As it appeared in this month's Playback St. Louis :
Ray Charles: Genius Loves Company (Concord)
Imagine how frightening it’d be to record a duet with a singer known as “The Genius.” The latest and last Ray Charles CD finds him in the company of such high-caliber vocalists across the musical spectrum as James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, and Gladys Knight. It’s fun to play “How do they measure up?” as you listen—who can provide worthy counterpoint to that iconic growl? But let’s be fair and say the deck was stacked against success. A duet with Charles when his voice is rough with age, hardened with discipline, shadowed with mortality, luminous with soul? Why not make today’s presidential candidates debate a resurrected Abe Lincoln?
That said, Elton John tries too hard and Natalie Cole is outclassed, but Norah Jones doesn’t break a sweat. Her youthful grace matched with Charles’ maturity on “Here We Go Again” conjures images of a granddaughter dancing with Grandpa at a family wedding.
When Brother Ray is paired with peers, there’s no nailbiting, no feeling it could go right or very, very wrong. Come on—who wouldn’t want to hear Charles and B.B. King testify with their “Sinner’s Prayer”? Lucille takes the first verse, her guitarist takes the next, then comes the single greatest moment on the disc: Charles breaks in with a “Know what, B.B.?” and B.B. defers with a “Yeah?” Two hard-lived old guys sitting around being old guys together, and it’s recorded—what an unimaginable privilege for the listener.
The arrangements rely too often on sickly-sweet strings or other overcooked elements, and some of the song choices could have been better. But the best duets come leaping out of their settings into a place far beyond criticism. There is a near-unimaginable poignancy in hearing Johnny Mathis—Johnny Mathis!—still gifting us with that silk. He and Charles may not be able to hold the last note of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” for a whole count, but it just doesn’t matter.