Ray Charles Video Museum: Ray Charles Is In Town

Photos by Achim Bieniek, c. 2000.

Unidentified symphony gig, c. 2000. Photo watermarked by Ray Charles Foundation.

Photos by Mike Miller, c. 2000.

Photo by Jay Silverman, c. 2000.

Same photo used in Calvin Klein ad, c. 2000.

Photo by Jay Silverman, early '00s.

At an unidentified venue, c. 2000. Photos by Martin Philbey/Getty.

Set photos from one of the lottery TV campaigns.

Photo: Gannett Inc., c. 2000.

France? Circa 2000.

2000

Interviewed. See this.

In Italy (July?):

January 2000

Ft. in The Extreme Adventures Of Super Dave. See this.

15 and 16 January 2000

John Ascuaga's Nugget, Sparks NV.

21 January 2000

Ray's shades in Millennium Time Capsule. See this.

26 January 2000

(Also see sub 24 September). From a caption to this photo on Flickr: "Ray Charles came to our home to pose for his limited edition print which was commissioned by the Wisconsin Lottery. He played our piano for a couple hours as George sketched him. One of the men who came with Ray from Chicago said, “That’s a nice song, Ray - what is it?” “I don’t remember,” Ray answered. “How about "Sleepy Lagoon", Nan volunteered, and Ray said, “That’s it!” The next day his agent called and said we should have been along in the limo returning to Chicago. He explained that Ray asked, “Just how old was that lady who remembered "Sleepy Lagoon?" To which my wife replied, "Plenty old. I still remember the first four lines!"

28 January 2000

Concert in Tampa FL.

29 January 2000
Concert with trio at Atlantis Resort and Casino in Nassau (staying over on the 30th).

30 January 2000
Atlantis Paradise Hotel, Nassau BS (Bahamas).

31 January 2000
Symphony gig with trio at concert hall in Fort Worth TX, Vic Vanacore conducting.

1 February 2000

Benefit concert for the Arlington-based Cancer Research Foundation at Bass Performance Hall with Fort Worth Symphony ("not at his best"; "raises the roof, and lots of cash"), Fort Worth TX.

4 February 2000

Yamaha Millennium Concert, a tribute to Michael McDonald's career, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles CA. See this.

16 February 2000

Le Zénith in Nancy FR.

17 February 2000

Geneva. Photos here and here.

6 March 2000

Photo by Stan Honda.

Inducting Nat Cole in Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, in New York. See this.

Photo by Ezio Petersen.

With Natalie Cole.

Ray + Timolin, Casey & Natalie Cole.

Backstage: Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Diana Ross.

11 March 2000

Westin Hotel’s Ballroom in Westminster, Colorado.

12 March 2000
Benefit for Presbyterian Hospital at Waldorf-Astoria.

26 March 2000

Starting the day with trio at a Salvatore Ferragamo's fashion show in Milan (arrived there on the 25th).
Then to Shrine Auditorium in LA for 72nd Academy Awards Show, performing Secret Love from the film Calamity Jane (Peter Turre recalls: "Then we hightailed it to the airport to catch a non-stop flight from Milan to LAX [...]. Ray was [...] cleared through customs and immigration immediately, and put on a helicopter to get to the Shrine in downtown LA for rehearsal. We all marveled at how a 70-year-old man could do this [...]"). Also see this.

With Garth Brooks and Burt Bacharach.

1 April 2000

A Family Celebration at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills. Photos here.

6 April 2000
Concert prob. in Denver; cf. caption to photo:

Photo by Mark N. Kiryluk (Denver Post), with date stamp "4/6/00" and caption "An Evening Center Stage".

7 and 8 April 2000

Orange County Pops Series with Pacific Symphony Orchestra.

27 April 2000

Jazz & Heritage Festival, New Orleans.

Between 14 and 18 May 2000

Indy Jazz Festival in Indianapolis.

19 May 2000

Signs with InVision Records. See this.

23 May 2000

At Webster Hall to herald the launch of InVision Records and another Falcon Entertainment subsidiary, Independent Music Network Television.

26 May 2000

Skyreach or Prospera Place, Kelowna BC.

28 May 2000

Paramount Theatre, Seattle WA; tickets $25-$45.

29 May 2000

Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver BC.

Entertains Shaw University's Class of 2000 with a rendition of A Song For You after receiving honorary doctorate.

30 May 2000

Spirit Mountain Casino, Grand Ronde OR.

