Review: Ray Charles Protégés Faithfully Honor the Icon's Songbook at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Last Saturday night at the Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center presented a celebration on what would have been Ray Charles' 85th Birthday. The program was led by Musical Director and trumpeter Kenny Rampton (who once toured with the Ray Charles band), and included 10 longtime members of the icon's orchestra, along with the most recent "Rayettes" (backup singers Renee Georges, Katrina Harper, and Angela Workman). "Ray Charles Robinson, the genius of soul, his music was beyond genre," Rampton told the audience. "Anything Mr. C. did from country to blues to the National Anthem was all Ray Charles . . ."

The show strove for total authenticity, as numbers were transcribed from recordings and orchestrated (a Herculean task) by bass trombone player, Wayne Coniglio. Special Guests include blues guitar legend Bill Sims, Grammy nominated drummer/vocalist Jamison Ross, and multi-award winning singer Diane Schuur, a "close personal friend and kindred spirit" of the icon. There was no intermission, just as Charles presented his shows, and began, as was traditional, with two instrumentals.

The tight, symbiotic orchestra offered, in part, songs by Sam Rivers, Harlan Howard, Aretha Franklin, Leon Russell, Percy Mayfield, and Charles himself, as well as selections by George Gershwin and Frank Loesser. Soloists were expert, often channeling Charles's apparent attitude. Arrangements were textured and sometimes sassy.

Some of the highlights:

Diane Schuur's rendition of "Georgia" (Hoagy Carmichael/Stuart Gorrell) arrives with the vocalist's iconoclastic phrasing, octaves shaped as if they were clay. The word mind wobbles, moonlight in the pines loop-de-loops. Tempo is languid, some phrases pulled like taffy. Rampton uses his trumpet mute balletically--tilting, circling covering, creating an mmmm sound with a wah-wah chaser.

Hi everybody/Let's have some fun/You only live once/And when you're dead, you're done . . . On "Let the Good Times Roll" (Sam Theard/Earl King), Schuur crisply spits out lyrics as the orchestra jukes through the tune. "Ray was tellin' me today, as he always tells me, keep on workin' on the building," she comments. Andy Farber's sax solo is smooooth.

An unexpected "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" (Oscar Hammerstein II/ Richard Rodgers--arrangement by Roger Neumann) starts with just The Deacon's keyboard (Ernest Vantrease). Conjured images are savored. The bouncy, jazz version is so bright, you need sunglasses. Lyrics are toyed with freestyle. No ballad, this. Schuur is as powerful as ever, though her high-pitched, elongated notes while vocally impressive, frankly hurt both ears and material.

Bill Sims, replete with signature flattop hat, delivers Roy Alfred's "I've Got News For You" with hipness that can't be taught. Elliot Mason's trombone solo is kind of a visual step, bump, swivel, step, step--a straight from the hip interpretation. Some things shouldn't be messed with. The performer's duet of "Baby It's Cold Outside" (Frank Loesser) with Rayette Angela Workman is a cool, evocative study in contrasts. While he's shrugged-shoulders-offhand, she's full-tilt, honeyed flirt. Verses are a delight, yet instrumental bridges emerge curiously harsh and dissonant.

Workman follows this with a beautifully rendered, yearning solo of Leon Russell's "Song For You." The vocalist moves sinuously, infectiously communicating. Rayette Renee Georges performs a winking "Smack Dab in the Middle" (Jesse Stone), while Rayette Katrina Harper acts as lead when the group sings (Charles apparently never sang a song's hook, leaving this to the ladies). They are, to this ear, just a bit shrill together.

Well, I feel so bad/Like a ball game on a rainy day . . . ("Feel So Bad"--Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins). A classic, lyrically unfussy, up-tempo number, this blues feels genuine with Jamison Ross on vocal. The Deacon's organ solo skews gospel. Horns play call-and-respond. How Ross manages to vocally phrase one way and execute percussive rhythms another is a marvel. A fine "I Can't Stop Loving You" (Don Gibson), with The Rayettes jumping in at the hook, comes later. The song is thoroughly appealing.

Kenny Rampton's artisanal efforts create an evening about which somewhere Charles is no doubt chuckling.

Upcoming Schedule: http://www.jazz.org/

Show Photos by Frank Stewart

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