“The Man I Love”
Song by Ray Charles
George and Ira Gershwin’s “The Man I Love” gets a compassionate treatment on Ray Charles’ jazzy version, released in 1961 on the Atlantic instrumental outtakes LP The Genius After Hours. The performance is unique, as mentioned in an impressive run-on sentence on the back cover of the album:
“The Man I Love”, one of the three tracks in the album for which musicians are used who were never regular members of Charles’ group, shows at certain moments Ray’s unorthodox approach to the harmonic pattern of the tune, at others his strict adherence to the original conception of the Gershwin tune.
– Leonard Feather
Just like Ray’s run-on piano explorations which stroll through the light and open “The Man I Love” at will. It’s a lovely performance from Ray and the others who comprise a trio on this April 1956 session: Oscar Pettiford joins in on bass and Joe Harris on drums.
Listen to “The Man I Love”
Songs on The Genius After Hours