2 June 2000

University Amphitheatre, California State University, Stanislaus CA, Turlock; tickets $32-$40 (5,000 people).

3 June 2000

House Of Blues, West Hollywood CA.

4 June 2000

The Grove Of Anaheim, Anaheim CA.

5 June 2000

Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego CA.

7 June 2000

Villa Montalvo Garden Theatre, Saratoga CA.

8 June 2000

Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, Kelseyville CA.

10 June 2000

Fox Theater, Bakersfield CA.

11 June 2000

Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix AZ.

12 June 2000

JVC Festival, New York. See this.

13 June 2000

Paramount Theatre, Denver CO.

Photo by Michael Weintrob.

16 June 2000

House Of Blues, Chicago IL.

17 June 2000

Sangamon Auditorium, University of Illinois, Springfield IL ("put on a clinic of the many talents - the singing, the playing, the enthusiasm, the charisma - that make Ray Charles who he is").

18 June 2000

Indy Jazz Fest, Indianapolis.

20 June 2000

Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston MI.

21 June 2000

Casino Rama, Orillia ON.

22 June 2000

M&T Jazz Fest, Syracuse. 35,000 people; also listen to this.

Ray Charles and Jazz Fest organizer Frank Malfitano.

Photos by Randi Anglin.

23 June 2000

Avery Fisher Hall, New York City NY ("[...] a mixture of comedy, big-band pop and a wide swath of American song types. As an hour-and-15-minute formula, it was as smooth as silk, yet Mr. Charles's stage persona - phrasing with impulsive stabs at the piano, pulling favorite phrases out of the air like 'every now and then' as he eased into a tune - led the crowd to believe that he was winging it. [...] The cracks and sobs in Mr. Charles's voice [...] are now craters and giant shudders, and he still makes them work. In front of the Count Basie-like arrangements of his orchestra, he sometimes made entire phrases disappear into a toneless, gritty exhalation; in one song he extended the word 'sweet,' cracking all the way, for nearly four bars. He makes himself old, vulnerable and lost, and then snaps back into tune and rhythm. It's a phenomenal act. Mr. Charles's set encompassed early Hollywood songs (Irving Berlin's Marie); Broadway tunes (Meredith Willson's Till There Was You, from The Music Man; Lerner and Loewe's Almost Like Being in Love, from Brigadoon); Nashville pop (Don Gibson's I Can't Stop Loving You); rhythm and blues (his own Busted, Hit the Road Jack and Teardrops from My Eyes, made famous by Ruth Brown). In Guess Who I Saw Today, Mr. Charles and his five backup singers, the Raelettes, enacted an unfaithful-husband story, with Mr. Charles firing off sly asides. In Georgia On My Mind, playing improvised fills on his electric piano, he almost defied gravity, considering how often he has done it and how it still sounds as if it's an emotional experience. It was the highest edge of professionalism - nothing more, nothing less. At a neat quarter-hour before the hall's union curfew, the voice of Mr. Charles's announcer boomed forth. You have been entertained by the legendary genius of soul! he said, and without an encore, the concise, cohesive little play was finished"; source here).

Photo by Ruth Fremson.

24 June 2000

M&T Jazz Fest, Clinton Square, Syracuse NY, with Diana Krall (unconfirmed bootleg).

25 June 2000

Freihofer's Jazz Festival, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs NY.

Ticket stub.

29 and 30 June 2000

Boomtown Casino, Bossier City, Harvey LA.

July 2000

Ad for Georgia Music Hall of Fame (July 2000) by Austin Kelley Advertising (Ray;s photo is from the early 1970s).

1 July 2000

Budweiser Stage, on the grounds of the Gateway Arch, at St. Louis Fair.

Photos by Bill Greenblatt.

4 July 2000

In A Capital Fourth, 27th annual Boston's Fourth of July celebration, Washington. See this.

6, 13, 20 and 27 July 2000

Ray Charles - Man And Music, on BBC Radio 2. Read this.

6 July 2000

Montreal Jazz Festival at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Bell Centre, Montreal QC.

7 July 2000

Fleetboston Pavilion, Boston MA ("a genre unto himself"); tickets $44.50, $39.50, $34.50.
Review here.

8 July 2000

North Shore Music Theatre, Beverly MA.

9 July 2000

Performing Arts Center, Westhampton Beach NY.

11 July 2000
Attending his son's graduation at the USC.

12 July 2000

Peace Center, Greenville SC.

13 July 2000

Palace Theater, Myrtle Beach SC.

