Ever since working with him nearly 20 years ago, John Gray has wanted to do a Ray Charles tribute show, to honour the musical legend.
Two years ago, the Calgary-based musician fulfilled his dream when he formed the Ray Charles Tribute Orchestra and began playing shows throughout Western Canada. The orchestra’s next performance is at Cornerstone Theatre in Canmore on Saturday (March 9).
“I was hired for a six-month tour in 1994 and worked with Ray Charles’ band in the States,” said Gray. “I joined up with him in Mobile, Alabama and then we went to Georgia. It was a great experience, it was unbelievable working with him.”
Born in Georgia in 1930, Charles grew up in Florida, where from an early age he developed a talent for music. Though blind from the age of seven, his 60-year musical career spawned 55 studio albums, dozens of hit singles and he is credited with revolutionizing modern jazz and blues musical traditions.
Charles passed away in 2004, at the age of 73.
“If he liked your playing, he was a nice guy, but if you did some things musically that pissed him off, he could make your life a living hell,” said Gray, who played bass with Charles. “I had a huge respect for him – the guy’s a genius – and I learned a lot from him.
“Ray had a certain way of accenting certain notes, that seemed to make the music come alive, and he was always giving me a lot of cues with his feet, or with the way he moved on stage. I was seated right next to him.”
Gray had several interesting stories to tell about his experiences with Charles.
“Ray and his band were always playing practical jokes on the new guy in the band, of which I fell victim more than a few times,” he said. “The first guy I met in the band was the lead guitar player. He asked me ‘Have you ever seen Ray’s wife?’ I said ‘No,’ and he said ‘Neither has he’.”
There was a rule in the band, he said, that if anyone ever missed the bus, they had to make their way to the next show by themselves.
“They used to play this joke where they’d sit around the breakfast table, and say the bus left at 10 a.m., they’d all have exact change ready.” said Gray. “The new guy would say ‘Shouldn’t we get on the bus?’ and they’d say, ‘No don’t worry about it,’ and then with a minute before 10 they’d all slap down their money while the new guy would be fumbling with the bill, and they’d hop on the bus and take off without him. I fell for that once.”
Gray is looking forward to the upcoming Canmore show and the chance to present Charles’ music.
“I’m really excited about the Ray Charles show, it should be a good night of music,” he said. “It’s a 12-piece band, with Donald Ray Johnson on lead vocals, and then we have three Afro-American girls as the Raylettes – or as Don likes to call them, the Donald Raylettes.
“Then we have five horn players – two saxes, two trumpets and trombone – plus piano, bass, drums. It should be a good night of music.”
Donald Ray was Gray’s first choice for the singer.
“I worked with Donald in the late 1980s and I’ve always had a huge respect for him,” he said. “He’s a Grammy winner, and also a Maple Blues award. Ever since I was a teenager I’ve loved blues and jazz and Donald excels at the blues part, and is coming into his own with the jazz.”
The Ray Charles Tribute Orchestra has wanted to do a show in Canmore for quite some time.
“The band’s based in Calgary and we’ve always loved the mountains, and we wanted to do a tribute to here,” said Gray. “I worked with the Platters and the Inkspots and we worked at Cornerstone Theatre a couple of years ago. I really liked the venue and how it’s set up for live music, and we’re really looking forward to playing there.
“We start off with an instrumental, then we bring Don up and he sings one or two, and then we bring the background singers,” he added. “We do stuff like ‘Georgia on my mind,’ ‘Hit the road Jack,’ ‘Hallelujah,’ ‘You are my sunshine.’ We put on a really good show, it’s over two hours of live music with the intermission.”
Gray began listening to the music of Ray Charles as a teenager and has been in love with his work ever since.
“I learned a lot working with Ray and I’ll always remember it, as long as I live,” he said. “It was the best musical experience of my life.
“I’ve worked with a lot of other great artists – Stevie Ray Vaughn, Dexter Gordon, Ched Baker, KD Lang – when I was in high school in Edmonton I started working with this fellow named Tyrence “Big” Miller. He was a big black blues singer from Kansas City who worked with Duke Ellington. It’s working with him that my love for blues and jazz developed.”
Tickets for the event are $30 in advance, $35 at the door and available at the theatre, online through atthecorner.ca or by phone at 403-609-0004. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.
