Ray Charles

A mothership of box sets, this showcases eight key years in the life of Ray Charles, during an era when he was transforming popular music. This arranges the material by recording not release dates so it mixes up his cutting-edge R&B singles, instrumental jazz numbers (with everyone from Milt Jackson to Quincy Jones) and his yearning vocals on string-laden standards.

The title "genius" was formally bestowed on Ray Charles with the release of his 1959 album
The Genius of Ray Charles. Though he was not yet thirty at that point, Charles had already
helped invent what would become known as soul -- shattering the boundaries between
sacred and secular music in the process -- and invigorated an entire generation of jazz
players. He also, somewhat reluctantly, had proved a major force in the early d... More >