The Night Time is the Right Time....

I felt the need to make this a seperate entry, in order to give it the proper distance from my absurd rantings.

Thursday saw the shaking of the earth with the death of a god. He passed swiftly into the shadow, but his image remains, seared into the collective memory of generations of music lovers. I am of course speaking of the wonderful Ray Charles, who died early Thursday. Mr. Charles was a dynamo of vocal/piano workings, weaving a thick set of horn-lines, backup singers, and his own "dirtish", home spun voice into a wonderful tapestry of soul. His incredible talent was only made more incredible by the fact that he was blind, which caused many a jaw to drop, and was the producer of many unbelieving stares. But Mr. Charles never let his handicap bother him, even going so far as to take roles in movies and television commercials. Even for those who didn't follow his music, Ray Charles was a mainstay of American pop culture. His passing will be mourned by all of America.

Johnny T. and I has the distinct pleasure of seeing Ray Charles live at Blues Fest in 1997, where he headlined the Petrillo Stage on Thursday evening. We both stood in awe of the musical giant, playing and swaying the groove out of his fingetips and into the crowd of thousands. Unfortunatly, we had to leave early, so we didn't get to see his set closer, which was suppoused to be dynamite. However, I do know that he was one of the few older performers that I have seen that was still as good as his best album.

So, this week, all my musical endeavours are devoted to the wonderful piano player, talented singer, civil-rights activist, and all around hip cat, Ray Charles.

Ahh, excuse me, but there aint' nothing wrong with the action on that piano.