Download Ray Charles - Live In Concert (2011)

There's no such thing as a bad song as long as it's sung by the late Ray Charles, and Live at the Jubilee Auditorium Canada offers 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.

Tracklist:

1. Opening
2. Swing A Little Taste
3. One Mint Julep
4. I Gotta Woman
5. Georgia On My Mind
6. Margie
7. You Don't Know Me
8. Hide Nor Hair
9. That Lucky Old Sun
10. Baby, Don't You Cry
11. In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)
12. Hallelujah I Love Her So
13. Making Whoopee
14. Busted
15. Don't Set Me Free
16. Two Ton Tessie
17. My Baby
18. What'd I Say
19. Finale