The Music Jockey

Download Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/63864199/RayCharles_CleoLaine-PorgyBessGershwin.rar

Music List:

1. Summertime - Ray Charles, Cleo Laine, The Orchestra

2. My Man's Gone Now - Cleo Laine, The Orchestra

3. Woman Is a Sometime Thing - Ray Charles, The Orchestra

4. They Pass by Singin' - Cleo Laine, The Orchestra

5. What You Want Wid Bess? - Cleo Laine, The Orchestra

6. I Got Plenty O' Nuttin' - Ray Charles, Cleo Laine, The Orchestra

7. Buzzard Song - Ray Charles, The Orchestra

8. Bess, You Is My Woman Now - Ray Charles, Cleo Laine, The Orchestra

9. Oh, Doctor Jesus - Cleo Laine

10. Crab Man - Ray Charles, The Orchestra

11. Here Come de Honey Man - Ray Charles, Cleo Laine, The Orchestra

12. Strawberry Woman [Instrumental] - Ray Charles

13. Strawberry Woman - Cleo Laine

14. It Ain't Necessarily So - Ray Charles, Cleo Laine, The Orchestra

15. There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New York - Ray Charles, The Orchestra

16. I Loves You, Porgy - Cleo Laine, The Orchestra

17. Oh Bess, Oh Where's My Bess? [Instrumental] - Ray Charles

18. Oh Bess, Oh Where's My Bess? - Ray Charles, The Orchestra

19. Oh, Lawd, I'm on My Way! - Ray Charles

Ray Charles left his own music behind to sing Gershwin with one of the most brilliant songstress of all time, Cleo Laine. The result was one of the most magical duet albums ever recorded! Beware! This is not one of your typically light opera versions of Porgy and Bess. This is the artistic interpretation of two accomplished artists who turn Gershwin's music into an unusual mix of spectacle and soul! Not since Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong has any artist attempted to put hot and raw jazz back into this magnificent array of songs. Cleo Laine's fine vocals with Ray Charles' raw soul is a perfect match!

Each song arrangement was perfectly matched to the artist by Frank DeVol with a 78-piece orchestra. Great instrumental artists like Joe Sample, Lee Ritenour, Joe Pass and Ernie Watts are just some of the many gifted in the orchestra. Many of the arrangements are so hot that they can stand on their own.

The opening number "Summertime" swells into a gorgeously rich duet. Cleo Laine's finale in "My Man's Gone Now" is a vocal high. "I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'" is a cooking duet between Ray & Cleo. "Bess, You Is My Woman" is rich with tenderness and longing from both singers. Cleo Laine hits angelic gospelly highs in "Oh, Doctor Jesus". "It Ain't Necessarily So" is one of the funkiest duets in the album. It scorches beyond belief! "I Love You, Porgy" is a sweeping tour-de-force for Cleo Laine. Ray Charles' earthy soul is full force in his version of "Oh, Bess, Oh Where's My Bess". The finale "Oh, Lord, I'm On My Way" hits the heavens with Ray's gospel vocal.

The lp was originally recorded in 1976 and the cd was digitally remastered in 1988. The vocals are marvelously recorded. You'd swear you were in the recording studio! The only downside of this cd is its limited release yet well worth the search.
Beverly Praiswater