An evening of improvised music becomes a thrilling journey into the imaginations of multi-instrumentalist David Cain and Grammy-awarding winning drummer Paul Wertico.

Live albums and reissue projects often do much to shape the broader idea we have about a musical legacy, and this year was no different — with impressive sets devoted to Ray Charles, the Beach Boys, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings and the Smiths

Ray Charles, sightless and orphaned by age 15, led a life that sounded like a blues song. But the range and scope of his talent could never be contained within one genre, no matter its lasting joys.

Ray Charles, by this point, had left Atlantic for ABC-Paramount and was well on his way to becoming one of the 20th century’s most important crossover artists — dabbling in everything from country to big band to adult contemporary music.

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, who rose to fame as a composer and sideman alongside Eric Clapton and George Harrison.

Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis continue a stirringly offbeat musical dialogue begun with their 2008 release Two Men with the Blues, this time focusing on the music of Ray Charles.

“Am I Blue” is a largely forgotten argument for Ray Charles‘ striking ability to synthesize jazz, blues, country and gospel into music with a broader appeal. That’s saying something, considering that it appears on The Genius of Ray Charles, a half-big band/half-strings Atlantic release that became one of his most celebrated efforts. Charles effortlessly melds both the secular and sacred [...]

David “Fathead” Newman, one of our favorite tenor men, has passed after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 75. A Dallas native, Newman left college to tour with Charlie Parker’s mentor, Buster Smith. He then found fame as a sideman with Ray Charles, spending 12 seminal years in his band beginning in 1954 as the foundation of modern [...]

NICK DERISO: Take some time with this one, which underscores the impressive contributions of a guy who first blew us away backing up with bluesman ZuZu Bollin, later came to fame playing a sideman’s role with Ray Charles, made some bold moves in jazz — then settled into R&B and pop-influenced fusion. This two-disc anthology does a good job of [...]

by Pico Ray Charles had been such a fixture on the American music scene for so long, it’s still hard to reconcile the fact that he’s been gone for over two years, now. True, it’s been a long time since he had a bona fide hit but his presence permeated our culture through the music of others. But y’all already [...]