Ray's; lord; The man with the greatest blues voice ever is coming to

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, May 23, 1999 | by Pat Kane

He comes into the rehearsal room flanked by two friends, grinnin' and growlin'. "Now, where's this mutha of a band here..."

The sumptuous camel coat trails to the ground, his shark-skin suit glints underneath, his shades wrap all the way round his frowning face. Brother Ray has entered the building - the building being a giant hall underneath the Louvre's pyramid, in the summer of 1997. And he is here to do some serious business.

"Play it down, let's hear it." For tonight's performance, the Ray Charles Orchestra is a pick-up from the cream of London's session elite. They could play you a modernist symphony before coffee break - but they're sweating it today. Mr Charles pulls up a chair on the dance floor, and waves them to begin. "What'd I Say. Do it." They all kick in on the one, and stay there for six furious minutes. And they don't need to know what Ray thinks: he's swivelling around on his chair, slapping his thighs with his big hands, whooping and shouting at the end. "Oh yeah! These are hot cats, you guys are hot " The sense of relief is tangible. Someone takes Ray's coat, and leads him on stage to his organ. He settles himself, grins a faintly malevolent grin, and beckons his bandleader closer. "Now let's do the work", he whispers. Spending a day with Ray Charles had to be one of the experiences of my life: the fact that I'm about to get a second chance feels like an extension on my mortal lease. Richard Niles - a London-based, Californian-born composer and arranger, and presenter of Radio Two's New Standard's jazz programme - has been working with Ray for about four years, writing him songs and organising his band. When Niles asked me if I wanted to be the supporting act for Charles in Paris, I leapt at the chance. Now, both men are in town for BBC Music Live - and I've got the call again. Go on, bus: run me over now. Just to be sociable, I faxed Ray a few questions a week ago. Jean- Pierre Grosz, his French manager, told me to "keep it wacky, or make it about current affairs. And don't ask any questions he might have answered already a million times". So here goes: Ray, do you think there is racism in the American music industry? "Absolutely. There's a tendency to label all music produced by black people as 'black music', which is not true - a lot of music produced by blacks appeals to whites, not blacks. "Unfortunately there's also a common view that blacks are talented in two things, sport or music. Personally, there have been concerts in the past, particularly in the South, where I refused to play to an all white, or a segregated audience, as I believe music should be available to all." What do you think of rock 'n'roll? "Basically, rock 'n' roll came into being when white artists and white bands started covering black music. That seems like a blunt way of putting it, and it may sound like I'm a racist, but I'm not; that's just the best way to explain it. It started in the 50s, when you had popular singers like Pat Boone and Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins covering black music. They were doing songs first recorded by people like Little Richard and Chuck Berry. They just took rhythm and blues songs and did their own versions of them. And that sound became known as rock 'n' roll. "I don't know exactly who came up with that name, but that's pretty much the way it went down. When Elvis came along, he not only covered the music, but he was was moving his body on stage just like a black artist would. Now in those days a black artist couldn't get away with doing that on stage for the teenagers of America, but Elvis got away with it. He was criticised at first, but he got away with it. He was just doing what he saw people doing down on Beale Street. Do you think that machines and computers are taking over the modern music? Or are you relaxed about it? "Oh yeah. Computers have opened up a cheap way for kids to manufacture music - they use samples from various influences, add their own lyrics. That's cool. Essentially machines and computers are really just another instrument for musicians to use, to be creative." What singers and musicians turn you on, both in the present and the past? "People who are creative {and} original. For me, there's not been much original creativity since the early 70s. I think the 60s, in particular, will be looked back on as an amazing period of time musically, in the 20th century. "So much talent blossomed at this time, there was so much change and excitement. The UK, particularly, was a really potent source. Talent like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc. Voices I particularly like? Barbara Streisand, Aretha Franklin and Nat King Cole. Musicians include Duke Ellington and Art Tatum (a great pianist). Classically, Liszt, Bach and Beethoven are my favourites." How do you spend your money, Ray? "Like a lot of musicians I travel so much, that I don't have time to spend that much on myself. But I have a couple of motorbikes. And I like books. I also support two foundations for the deaf and the blind". And finally: what would your favourite meals be? Breakfast, dinner, dessert? "That's easy. Breakfast would be Jimi Dean Sausage, eggs & grits. No lunch. Dinner would be butter milk, neck bones, black eye peas, mustard greens. And dessert, I'd have rum'n'raisin Haagen Dazs ice cream." Ray Charles - one of the 20th century's undoubted musical geniuses, and possibly the coolest man alive - likes rum 'n'raisin Haagen Dazs. What more do you need to know? Ray Charles and his Orchestra play the Clyde Auditorium at 7pm, on 26th May. Tickets #22.50, #17.50, #15. For Tickets Tel: 0141-787 8000. mini profile Ray Charles was born in Albany, Georgia in 1930. He was not born blind but started losing his sight when he was five, after watching his younger brother, George, drown in a washtub. By the time he was seven he was completely blind. He began performing professionally in local club when he was 16.