14 July 2000

Chilhowee Park, Knoxville TN.

15 July 2000

Horseshoe Tunica-BluesvilleCasino, Robinsonville MS.

18 July 2000

Lucca.

Raelettes having fun in Lucca. Travel - Lucca, Raelettes, Sitting: Renée Georges, Karen Evans, poss. Tangy Biggers, Tonette McKinney.

20 July 2000
Lucca Summer Festival, Piazza San Marino, Lucca IT.

21 July 2000

Photos here and here.

Photos by Vanina Lucchesi/Getty.

22 July 2000

Lago Maggiore Jazz, Verbania IT. At Piazza Garibaldi. Read this and this.
Piazza Castello, Torino IT.

23 July 2000
Pula HR (?) (Croatia).

24 July 2000

Preussag Arena, Hannover DE, with own rhythm section and symphony orchestra (band stays over in Stresa, Italy).

With Jean-Pierre Grosz, poss. in Italy around this day.

26 July 2000

Hypo Jazz Festival at Hajdukovo, Split HR (Croatia). Photo here.

27 July 2000

Plaza de Toros in Pontevedra ES.

Brad Rabuchin, Ray Charles, Tom Fowler. Photo bt Xoan Carlos Gil.

28 July 2000

Indelukket, Silkeborg DK.

29 July 2000

Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle, Museumsplatz, Bonn DE. German review: here.

30 July 2000

Concert at Blues Passions festival, Cognac FR. See this.

With festival organizer Michel Rolland, in Ray's hotel room.

Photo by Isa Louvier.

1 August 2000

Arènes du Tempèras in Arles.

3 August 2000

Riley Center at Hunter Park in Manchester, Meridian MS.

4 August 2000

Chautauqua Amphitheater, Chautauqua NY.

5 August 2000

Westbury Music Fair, WestburyNY ("His voice is full of pain and jubilation, cockiness and despair, wisdom and impulsiveness; he knows American music from the blues to Tin Pan Alley to gospel to jazz. With any luck, he'll let his piano playing come through the sound system"); with Bo Diddley.

Photo below: with Altovise (wife of late Sammy) Davis. More photos here.

6 August 2000

Litchfield Jazz Festival, Goshen. Read this.

11 to 13 August 2000

Hilton Grand Hotel, Atlantic City NJ; tickets $40-$45.

16 August 2000

Rumeli Hisarı'nda, Istanbul.

20 August 2000

Teatro Greco (Antico), Taormina IT; duet with Lucio Dalla on Yesterday and O Sole Mio. Read review here. Captured for TV broadcast; see this.

29 August 2000
Photo shoot for Vanity Fair, at RPM.

Photo by Herb Ritts.

6 September 2000

Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, Manhattan Beach CA.

7 September 2000

Harrah's, Reno.

8 September 2000
Video tribute to Nelson Mandela for World Reconciliation Day in Australia; see this.

Memorial Park Open Air (Raymond) Theater, Pasadena CA; tickets at $49,50-$64

and/or

Greek Theatre in Taormina; with Mick Hucknall.

9 September 2000

Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara Playboy Jazz Festival, Santa Barbara CA

15 September 2000

At opening of Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Arkansas, in Conway, backed by the University’s Concert Choir and members of UCA Chamber Orchestra and Conway Symphony Orchestra.

23 September 2000

70th Birthday concert at the Jazz Jamboree (Teatrze Wielkim) in Warsaw PL. This show with the Lodz Philharmonic was broadcast; see this.

24 September 2000

Launch of Wisconsin Lottery TV campaign.

27 September to 1 October 2000

Orleans Casino, Las Vegas NV.

1 October 2000

St. Patrick Performing Arts Center at St. Patrick High School ($300 per ticket).

2 October 2000

House Of Blues, West Hollywood CA, 70th birthday celebration party; accepts a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Blues Foundation. Ray didn't perform. Read this. See this.

Photo: Jill Connelly/Reuters.

3 October 2000

As G-Clef in Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Musical Movie (DVD release date). See this.

6 and 7 October 2000

Nashville Symphony Center, Nashville TN.

8 October 2000

Rialto Square Theatre, Joliet IL.

10 October 2000

Roy Thompson Hall, Toronto ON. Also read this.

Ticket stub.

12 October 2000

Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell MA.

13 October 2000

John Harms Center, Englewood NJ.

14 October 2000

Ulster Performing Arts Center, Kingston NY.

