Ray Charles: Live In France 1961

Ray Charles was undergoing his change from Atlantic to ABC at the time of this recording from the 1961 Antibes Jazz Festival and much like the Ray Charles Live in Brazil, 1963 Rhino DVD from a few years back, it captures the raw, no-strings approach that these shows benefit from. The Antibes shows were shot on 16mm film and have been beautifully remastered and show Ray almost dividing the shows into jazz portions and the more popular Raeletts accompanied tunes that we're more familiar with. What really sets this apart from later filmed shows is that he was still exhibiting several different sides, some of which the public didn't stay aware of as his productions became more lavish.Being a jazz festival, he begins with jazz instrumentals and then adding the vocals and what would be considered more rhythm and blues. Being a huge fan of his early years with Atlantic, this DVD is a great example of just how great his chops could be in the smaller settings. Don't let that make you think of this as laid back, it's anything but. Although the filming has been wonderfully restored, there's an almost club-like feeling to his tracks that he calls out to his tight eight piece band. And, of course, the piano. His playing comes across as tight as his singing and I find the instrumental pieces to be just as entertaining as his vocal hits that became the backbone of his later shows. There's also the original Raeletts with Margie Hendrix tearing it up as usual. Oh, and don't forget the great David "Fathead" Newman and Hank Crawford backing up Ray making for liner notes that are actually pretty truthful when describing this as one of his best ensembles.Also, one of the gifts of these shows are watching the audience as they go from enthusiastic to wild as kicks up the energy as they go along.For as much of a cliche as this sounds, this is a must for Ray Charles fans and basically anyone who has some good taste tucked away in there.

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of quality live footage that is constantly being discovered or circulated of Jazz & Blues artists performing in Europe. It seems like Europeans, the UK, France and Germany in particular made every effort to record and film as many legendary artists as they could performing in their countries in the late 50's to the 70's. This recently available footage of Ray Charles' first live performances in Europe is nothing short of astounding. The footage, while black and white (common for the time period) was recorded on actual professional reels as opposed to VHS tape for TV broadcast and thus is excellent quality. There are some slight shifts in audio mix elements and quality throughout but these are really only minor issues. The fact that nearly 2 hours of footage, culled from the 1st and 2nd set of Mr. Charles' performances, is presented in excellent quality is really amazing. If you're a fan of Ray Charles in his prime, this is a must-have DVD to own! The jazz side of Ray Charles as well as his classic r&b material is represented well here.

A fascinating artefact from the 1960s. In the first concert, Ray and the guys' gear must still be in transit because the musicians are reading charts placed on chairs in front of them. Show business! It's typical of the slightly down home aspect of the whole show, in which Ray bumps the mike stand repeatedly. Similarly with all of his streamlined unit -- they are a joy to watch. When the backup girls finally join the band on stage it's quite a moment and they add another layer of finesse to the music. The mono recording is good enough, quite rich in its own way, and carries plenty of detail. What's with Fathead Newman's horn? Twice he steps up to the mike to solo and is fiddling with a loose gooseneck on his tenor that he has to readjust at a crucial moment. His solos are these low key semi elliptical affairs that sound like partial telegrams from other solos. Finally, on his third solo you get to see what he can do. Why wouldn't he have sorted that out before the show, or at least before his solo?? As I said, fascinating. It's not quite the definitive Ray performance I look for, but a gem in that it presents him and the band at a peak, winning new audiences and showing the wares in depth.

A very rare, but vintaged concert, of Mr. Ray Charles, at his young, yet growing prowess, ofbecoming one of the GIANTS, of 20th century music industry!The film footage is amazingly good, as we capture a look at the dynamic musicians who backed him up, (like David 'Fathead' Newman), not to mention, the original 'RAELETTS', (withthe incomparible, Margie Hendrix!)Anyone who grew up, as I did, lulled and bound to the music of Ray Charles, will not wantto forego an opportunity to purchase this DVD. Rev. Ted Miller

It is a great video.

Even though this show was done in his hey-days, it seems as though he didn't have his normal touch. Sadly, he was going through some problems that gave him a lot of grief which could be why he just wasn't up to par.

Quality not too good.

As others have noted, the production itself could be better. But the performance of Ray Charles is amazing. It's hard to believe he had such mastery of the piano. And he was truly that: a master!

Early live recorded DVD from France in 1961. Classic Ray but his band were pretty ordinary. However I truly enjoyed this piece of history and felt it was very good value for money.Barrie

wonderful! good value and prompt delivery. thank you

...sie liebt Ray Charles. Der Film über sein Leben, mit Jamie Foxx in der Hauptrolle, ist einer ihrer Lieblingsfilme aber den echten Ray kennt sie visuell bisher mehr aus seiner späteren Schaffensphase. Nun wollte ich ihr zu ihrem Geburtstag ein ganz besonderes Geschenk machen. Ray als 31 jähriger, schon (oder gerade damals) in Hochform. ...Charisma ...unbeschreiblich. Ich hatte zugegeben etwas Angst wegen der Qualität der DVD. Ich sehe mir vor dem Kauf immer Ausschnitte der Konzerte auf "youtube" an und da war das Bild nicht so toll, aber eben Historisch. Nun da die DVD gerade in meinem Player getestet wird kann ich sagen:" Absolute Kaufempfehlung". ...Musik mono - sehr gute Qualität, ...Bild - vom Original 16mm digitalisiert, ...mein Gesamturteil - sehr gut!

Cette vidéo remonte de vieux souvenirs car j'y étais à Juan-les-pins ce juillet 1961. C'était le 1ère fois que Ray donnait un concert en France ; nous connaissions les deux ou trois 45 tours qui avaient paru chez nous ; Tout le public était "figé", l'orchestre sans Ray a débuté, ensuite "IL" est arrivé sur scène et il a joué un morceau sans chanter ; enfin, la "VOIX"... Je ne sais pas comment décrire le choc, nous étions subjugués. J'ai connu le même choc, quinze ans plus tard et à 18.000 km de là, en écoutant pour la 1ère fois Keith Jarrett.

Juan les Pins en juillet, le soleil, la pinède Gould, à coté de l'hôtel Provençal, la Méditerranée, voila comment se présentait le décor qui nous a tous fait tellement rêver...Et voici que réapparaissent enfin ces témoins de moments miraculeux, la découverte de Ray Charles à la tête de ce qui restera son ensemble le plus jazzy, R and B, dynamique, enthousiasmant : retour vers le printemps de la vie de l'artiste mais aussi de ses fans, cette série de concerts devenus mythiques ne pouvait que nous enchanter.D'où vient alors la pointe de tristesse? Peut être qu'on l'avait rêvé encore mieux, que nos propres souvenirs sont encore plus forts que la réalité contenue sur ce DVD? Mais qu'importe, l'immense majorité des admirateurs de Ray vont découvrir et adorer les oeuvres présentées ici, malgré une prise de son assez terne et une réalisation visuelle banale : ces détails ne doivent pas nous faire bouder l'immense plaisir de revivre l'arrivée triomphale de Ray Charles en France et dans nos vies en 1961.