Ray and the girls kept on to Donny's tempo: a long, slow, soaring love lament. It was performed many times by Trudy Cohran, and (after she left The Raelettes) also by Tonette McKinney.
Announcement on the Russian
torrent website [name withheld].
Through the Jazz On The Screen database I was aware of two concerts by Ray Charles at the Russia Concert Hall in Moscow on 13 and 14 July 1994, sponsored by Alfa-Bank, and of the fact that the second one, directed by Sergei Antipov, was recorded for TV. The Ray Charles concerts were part of the 2nd Annual Moscow Jazz Festival.
A Russian torrent website not only adds a few details to that description (i.e. that the TV show was aired by RTR, and that the concert was also - simultaneously, as it turns out - broadcast by "Prestige" radio), it also offers a possibility to download the concert!
Sergei Antipov, sitting at an editing console, introduced the viewers to different sequences of the show. Ray's presence in Moscow was clearly a big event. The footage starts with a reportage from a press conference at Hotel Metropol, where Ray - at his charming best - expresses his clearly genuine gratitude for being invited to Moscow for the first time in his career. Further on in the program, we see a number of street interviews with members of the audience.
The concert footage comes from the show on July 14th. Ray, the band and The Raelettes were in great shape that night. Tonette McKinney's rendition of the Donny Hathaway tune Giving Up (#14) is a marvel (watch below).
The setlist* was:
Metamorphosis (Ray Charles Orchestra) (solos Ernest Vantrease - kb; Curt Weiss - tp, Al Jackson - as)
Intro RC
Then We'll Be Home (Sadies Tune)
Busted
Georgia On My Mind
Mississippi Mud
How Long Has This Been Going On (solo David Hoffman - tp)
Teardrops From My Eyes (solo Al Waters - ts)
Yours
Blues For Big Scotia
A Song For You
Intro Raelettes (by RC)
Rock Steady (ft Estella Yarbrough)
Giving Up (ft Tonette McKinney)
Hit The Road Jack
I Can't Stop Loving You
What'd I Say (intro: Gonna Keep On Singin')
Outro
Personnel*: Musicians: Larry Foyen, Kurt Weiss, David Hoffman, Kenny Scharf - trumpets; Steve Sigmund, Mike Guerrier, Marc Fields, Pete Beltran - trombones; Steve Elliott, Al Jackson - alto saxophones; Al Waters, Rudy Johnson - tenor saxophones; Jim Farnsworth - baritone saxophone; Peter Turre - drums; Steve Gregory - guitar; Tom Fowler - bass; Ernest Vantrease - piano, organ. The Raelettes: Elaine Woodard, Tonette McKinney, Estelle Yarbrough, Renee Collins Georges, Angela Workman. * Many thanks to David Hoffman for attributing the solos and completing the line-up.
Metamorphosis (Ray Charles Orchestra):
Giving Up (Tonette McKinney):
Rhythm section: Peter Turre - d; Steve Gregory - g; Tom Fowler - b; Ernest Vantrease - o. The other Raelettes: Elaine Woodard, Estelle Yarbrough, Renee Collins Georges, Angela Workman.
On 15 July CBS' Early Show covered the event with an item under the title Ray Charles performs at 2nd Annual Jazz Festival in Moscow (source here). The AP Archive has databased another news item (originally from Worldwide Television News, a company they bought), first aired on 18 July 1994, showing how Ray Charles arrives in Moscow, then has a press conference, and then performs.
Also read this article in the Moscow Times.
"If it's really something good that was not on the record, that's okay, because when I perform I can make the performance of the song better than the record was."
The Genie
Ray Charles at the Apollo (Apr. or maybe Oct. 1959), working on his Wurlitzer. Photo by Alex Harsley.
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About
The Ray Charles Video Museum is a research project, documenting live performances by The Genius.
This blog is above all aMediagraphy. It's also a discography (or, more correctly, a trackography), aggregating all tunes that Ray sang and/or played - including the "canon" of 700 tracks listed on the official Ray Charles website, but also identifying the songs that have never been officially released, and e.g. the recordings of other artists, where Ray backed them on piano. Thirdly, this blog has evolved into a multimedia Chronology (click the years in the panel al the top of this page) of Ray's productive live.
I also try to do some justice to the more than 1,000 great musicians and singers who contributed to Ray's career (1, 2).
The Quotes page lists the wisest, craziest and funniest things that the Genius ever said. If you want to read more about Brother Ray, go here.
The availability of the streaming video and audio content on this blog is constantly under pressure. Some rights owners still think that sharing these videos damages their sales. I'm keeping disfunctional clips as placeholders - to show that the footage exists, and to replace them when new uploads appear on the Web.
The articles in this blog are continuously updated and improved. Your help is more than welcome.
The Bishop seduces the world with his voice
Sweat strangles mute eyes
As insinuations gush out through a hydrant of sorrow
Dreams, a world never seen
Mounded on Africa's anvil, tempered down home
Documented in cries and wails
Screaming to be ignored, crooning to be heard
Throbbing from the gutter
On Saturday night
Silver offering only,
The Right Reverend's Back in Town
Don't it make you feel all right?