Ray Charles Is In Town - Chronology 1997

1997

Interviewed for documentary Absolutely Ahmet. See this. 

January 1997

In J'aime La France tv commercial. Read this. 

Visiting School for the Blind in Anaheim. "Ray Charles and the Rhône wines of Michel Chapoutier turned a recent benefit concert for the Maryland School for the Blind, in Annapolis, into a rousing success. Chapoutier shipped a one-of-a-kind magnum of his new wine carrying a braille label to Charles after hearing about the event from his American distibutor, Paterno Imports of Chicago. A reception for the concert marked the American debut of Chapoutier braille-label wines, bottled under the M.de la Sizeranne label."

11 January 1997

A benefit concert for the Morehouse and Spelman Endowed Scholarship Funds With the Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs and jazz bands, at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, Atlanta; hosted by Bill Cosby.

On Happy Birthday Shirley. See this.  

14 January 1997

Benefit concert for the Morehouse and Spelman Endowed Scholarship Funds, Atlanta.

18 January 1997

Florida Philharmonic Pops benefit at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts,Fort Lauderdale FL with Peter Nero; also read this.

8 February 1997

With the Detroit Symphony at Orchestra Hall in Detroit MI.

9 February 1997

Rehearsals and performance for the 5th Annual ESPY Award Show at Radio City Music Hall, New York; with Muhammad Ali and Sidney Poitier. Photos here. See this.

15 February 1997
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor.

27 February 1997

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas; with Dallas Symphony.

Photo by Steve Herbert (dated Oct. 23, 1997 by source).

(28 February and?) 1 March 1997

Guest of honor at Variety Club's Dinner and Telethon event at the Adam’s Mark Hotel, St. Louis.  Broadcast on Channel 4, with Bob Eubanks serving as co-host, but unclear if Ray was part of the telecast. Also read this and this. 

Photos by Bill Greenblatt.

4 March 1997

Fiera di Milano Exhibition Centre, opening the show for Salvatore Ferragamo's new collection. See this.

Ray with Giovanna Ferragamo, and models (from Unita).

6 March 1997

Benefit for St Jude Children's Research Hospital at their 17th Annual Gala Dinner, at International Ballroom, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles CA; with Robin Williams.

20 March 1997

Michael Fowler Centre Auditorium in Wellington.

?21? March 1997
Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland.

24 March 1997

Burswood Dome in Perth. 

28 March 1997

Delray Beach Tennis Stadium, Boca Raton.

29 March 1997

Twin Oaks Mansion, Silver Springs.

30 March 1997

Concert in Silver Springs.

3 April 1997
At launch of Destiny phone card in Braille at Intele-Card trade show in Hyatt Regency, Chicago.

20 April 1997
Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington NZ.

21 April 1997

Closing the show at Easter Seals Telethon. See this.

Ray Charles with host Pat Boone.

24 April 1997
Burswood Superdome, Perth AU.

28 April 1997
Delray Beach Garlic Festival, Delray Beach FL.

29 - 30 April 1997
Twin Oaks Mansion, Silver Springs FL

25 April 1997

Benefit at the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind, at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium with Spartanburg Philharmonic, Spartanburg SC and Roberta Flack.

Detail of T-shirt sold at this concert.

May 1997
Signing of Rhino deal for 50th Anniversary Box (Billboard, May 24).



3 May 1997

Grand Gala Arts et Métiers, at "le Carrousel du Louvre, Paris FR – Sous la présidence d’honneur de M. Ray Charles".

8 May 1997
Opening of the Crown Casino in Melbourne, with John Farnham. See this.

With Anthony Warlow, Kylie Minogue and John Farnham.  

9 - 13 May 1997

Tennessee Theatre, Knoxville TN with symphony orchestra; tickets at $35.50. 

Photos by Sandy Young.

20 May 1997

Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall, opening of the MasterCard Colonial Golf Tournament, with Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth TX.

29 May 1997

Esquire Magazine photo shoot at RPM studios, LA.

31 May 1997

Concert in Silver Springs.

Early June 1997

Interviewee In Bill Clinton: Rock 'n' Roll President (air date). See this. 

5 - 6 June 1997

Ameristar Casino in Kansas City MO.

7 June 1997

At the Grand Palace in Branson MO.

12 June 1997

Biloxi Grand Theatre, Biloxi MS.

