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Ray Sings, Basie Swings |  | Artists: Ray Charles, Count Basie Orchestra
Label: Concord Records
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $3.99
as of 2/10/2010 04:25 EST details
You Save: $14.99 (79%)
New (38) Used (26) Collectible (1) from $1.09
Seller: newbury_comics
Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 41302
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 30026
UPC: 888072300262
EAN: 0888072300262
ASIN: B000H0MNOE
Release Date: October 3, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Oh What A Beautiful Morning | | • | Let The Good Times Roll | | • | How Long Has This Been Going On? | | • | Every Saturday Night | | • | I Can't Stop Loving You | | • | Cryin' Time | | • | Busted | | • | Come Live With Me | | • | Feel So Bad | | • | The Long And Winding Road | | • | Look What They've Done To My Song | | • | Georgia On My Mind |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
To fake or not to fake: That is the question consumers must answer for themselves in assessing this feat of aural Photoshopping: an "imaginary concert" created by combining recently discovered soundboard tapes of Ray Charles's vocals from a mid-'70s European show and newly recorded backing by the Count Basie Orchestra--the "ghost band," still on the road 22 years after Count's passing. Charles is in exceptional voice, singing the heck out of standards like "How Long Has This Been Going On?," Genius classics like "Busted," and pop covers like Melanie's "Look What They've Done to My Song." His performance is a thrilling corrective to forgettable posthumous albums like Genius Loves Company, designed to cash in on the new audience created for him by the movie Ray. But as competently as the Basie band fill in the blanks under the direction of Bill Hughes, with Joey DeFrancesco guesting on organ, most of the new arrangements are rather pallid, and the ensemble lacks the personality of both the Basie orchestra and Charles's best groups. And as attractive as Ray Sings, Basie Swings may be for the casual listener, the gimmickry will appall serious fans, particularly since neither Charles nor Basie--who never collaborated in life--was around to lend his approval. Is The Doors Sing, Woody Herman Swings next? --Lloyd Sachs
From Amazon.ca
Ray Sings, Basie Swings proves not only that there's a market for Brother Ray's every last recorded utterance (and a breathless one at that), but that musical grafting can reap some seriously satisfying rewards. After Concord Records A&R chief John Burk mined his label's vaults in 2005 and came across tapes labeled "Ray/Basie," he made a move to re-record the songs, originally performed in the 1970s; the result is these 12 tracks, in which Charles's whiskey-weathered, old-soul vocals are laid over arrangements by the current Count Basie Orchestra. Charles fans couldn't ask for a classier pairing or more seamless studio wizardry: The classics, from "I Can't Stop Loving You" to "Busted" to "Georgia on My Mind," play as though orchestrated by the Genius himself--tight, nuanced, and intimate-sounding. Less familiar tracks, like the down-home deep-South number "Every Saturday Night" and a couple of covers ("Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma" and "The Long and Winding Road") offer so much in the way of novelty it's tempting to forget that what's playing is mostly the result of modern experimentation. Deep as the disc runs--and no one who who hears the broken-hearted "Cryin' Time" will deny it runs deep--the most essential track on Ray Sings, Basie Swings may be its most lighthearted one: There is no hearing Ray Charles sing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning"--even if it's four in the afternoon, even if it's raining torrentially--without agreeing. --Tammy La Gorce
Album Description
The producers of this CD discovered archival reels of Ray Charles and the Count Basie Orchestra performing live together in 1973. Although the vocals were superior, the remaining elements were or extremely poor quality. They decided to bring the current Count Basie Orchestra into the studio and, using the latest technology, they carefully and painstakingly laid down a new musical backdrop for Charles' towering vocals. More from Ray Charles and the Count Basie Orchestra
Genius Loves Company | 
Ultimate Hits Collection | 
Ray!Soundtrack | 
America's #1 Band: The Columbia Years | 
Count Basie at Newport | 
Swing Shift |
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 42
 Ray Charles and Basie review February 7, 2010
music lover
We liked this cd., but have only listened to it once. It's good but not extraordinary.
Ray Charles is Still Ray Charles December 18, 2009
M. Jourard (Kirkland, WA United States)
Just based on "Oh What a Beautiful Morning," this CD is worth it. What can you say? You can tell the big band is an overdub because of the difference in room sound between the vocal and the band. But so what. Ray Charles could SING.
 A great piece of work December 1, 2009
Socrates Socrates
I first heard of this work from youtube and decided to buy the CD. First off, there's no way of telling that the instruments were not part of the original singing by Mr. Ray Charles, or for that matter that the singing was done some decades back. Secondly, listening through the CD one get to appreciate the work that went into producing the CD. It's a great CD indeed and probably among a few I can listen from the first to the last track without skipping a track.
So, if you enjoy jazz-blues-big band-type of music you sure will not regret buying this CD, it has been BEAUTIFULLY done! I am sorry that I can't quite express so much in words my true appreciation of this CD; so I hope my taking of time to write this review will assuage you give the CD a try.
Good Listening May 20, 2009
LotsOf Music4Me (Connecticut, USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read the earlier reviews; they are informative and appreciated. Bottom Line for me is ... It sounds good and I LIKE IT.
 Listenable... but there's so much that is better April 24, 2009
Sammy Fan (Canada)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ray Sings, Basie Swings isn't a bad album... it just isn't very good.
Other people have commented on the sound quality of this CD. For my tastes Ray's voice is flat and the Basie Orchestra isn't exactly on fire. So what...
But in world where you can buy any one of a dozen of Ray Charles or The Count's best albums for less money than this album, why would you settle for this one?
And you would get so much more out of them. This album is practically throwaway by comparison.
For Ray Charles, try Genius Sings Soul, Genius Hits the Road, or Soul Brothers.
For Count Basie, pick up Atomic Basie (or just about anything else he recorded WHILE HE WAS ACTUALLY ALIVE).
Get it if you want it. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Just don't prepare to be amazed, because you won't be.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 42
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