When looking at the title of this album, I had to think. It just doesn’t add up. Genius and soul together? Wouldn’t that just be better soul? Well, according to Ray Charles, when you put together a genius and soul, you get jazz. But Ray had proved long before Genius + Soul=Jazz that he could do anything. He had gone from his standard soul, to gospel, to blues, and even to country music. Yes, everything Ray touched turned to gold. But would it continue with jazz? Could Mr. Charles revive (or at least capitalize off of) a genre that had not been truly popular since the thirties? Let’s find out.
The thing I most enjoy about this album is the interplay between the smooth, led by Ray Charles on his classy Hammond B3, and the hot, led by trumpeter Clark Terry. The two sides, on the good songs, work so well together. It’s clear on the first song, From the Heart, which starts with an explosive brass call with a clean keyboard fill. They work together to make the songs swing. Of course, that’s when this interplay is used. It works on From the Heart, which is a superb intro, also preparing the listener to a Ray Charles album without Ray Charles’ charismatic vocals. Taking out Ray Charles’ signature vocals from a majority of the album was the riskiest move that the producers and Ray made. It’s Ray Charles. He’s a fabulous singer, most of his earlier work had as much to do with his singing as it did with his instrumentals. The most surprising thing about it all, is that the decision pulled through, at least for the first half of the album. After From the Heart, there are several other successful instrumentals, including the second single off the album, One Mint Julep, Let’s Go, and my favorite song off the album, Moanin’, originally by Bobby Timmons. This is when the mixing of smooth and hot is taken to the next level. The song starts with a deep keyboard playing the theme, with the brass, muted, backing it up. The song crescendos, except for Ray Charles. He stays cool, while the rest of the band goes crazy Clark Terry’s trumpet playing above them all, making a very sexy contrast. Yet I cannot leave out the two vocal tracks on the album, I’ve Got News For You and I’m Gonna Move To the Outskirts of Town. I’ve Got News For You is excellent. From that same mix of hot and smooth to the lyrics to the voice of Ray Charles. The lyrics really make this track memorable. They make you forget that Ray wouldn’t be able to see if his cheating woman “had her lipstick all a mess” or that her watch’s inscription was “Lord from Daddy-O.” It’s an awesome song with each blast from the brass a slap of that woman’s face.
The second, I’m Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town, track number six, is when the album starts to lose some of it’s luster. It’s an average blues song, but nothing at all of the same quality as the previous songs. After that is Stompin’ Room Only, which has Ray playing this melody over and over again, which I found annoying the first time, and after the fiftieth time…well yeah, it was still annoying. The rest of the song is not much better, I find it at best bland, but usually as annoying as the rest of the song. Of the last three songs, only Strike Up the Band is noteworthy. It’s an old George Gershwin classic, and it would be pretty hard to mess up a Gershwin song, though I’ve seen it done (United Airlines damn you…). The other two are alright I guess, but it would’ve been better to keep the album fresh. The other two songs sound too much like less interesting versions of the songs that came before.
There are some very, very good songs on this album. Unfortunately, it is inconsistent. If the fresh, good songs like One Mint Julep (which, I forgot to mention, is another awesome song with a cool melody and a swinging attitude, plus a sexy trumpet part) had been put a little later on, it would’ve evened the album up, maybe make it move smoother. Still, Ray Charles made himself into a quality jazz artist, even if he didn’t save the genre from the pop scene’s cold shoulder. This is a very solid album, which showed some great musicianship from the band and of course, from the genius himself, Mr. Ray Charles.
