Genius + Soul = Jazz

Genius + Soul = Jazz is a 1961 album by American musician Ray Charles, featuring big band arrangements by Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns. Charles is accompanied by two groups drawn from members of The Count Basie Band and from the ranks of top New York session players. It was recorded at Van Gelder Studio in two sessions on December 26 and 27, 1960[2] and originally released on the Impulse! label as Impulse! A–2.

Genius + Soul = Jazz
Studio album by
Ray Charles
ReleasedFebruary 1961[1]
RecordedDecember 26–27, 1960
StudioVan Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
GenreJazz
Length34:54
LabelImpulse! Records
A–2
ProducerCreed Taylor
Ray Charles chronology
Soul Meeting
(1961)		 Genius + Soul = Jazz
(1961)		 The Genius After Hours
(1961)

Genius + Soul = Jazz was re-issued in the UK, first in 1989 on the Castle Communications "Essential Records" label, and by Rhino Records in 1997 on a single CD together with Charles' 1970 My Kind of Jazz. In 2010, Concord Records released a deluxe edition comprising digitally remastered versions of Genius + Soul = Jazz, My Kind of Jazz, Jazz Number II, and My Kind of Jazz Part 3.[3][4]

In 2000, the album was voted number 360 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition.[5] It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011.[3][6]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[8]

In the Encyclopedia of Albums, edited by Paul Du Noyer, the album is described as "The eclectic Charles's only big-band jazzy get-together of the early Sixties"; the track "One Mint Julep" is highlighted as "[seeing] the versatile singer cool and confident enough to let the musicians do the talking, while he played the organ throughout. Yet his mixing together of various styles was vastly influential, and his legacy to singers was what Chuck Berry's was to guitarists."[9] In 2000, Genius + Soul = Jazz was voted number 360 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition.[5]

In 2011, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[3][6]

Track listing
  1. "From the Heart" (Ray Charles) arr. Quincy Jones – 3:30
  2. "I've Got News for You" (Roy Alfred) arr. Ralph Burns – 4:28
  3. "Moanin'" (Bobby Timmons) arr. Quincy Jones – 3:14
  4. "Let's Go" (Ray Charles) arr. Ralph Burns – 2:39
  5. "One Mint Julep" (Rudy Toombs) arr. Quincy Jones – 3:02
  6. "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town" (Andy Razaf, Casey Bill Weldon) arr. Quincy Jones – 3:38
  7. "Stompin' Room Only" (Howard Marks) arr. Ralph Burns – 3:35
  8. "Mister C" (Ray Charles) arr. Ralph Burns – 4:28
  9. "Strike Up the Band" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) arr. Quincy Jones – 2:35
  10. "Birth of the Blues" (Ray Henderson, Buddy G. DeSylva, Lew Brown) arr. Ralph Burns – 5:05

Personnel

On all tracks

December 26, 1960, session: Tracks 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 & 9

December 27, 1960, session: Tracks 4, 5, 6 & 10

References
  1. Cash Box, February 25 1961, page 32
  2. C. Michael Bailey, "Ray Charles: Genius + Soul = Jazz", All About Jazz.
  3. ""Genius + Soul = Jazz" Album Selected for GRAMMY Music Hall of Fame®", Ray Charles website". Archived from the original on July 27, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  4. David Bowling, "Music Review: Ray Charles – Genius + Soul = Jazz (Expanded Edition)", Blogcritics, April 3, 2010.
  5. Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 140. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  6. Past Recipients, Grammy Hall of Fame. Archived January 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Genius + Soul = Jazz Review by Richie Unterberger". AllMusic. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  8. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 3074. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  9. Du Noyer, Paul, ed. (1998). Encyclopedia of Albums. Parragon Publishing. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978-0752533360.
  10. Myers, Marc (February 7, 2012). "New Jersey Jazz Revolution". Wall Street Journal.
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