Title: Early Ray
Review: This excellent collection showcases Ray Charles singing blues and jazz, mostly in the style of Nat Cole or Charles Brown. Some of these are on the Atlantic set "The Birth of Soul", but if you like Ray in the (mostly) piano, guitar, bass format this is a very complete set. His piano playing and singing are wonderful, though derivitive. But this shouldn't detract from your enjoyment of the music. Granted, this stuff was recorded before he started creating his own distinctive fusion of gospel and rock and roll that made him a true original. However, this music is great on its own terms. Ray gets really deep into the blues numbers and his piano is right up front throughout, with no horns or back-up singers to distract from his pure sound.
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