Dedicated to You

Digitally remastered two-fer featuring a pair of original conceptual albums by the great Ray Charles: Dedicated To You and The Genius Sings the Blues. Dedicated To You consists of songs with a woman's name in each title. It was conducted and arranged by Marty Paich. The Genius Sings the Blues is another conceptual album dedicated to Charles' interpretations of the Blues. Two further Blues from the same period have been added as extra tracks. Jackpot Records. 2010.

Ray Charles's decision to cut an album of duets with then-rising jazz singer Betty Carter defines the phrase "unerring instinct." Charles responds to Carter's gorgeous voice and compelling melodic changes with some of his softest singing; you might say that this already masterful conduit of emotion got in touch with his feminine side on this 1961 date. The opening and closing cuts of the girls'-names theme album Dedicated to You, another '61 LP that fills out this 78-minute disc, demonstrate Brother Ray's touch for transforming unlikely material into expressions of his own funky essence. His amused big-band celebrations of "Hardhearted Hannah" and "Sweet Georgia Brown" sit alongside sublime portraits of "Stella by Starlight" and "Ruby" on an underappreciated set that's a perfect match for the Charles-Carter sides. --Rickey Wright