In The Evening – Ray Charles

Ray Charles Forever

Ray Charles Robinson was born on September 23, 1930 in Albany, Georgia. Charles reinvented R&B while signed to Atlantic Records in the 1950s. His soulful singing, jazzy piano style, and influence from gospel pioneered what became known as soul music. Unbeknownst to many, Charles recorded a fair amount of straight-ahead jazz as well. Ray Charles, often called “The Genius,” is one of music’s most beloved icons.

Charles lets his jazz influence show in this 1963 performance of “In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down” during a 1963 Brazilian TV broadcast. Ray Charles Robinson born in Albany, Georgia on September 23, 1930 displayed an early interest in music prior to losing his site to glaucoma at age five. From 1937 to 1946 he attended the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine where he studied classical music and devolved his abilities as a pianist often featured performing on local radio. Ray left school following his mother’s death in 1946 and moved to Jacksonville with family friends and relocated to Orlando, and later Tampa, launching a professional career patterned after Nat “King” Cole.

His first hit record came in 1953 with “Mess Around” became Charles’ proceeded in 1954 by his original song “I Got a Woman”, a number-one R&B hit. One of the great cooks of the melting pot of American music: Soul, rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues – and he found a popular audience for it all.

Personnel:

Ray Charles, piano & vocals
Oliver Beener, trumpet
Roy Burrows, trumpet
Phil Guilbeau, trumpet
Julian Priester, trombone
Keg Johnson, trombone
James Harbert, trombone
Henderson Chambers, trombone
Harold Minerve, alto sax
Danny Turner, alto sax
David Fathead Newman, tenor sax
Tina Brooks, tenor sax
Leroy Cooper, baritone sax
Sonny Forriest, guitar
Edgar Willis, bass
Wilbert Hogan, drums