In honor of Ray’s 80th Birthday and John Coltrane’s 84th Birthday on September 23rd!  

Ray Charles At Newport Atlantic Records.   Newport, Rhode Island, July, 1958   — The Newport Jazz Festival was Ray’s initiation into the jazz circuit.   Even though he was slated to play on the Festival’s first “Blues Night,” the concert was recorded “live” on July 8, 1958.   The young boppers flocked to Ray who started out the set with jazz, moved onto his R&B hits and closed with the rockin’ “I’ve Got A Woman.” Many felt that Ray’s Newport appearance helped move jazz towards a “back to roots” movement. At the end of 1958, Downbeat Magazine named Ray Charles their “Best Male Star – New Singer”.

Ray Charles – keyboards, vocals, alto saxophone; Marcus Belgrave – trumpet; Lee Harper – trumpet; David Newman – tenor saxophone; Bennie (Hank) Crawford – baritone saxophone; Edgar Wills – bass; Richie Goldberg – drums; Marjorie Hendricks – vocals; The Raelettes – vocal group

(Night Time Is) The Right Time; In A Little Spanish Town; I’ve Got A Woman; Blues Waltz; Hot Rod (The Spirit – Feel); Talkin’ ‘Bout You; Sherry; A Fool For You

“New Thing at Newport”   Impulse Records (1965)   John Coltrane at the Newport Jazz Festival.   The title, “New Thing at Newport” refers to the avante garde style of jazz Coltrane and Shepp unleash throughout their sets.   The first two tracks “One Down, One Up” and “My Favorite Things” features Coltrane’s “classic” quartet of McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, and Jimmy Garrison on bass.   The second section features Archie Shepp, who managed to do something few tenors of the era did, develop his own sound outside of Coltrane’s influence.   The group Shepp fronts consists of the distinctive vibeist, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Chambers on drums, and Barre Phillips on bass.

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