The Genius of Ray Charles is a 1959 Ray Charles album, released in October by Atlantic Records, the seventh album since the debut Ray Charles in 1957. The album consists of swinging pop with big band arrangements. It comprises a first half of big band songs and a second half of string-backed ballads. The Genius of Ray Charles sold fewer than 500,000 copies and charted at number 17 on the Billboard 200. "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'" were released as singles in 1959.
Ray Charles Live is a double LP compilation album by Ray Charles, released by Atlantic Records in 1973. It consists of live concert recordings previously released on Ray Charles at Newport and Ray Charles in Person. Later CD re-issues of this compilation include an additional, previously unreleased, track from the 1958 Newport concert, "Swanee River Rock".
Ellington at Newport is a 1956 live jazz album by Duke Ellington and his band of their 1956 concert at the Newport Jazz Festival, a concert which revitalized Ellington's flagging career. Jazz promoter George Wein describes the 1956 concert as "the greatest performance of [Ellington's] career... It stood for everything that jazz had been and could be." It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, which ranks it "one of the most famous... in jazz history". Jazz journalist Scott Yanow wrote that Ellington's performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival caused a sensation that fueled the rest of his career.The original release was partly recreated in the studio after the Ellington Orchestra's festival appearance.
The Great Ray Charles is Ray Charles' second studio album for Atlantic Records, released in 1957. It is an instrumental jazz album. Later CD re-issues often include as a bonus, six of eight tracks from The Genius After Hours. The original cover was by Marvin Israel.
"Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" is a jazz composition written in 1937 by Duke Ellington and recorded for the first time on May 15, 1937 by the Duke Ellington Orchestra with Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams (trumpet), Rex Stewart (cornet), Barney Bigard (clarinet), Johnny Hodges, Otto Hardwick, Laurence Brown, Joe Nanton (trombone), Harry Carney, Sonny Greer (drums), Wellmann Braud (bass), Freddie Guy (guitar), and Duke Ellington (piano). No tenor saxophone was present in this recording section, nor in "Crescendo in Blue," which was recorded the same day. In its early form, the two individual pieces, "Diminuendo in Blue" and "Crescendo in Blue," were recorded on opposite sides of a 78 rpm record. The 1956 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival revitalized Ellington's career, making newspaper headlines when seated audience members chaotically began rising to dance and stand on their chairs during Paul Gonsalves's tenor saxophone solo.
Ray Charles at Newport is a 1958 live album of Ray Charles' July 5, 1958 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. The detailed liner notes on the album were written by Kenneth Lee Karpe. All tracks from this Newport album, along with all tracks from his 1959 Herndon Stadium performance in Atlanta, were also released on the Atlantic compilation LP Ray Charles Live. A later CD reissue of that compilation album included a previously unissued song from the 1958 Newport concert, "Swanee River Rock".
The Genius Hits the Road is a 1960 album by Ray Charles. The concept album focuses on songs written about various parts of the United States. It peaked at number nine on the pop album charts and produced a US #1 single, "Georgia on My Mind".
Vocalese is the ninth studio album by Jazz band The Manhattan Transfer, released in 1985 on the Atlantic Records. Recording sessions took place during 1985. Production came from Tim Hauser and Martin Fischer. This album is considered to be The Manhattan Transfer's most critically acclaimed album. It received 12 Grammy nominations, making it second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller as the most nominated individual album. It also received extremely high ratings from music critics, including a 4.5 out of 5 stars rating from Allmusic. The album peaked at number 2 on the Top Jazz Albums and number 74 on the Billboard 200. The album's title Vocalese refers to a style of music that sets lyrics to previously recorded jazz instrumental pieces. The vocals then reproduce the sound and feel of the original instrumentation. Jon Hendricks, proficient in this art, composed all of the lyrics for this album.
"Think" is a rhythm and blues song written by Lowman Pauling and originally recorded by his group The "5" Royales. Released as a single on King Records in 1957, it was a national hit and reached number nine on the U.S. R&B chart.
What'd I Say is a 1959 Ray Charles album released by Atlantic Records, the sixth since the debut Ray Charles in 1957. The release popularized Charles' first top 10 hit, "What'd I Say", and became his first gold record. The album is included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).
The Genius Sings the Blues is an album by Ray Charles, released in October 1961 on Atlantic Records. The album was his last release for Atlantic, compiling twelve blues songs from various sessions during his tenure for the label. The album showcases Charles's stylistic development with a combination of piano blues, jazz, and southern R&B. The photo for the album cover was taken by renowned photographer Lee Friedlander. The Genius Sings the Blues was reissued in 2003 by Rhino Entertainment with liner notes by Billy Taylor.
Yes Indeed!! is the fourth album by Ray Charles, released in 1958 by Atlantic. It was the second of three Atlantic LPs that compiled Charles' hit singles for the label.
The Best of Ray Charles is a compilation album released in 1970 on the Atlantic Jazz label, featuring previously released instrumental (non-vocal) tracks recorded by Ray Charles between November 1956 and November 1958.
Live in Concert is a live album by Ray Charles released in 1965 by ABC-Paramount Records. The recording was made at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California in September, 1964 following a tour of Japan.
Ray Sings, Basie Swings is an album that mixes previously unreleased Ray Charles vocal performances from 1973 with newly recorded instrumental tracks by the contemporary Count Basie Orchestra.
At Newport is a live album by the Gigi Gryce–Donald Byrd Jazz Laboratory and the Cecil Taylor Quartet recorded for the Verve label at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1957. The original LP album featured one side of performances by Taylor with Buell Neidlinger, Denis Charles and Steve Lacy and the other by Gryce, Byrd, Hank Jones, Wendell Marshall, and Osie Johnson.
The Woodstock Experience is a box consisting of a set of studio albums and live performances from the 1969 Woodstock Festival by the artists Santana, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, and Johnny Winter. Each set consists of the 1969 studio album by the artist as well as each artist's entire Woodstock performance. The set was released as both a box containing all five artists, and also as individual releases separated by artist, each containing the studio album and live performance of that artist.
Live at Chastain Park is a live album recorded by James Brown in 1985 at the titular city park in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally released in the UK and Europe in 1988 by Charly Records, it has been reissued numerous times on budget labels. The concert was also filmed and has been issued on DVD by Charly and other companies. Maceo Parker is featured on saxophone.
At Newport '63 is a 1963 live album by jazz singer Joe Williams, recorded at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival.
I/We Had a Ball is an album consisting of jazz versions of songs from Jack Lawrence and Stan Freeman's musical I Had a Ball performed by Art Blakey, Milt Jackson, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones and Chet Baker which was released by Limelight in 1965.
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