14 June 1997

City Stages Festival, HealthSouth Stage, Birmingham AL.

15 June 1997

Tennessee Theatre, Knoxville TN.

18 June 1997

House of Blues, Chicago IL.

19 June 1997

Ohio Theatre, Cleveland OH.

20 June 1997
Benefit for the Maryland School for the Blind at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore MD.

21 June 1997

Filene Center at Wolf Trap, Vienna DC, with Cassandra Wilson.

 

23 June 1997

Marina Hall Cenário, Brasília BR.

24 June 1997

La Vieja Trova Santiaguera festival.

28 June 1997 (conflicting data:)

Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore (benefit for Maryland School for the Blind, raising $102,000).

*and/or*

Saratoga Jazz Festival in Saratoga Springs NY (bootlegged). See this.

Photo taken in Saratoga, possibly in '97.

 *and/or*

Avery Fisher Hall, New York.

At Avery Fisher Hall. Photos by Andrew Savulich.

3 July 1997

Montreal Jazz Fest, Montreal QC.
*and?*
Le Capitole, Québec QC.

4 July 1997

Concert on the Art Museum steps, with Peter Nero, Philadelphia PA, aired live by 6ABC; cf. this.

6 July 1997

Giardini Reali, Turin Newport JVC Jazz Festival ("The Genius wanted to drink Dom Perignon before the show, and indignantly rejected the offer of Veuve Cliquot"; read review here).

7 July 1997

Jazz Festival, Austria Center, Vienna AT. Photos here.

Torino. Read review here.

8 July 1997
Palais des Congrès, Paris FR.

Postcard.

Coll. Jean Francis Merle.

Intriguing photo by François-Marie Banier: rehearsal, possibly at Palais des Congrès. What's that girl doing there?

10 July 1997

Midsummer Jazz Gala 1997, the opening-event of the North Sea Jazz Festival 1997 at the Congresgebouw in The Hague NL. Photos here, here and here. Also see this.

Photo by Paul Bergen.

 

David Hoffman, Roger Ingram, Ted Murdock, Ken Scharf; Steve Sigmund, Wayne Coniglio, (Mike Guerrier, Clay Lawry); (Al Waters, Al Jackson, Rudy Johnson), Steve Elliott,.James Farnsworth; (Ernest Vantrease, Peter Turre, Kenny Carr, Tom Fowler); Estella Yarbrough, Katrina Harper-Cooke, Kathy Mackey, Karen Evans et Tonette McKinney.

Photos by Carol Streuer.

Ray (or his entourage) forgot this screen print, but Toots Thielemans took it to his home, and still has it above his sofa. 

12 July 1997

West Port Jazz Festival, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg DE.

Photo by Kay Nietfeld.

16 July 1997

Grec'97, at El Poble Espanyol, Barcelona ES. Review here.

17 July 1997

Johnnie Walker Festival, Coliseo, La Coruña ES (3,000 people).

18 July 1997

Jazz à Juan.

19 July 1997

Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux CH (DVD and CD released November 2004). See this.

20 July 1997

Nuoro.

22 July 1997

Concert for Audi, Hotel Meliá Castilla, Madrid ES.

23 July 1997

Inca, Plaza Mallorca, Mallorca ES.

24 July 1997

Cuartel del Conde Duque, Madrid.

26 July 1997

Lerici.

27 July 1997

Rooftop Garden del Casino, Sanremo IT.

28 July 1997

Espace Toro in Casablanca MA.

2 August 1997

Ampitheater show at the Kassándra Festival in the village of Siviri, Chalkidiki GR.

12 August 1997

Jazz In Marciac (JIM) festival, in a "Giants Of Jazz" setting. According to this review the concert was mostly a disaster. The line-up included Leroy Cooper, David Newman, Johnny Griffin, Phil Woods, Bobby Durham, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, Nicholas Payton, Roy Hargrove, Wynton Marsalis, and Kenny Carr.

Photo by Jean-Pierre Muller / Getty.

Ticket stub, coll. Jacques Merle.

Photos of Ray with his French girlfriend Arlette Kotchounian (who somehow seems to have been involved in organizing this concert) are here. See this post for more.
(The rehearsal session, a few hours before the concert, in Auch was "sublime", a review in Le Monde said).

Photos (without precise date) by Jacques Merle.

