do Is --)
22. What'd I Say
23. Outro

Who can help (definitively) identify the title of #4?

Personnel:
The line-up was probably (almost?) identical to the one during the European tour in July '90.
Musicians: Chuck Parrish, Jeff Kaye, Jeff Helgesen, Kenny Rampton - trumpets; Steve Sigmund, Mike Guerrier, Marc Fields, Wayne Coniglio - trombones; Al Waters, Rudy Johnson, Al Jackson, Craig Bailey, Scott Frillman; David Rokeach - drums; Kenny Carr - guitar; Benoît Grey - bass; Ernest Vantrease - piano, organ. Raelettes: Trudy Cohran, Kay Nickerson, ?Lalomie Washburn?, Angie Workman, Estella Yarbrough.

04 July 2013

The Ray Charles Big Band's First Concert In Europe (1961)*

For an update of this article, read this.

Ad for Ray Charles' first big band concert in Europe, on October 18, 1961 at the Kongresshaus-Bühne in Zurich.
From the Hans Philippi Collection (curated by Mario Schneeberger).

Pages from the Zurich concert's souvenir brochure.
Collection Mario Schneeberger.
Invitation and ticket for exclusive 'after party' organized by the New Jazz Club Zurich, with band members Rudy Powell, Keg Johnson, Dickie Wells and Henderson Chambers as honorary guests.
From the Hans Philippi Collection (curated by Mario Schneeberger).
The concert's review in Le Matin - Tribune de Lausanne.
From the Hans Philippi Collection (curated by Mario Schneeberger).
The line-up no doubt was similar to the one in Paris, a few days later: musicians - Marcus Belgrave, Wallace Davenport, Phil Guilbeau, John Hunt - trumpets; Henderson Chambers, Leon Comegys, James Lee Harbert, Keg Johnson - trombones; Hank Crawford (alto saxophone, band leader), Rudy Powell - alto saxophone; David Newman - tenor saxophone, flute; Don Wilkerson - tenor saxophone; Leroy Cooper - baritone saxophone; Bruno Carr - drums; Sonny Forriest - guitar; Edgar Willis - bass;  Raelettes - Priscilla “Pat” Moseley Lyles, Margie Hendricks, Gwen Berry, Darlene McCrea.

From an annotated page in Hans Philippi's copy of the souvenir program (not reproduced here) and from the review in the Tribune de Lausanne, it's possible to reconstruct (most of) the setlist (I'm quoting the solo attributions from the newspaper review):
  • Whisper Not
  • Happy Faces
  • I Remember Clifford (JH - bg)
  • ?Gone? (DN - fl)
  • Ghana
  • Moanin' (PG - tp)
  • Let The Good Times Roll (HC - tb)
  • Georgia On My Mind
  • Come Rain Or Come Shine (DW - ts)
  • Alexander's Ragtime Band (with The Raelettes) (JH - bg)
  • ?Greenbacks? (with The Raelettes) (DN - ts)
  • I Wonder
  • Margie
  • What'd I Say (RC - ep)
Gone is a title unknown to me (or did the newspaper critic refer to a performance of When Your Lover Is Gone?). Greenbacks (also mentioned in the review) is a complete surprise in this live context (and, I'd say,  probably incorrect). The specification of Ray playing electric piano on What'd I Say may well indicates that he did not play his Hammond at all in Zurich.
There is a rumor that the concert was taped and/or broadcast by a Swiss radio station, and that a digital copy of the recording has survived. It would be marvelous if that copy would surface one of these days.

* Special thanks to Mario Schneeberger, who generously scanned & shared the documents reproduced above.