15 October 2000

Community Arts Center, Williamsport PA.

19 October 2000

Development Specialists, Inc.'s Year 2000 National Bankruptcy Judges Conference Celebration, at The Roxy, Soul City, Boston MA.

20 October 2000

Lehman Center, Bronx.

21 October 2000

Stony Brook University, Staller Center, Stony Brook NY.

22 October 2000

The Forum, Harrisburg PA; tickets at $40.

24 October 2000

Indiana University, Indiana.

25 October 2000

State Theatre, New Brunswick NJ.

26 October 2000

State Theatre, Newark NJ.

27 October 2000

Performing and interviewed at Indiana University Auditorium, Bloomington IN. See this.

30 October to 2 November 2000

Street poster; part of the Kremlin in the reflection. Photo by Wayne Coniglio.

Concerts, playing to a sold-out audience, in Rossia Concert Hall, Moscow RU ("An energetic and vivacious Charles, 70, enthralled the crowd"; proceeds from concert went to sick children; Russian television station RTR reported). See this.

5 November 2000

Concert under the stars for the grand opening weekend of the Deerpark Town Center shopping mall.

9 November 2000

Ghent BE.

10 November 2000

AVO Session, Grosser Festsaal, Basel CH (bootlegged). See this.

At Hotel in Basel.

11 November 2000

~~Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center, Memphis.~~ Canceled

Strassbourg.

17 November 2000

Lille FR.

18 November 2000

Mulhouse FR.

20 November 2000

Radio Studio in Paris FR.

Taping of JB & Cybernanas; aired 23 December 2000. See this. Photos here.

[Not impossible, but questionable:] Tel Aviv on same day?

22 November 2000
Guesting on a France-Inter radio show in Paris; see this.

22 November 2000

Olympia, Paris FR; tickets FF 405 - FF 805. The concert, with a trio setting (because the rest of the orchestra couldn't fly in from Lisbon), was recorded; audio CD was released on 11 January 2005, DVD was released in 2006; the show was also bootlegged in a variant version [or was that the concert of the 23d?]. See this. And read this (in French).

23 November 2000

Palais des Congrès, Paris FR; tickets FF 285 - FF 790.

Around these dates in November 2000

Caption: "24 Nov 2000 / Ray Charles and Charles Aznavour at Ray Charles Meets Charles Aznavour In Paris In 2000". Photo by Bertrand Rindoff.

24 November 2000

Orléans, France.

26 November 2000

Blues Festival at l'Elispace in Beauvais ("offert un concert exceptionnel aux 3,000 spectateurs de l'Elispace. Entouré d'un grand orchestre d'une vingtaine de musiciens, le monstre sacré du jazz a fêté en beauté ses cinquante ans de carrière"; "The only problem was the postponement of the concert following the cancellation of his scheduled tour in March. How much is the arrival of Ray Charles? Approximately $ 100,000, 600,000 or 700,000 FF according to the fluctuations for the entire show, that is to say the lights, sound and musicians"); tickets FF220.

6 December 2000

New Jersey Lottery 30-Year Anniversary Concert, Trenton War Memorial Hall, Trenton NJ with small ensemble, jazz ensemble, orchestra, and chorus.

8 December 2000

4th & B, San Diego ("Where he cruised through those [earlier] shows on automatic pilot, his 13-song 4th&B concert bristled with sustained passion and dynamic intensity. This was evident both in his own work and that of his brassy, 15-piece orchestra, which opened - sans [Ray Charles] - with two bop-inflected big-band romps and a svelte reading of the Benny Golson ballad I Remember Clifford. Even more surprising was the boisterous, blues-drenched rendition of the jazz standard Soft Winds. It was a rare instrumental feature for the golden-voiced Charles, who used his Yamaha KX88 keyboard synthesizer to play a shimmering, vibraphone-like solo that included a perfectly timed quote from the blues classic My Mama Done Told Me. Georgia has long been one of Charles' most reliable showcases for his wonderfully burnished singing and masterfully nuanced phrasing. But on Friday he nearly upstaged his rich vocals with a series of sparkling electric piano filigrees and pitch-bending synthesizer accents. And he even remained engaged when joined for the concert's final four songs by the four-woman Raelettes, whose vocal segment was much improved over the Vegas-like schtick that marred their recent [Humphrey]'s and Street Scene appearances")

9 December 2000

San Manual Indian Bingo & Casino in Highland VA. Review and photo here.

12 December 2000

Somgwriters Hall of Fame.