Here We Go Again: Celebrating the Genius of Ray Charles

by Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis

Overview

Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis first worked together at The Allen Room at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center for two nights in 2007, and while at first it would seem to be an odd pairing, it really isn't: Nelson's singing and guitar playing have always fallen well to the jazz side of country all along anyway, and he's hardly been a garden variety hat act during his long career, while Marsalis has long worked to reintroduce jazz as a viable popular form in American music. It's about synthesis, really, and so it makes perfect sense for Nelson and Marsalis to turn to the music of Ray Charles, one of the greatest assimilators of American pop music -- all forms of it, from gospel to blues, country, jazz, and R&B-for their encore shows at the heralded jazz house -- this time for two sold-out nights at Rose Theater in February 2009 with special guest Norah Jones. Marsalis arranged the music as both an homage to Charles and as a loose song cycle about the ups and downs of love, and backed by his working quintet of tenor saxophonist Walter Blanding, pianist Dan Nimmer, bassist Carlos Henriquez, and drummer Ali Jackson, plus Nelson's longtime harmonica player Mickey Raphael, it all feels wonderfully appropriate, with Charles' standards like "Hallelujah I Love Her So," "Cryin' Time," "Hit the Road Jack," "Busted," "Makin' Whoopie," and his iconic signature hit, "What'd I Say" all sounding comfortable and fresh. The only thing missing is Ray Charles himself, who undoubtedly would have had no trouble fitting into these shows. Radio now splits everything into little niches. That isn't what Charles was about. He saw music as convergence. This fine concert album plays in that same spirit. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	03/29/2011
Label:	Blue Note / Emi
UPC:	5099909638822
Rank:	64712

Tracks

1. Hallelujah I Love Her So [Gospel 2-Beat/Boogaloo/ 4/4 Swing]
2. Come Rain or Come Shine [Walking Ballad]
3. Unchain My Heart [Bolero with Habanera Bass]
4. Cryin' Time [Country Ballad]
5. Losing Hand [Dirge with Chain-Gang Shuffle]
6. Hit the Road Jack [Gospel 2-Beat/4/4 Swing]
7. I'm Moving On [Boogaloo with Afro-Latin Backbeat/ 4/4 Swing]
8. Busted [Gospel 12/8 Shuffle]
9. Here We Go Again [Rhythm & Blues 12/8 Shuffle]
10. Makin' Whoopee [Hard-Bop 2-Beat/4/4 Swing]
11. I Love You So Much (It Hurts) [Waltz]
12. What'd I Say [Boogaloo]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Willie Nelson   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Wynton Marsalis   Primary Artist,Vocals,Trumpet
Ali Muhammed Jackson   Drums,Percussion
Dan Nimmer   Piano
Mickey Raphael   Harmonica
Carlos Henriquez   Bass
Walter Blanding   Vocals,Sax (Tenor)
Norah Jones   Vocals,Guest Artist,Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Ali Muhammed Jackson   Arranger
T. Powell   Composer
Teddy Powell   Composer
Sherman Irby   Arranger
Andy Farber   Arranger
Ray Charles   Composer
Harold Arlen   Composer
Bobby Sharp   Composer
Mark Rothbaum   Management,Executive Producer
Eli Wolf   A&R
Vincent Gardner   Arranger
Walter Donaldson   Composer
Floyd Tillman   Composer
Victor Goines   Arranger
Russell Steagall   Composer
Johnny Mercer   Composer
Merle Travis   Composer
Saundra Palmer-Grassi   Engineer
Percy Mayfield   Composer
Richard DeRosa   Arranger
Gus Kahn   Composer
Hank Snow   Composer
Harlan Howard   Composer
B. Sharp   Composer
Buck Owens   Composer
Wynton Marsalis   Arranger,Artistic Director
Rob Macomber   Engineer
Shanieka D. Brooks   Product Manager
Geoff Burke   Copyist
Don Lanier   Composer
Chad Eby   Arranger
Joanne Levey   Assistant
Kay Niewood   Music Supervisor
Jonathan Kelly   Copyist
Julie Skarratt   Photography
Gordon H. Jee   Creative Director
Macklam Feldman   Management
Jazz at Lincoln Center   Producer
Charles Calhoun   Composer
Adrian Ellis   Executive Director
Evan Manners   Assistant
Christianna English   Music Supervisor
Jeff Jones "the Jedi Master"   Mixing,Producer,Mastering
Kate Sain   Copyist
Randall Leddy   Design,Art Direction
Christopher Crenshaw   Arranger
Darren Booth   Lettering
Ed Arrendell   Management