15 August 1997

Hot Tin Roof, Edgartown MA.
Aids benefit at MVRHS Center in Martha's Vineyard. Read this.

16 August 1997

Newport Jazz Festival at Fort Adams State Park, Newport RI.

Photo by Steven Tackeff.

17 August 1997

Final event of the three-day Mark Twain Days festival in Bushnell Park, Hartford CT ("As Ray Charles broke into a soulful, slow presentation of the ballad Come Rain or Come Shine, the clouds broke and the sun streaked through as thousands listened in soggy Bushnell Park [...]. Charles gave the crowd an eclectic mix of tearful lost-love songs, upbeat jazzy turns and straight-ahead hand-clapping rock 'n' roll"; read this and this).

Photo by Marc Yves Regis.

21 August 1997

Harborlights Pavilion, Boston MA.

22 August 1997

Meadowbrook Farm, Gilford NH.

23 August 1997
Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay (Long Island), New York.

30 August 1997

Mill City Music Festival, Minneapolis MN.

September 1997

Gem Theater, Kansas City, celebrating anniversary of Jazz Museum; with Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, George Benson.

5 September 1997

Concert with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

7 September 1997

With the Colorado Symphony Orchestra at Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre, Fiddler's Green CO.
This source mentions a bootleg, titled "Fiddler's Green, CO. Aud", however dated on 21 June 1997.

8 September 1997

Profile in New Yorker. Read this.

13 September 1997

With the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra at the War Memorial Auditorium, Greensboro NC (possibly bootlegged; cf. this).

30 September 1997

Stanford Lively Arts program on the Stanford University campus, at the Memorial Auditorium.

2 October 1997
Paul Masson Winegard.

3 October 1997

Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, Kelseyville CA.

5 October 1997

Greek theatre, Los Angeles CA; with Cassandra Wilson; tickets $15-$47.50 ("Backed as usual by his sturdily proficient 17-piece band, Charles, 67, wove strands of gospel, R&B, pop, blues and Tin Pan Alley into a moving song cycle of heartbreak and redemption").

6 - 8 October 1997

Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay in San Diego CA (1,100 people)..

9 October 1997

Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento CA.

22 October 1997
Majestic Theater, with the San Antonio Symphony, San Antonio TX.

23 October 1997
At American Airlines' annual Community Concert, benefiting The Dallas Arboretum, Dallas Trees and Parks Foundation and the Women's Council of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.

13 November 1997
Online chat on Rhino Records' website, See this.

Mid November 1997
At Casino in Montreux. Read review here.

15 November 1997
At opening of new casino by the Gila River Indian Community near Phoenix ("more people showed up than the casino could handle").

19 November 1997
Ft. as Sammy In The Nanny (air date). See this.


21 November 1997
Honored at the International Jazz Hall of Fame induction and awards ceremony, Ice Palace, Tampa. Michael Bolton payed tribute to Ray Charles with Georgia On My Mind. The show was taped, and released on DVD (I'm happy to announce that I haven't found any footage of it yet, BS).

December 1997
The "Breakaway" TV campaign for General Motors Corp.'s 1998 Cadillac DeVille started in November with a slice-of-life approach focusing on Chicago, the Carolinas and California's Monterey area. "Breakaway Chicago," the first of the spots, featured the city's landmarks, lifestyle and jazz and blues background, with Anita Baker singing. "Breakaway Carolina," featured Ray Charles, breaking in December '97, and "Breakaway Monterey" was to debut in April '98. The spots, produced in both national and local versions, focused on the DeVille's performance and contemporary image. D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, Troy, handled the campaign.

14 December 1997
Nakano Sun Plaza Hall, Tokyo.

16 December 1997
Four Seasons Nakano Sun Hotel, Tokyo JP.

17 December 1997
Yamagata Grand Prefectutal Hall, Yamagata JP.

18 December 1997
No. 1 Hall, Kyoto JP.

19 December 1997
Grand NHK Hall, Osaka JP.

20 December 1997
Obad Hall, Toyama JP.

21 and 22 December 1997
Hotel New Otani, Osaka JP.

24 December 1997
Shimin Bunka Kaikan, Shizuoka JP.

25 December 1997
Large Hall at Aichi-ken Geijutsu, Nagoya JP.

26 December 1997
Yubinchokin Hall, Hiroshima JP.

27 December 1997
Sun Palace, Fukuoka JP.