Ray Charles Live - In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony
There's no such thing as a bad song as long as it's sung by the late Ray Charles, andLive at the Jubilee Auditorium Canadaoffers yet more irrefutable evidence of that. This concert, recorded in 1981, has its flaws; it's brief (48 minutes, no bonus features), and hearing Charles with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in a big, formal venue with a rather listless audience isn't exactly ideal. But Charles, the man who's rightly credited with "inventing" soul music, always had an inimitable way with a song. On the one hand, he transforms a relatively unfamiliar choice, Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Oh What a Beautiful Morning," from a gentle waltz into a rousing, funky romp ("Some Enchanted Evening," another tune by that team, is marred by an awful disco beat). On the other hand, even if he performed "Georgia on My Mind," "Hit the Road Jack," "What'd I Say," and "I Can't Stop Loving You" literally thousands of times, the man was incapable of merely going through the motions. He adds little vocal inflections and filigree that help make the hoariest of standards sound fresh--check out "What'd I Say," where a long, funny intro (Ray yodels!) blossoms into a cooking version of the tune. This may not be Ray Charles's greatest performance, but hey, any Ray is good Ray.--Sam Graham