Genius Without Borders, A Symposium In Honor Of Ray Charles (2009)

On 7 and 8 March 2009 the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College in Chicago organized the symposium Genius Without Borders: A Symposium in Honor of the Genius of Ray Charles, with a program of paper sessions, lecture-demonstrations, and panel discussions on Ray Charles’s compositions, musical influences, life, and legacy. The Ray Charles Foundation was collaborating with the CBMR through a small exhibit of select Charles memorabilia.

Some of the presentations were taped, and put online (but e.g. not the session with Charles' band members).
Warning: the content of the video below is not exactly fascinating:

• Fredara Hadley (Indiana University), "'I Choose to Sing the Blues': The Impact of the Gospel Sound That Was and the Gospel Singer Who Wasn't".
• Tammy Kernodle (Miami University of Ohio), "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning: Ray Charles and the Theology of Soul".
• Stanley Crouch (author and African-American cultural critic), "Genius + Soul = Jazz".
• Lecture-performance featuring Dr. Guy's MusiQologY Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr. (University of Pennsylvania), "Blue Genius": Ray Charles's Rhythm and Blues.
• "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" [Michael Gray (Country Music Hall of Fame), moderator; James Austin (Independent Producer), "How Modern Sounds in Country and Western Affected Top 40 Radio"; Diane Pecknold (University of Louisville), "How Ray Charles Made Country Modern"].
• David Ritz, "The Right Reverend Ray: His Spiritual Legacy".