Ray Charles At Newport

On July 5, 1958, Ray Charles and his band played a set at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. The performance shows Ray at ease on stage, jumping in and out of musical styles at will, and casting a spell over the appreciative audience. Part of the small-venue show was released in October 1958 as Ray Charles At Newport (Atlantic 1289).

The Newport Jazz Festival had begun in 1954, and while already well-known and well-loved by jazz fans, the yearly event caused significant tension in Newport: this unfamiliar new black music attracted not only black audiences to white Newport, but also white college kids who descended on the town and had an easygoing, hedonistic bent that made many uncomfortable.

This tension could often propel the performers to greater heights, and several performances from the festival’s early years are now legendary. Ray Charles’ At Newport album is one such document.

Although a documentary about the 1958 festival, Jazz On A Summer’s Day, was made in 1960, Ray Charles is not among the many artists in the film.

Singles with songs from Ray Charles At Newport

Track listing

Side A
1. “The Right Time”
2. “In A Little Spanish Town”
3. “I Got A Woman”
4. “Blues Waltz”

Side B
1. “Hot Rod”
2. “Talkin’ ‘Bout You”
3. “Sherry”
4. “A Fool For You”

Listen to Ray Charles At Newport

Get your own Ray Charles At Newport on LP, CD or MP3 from Amazon. Or get the complete Atlantic recordings 7xCD box set.