Ray Charles Plays the Slow Blues in Madrid

takes a blind man to make us all see something so beautiful

Ray Charles was a master of slow tempos. Dizzy Gillespie tells a story (which I am paraphrasing): "I was at a Ray Charles recording session at Columbia Studios in New York. Now, that studio is a very large room. Ray began counting off a rehearsal of a tune and said 'One'. I noticed a friend of mine had just come in, and walked the entire length of the room to go say hello. When I got way over there, Ray said 'Two'! "  🌑 This is the Stormiest, and the SLOOOOOW-est, "Stormy Monday" you're ever going to hear. He takes 2 minutes to play the first chorus IN TEMPO, and it's damn near 5 before the Raelettes sing one word. Ray would advise his drummer to "...just watch my feet, man."

Oh No.... He is not even just playing music. He is playing the silence, and letting certain sounds come out in between. Thank you to whoever invented the piano so we would get to hear some of the beautiful sounds inside this guy's soul.

EDIT: 5 years after I made this comment, I still come back to the one and only Ray. Nobody else has ever played the blues as good as him and nobody ever will. "Wait a minute now!"- Ray Charles, 1930-2004

i listen to all kind of music but the blues makes me feel sad and happy at the same time. Nothing like the Blues.

The people in the back add so much flavor to it! "Yeah" "come on now" "well" 😂😂😂

The little voices of Ray’s band are what make the song so special. The way they react to his sudden bursts of the keyboard. It’s just phenomenally human. 🙏

''Touch is the greatest thing on earth, amen.'' Man the feelings in those words at the beggining

Ray Charles was truly a "soulful cat" who wasn't afraid to let it all hang out, so to speak, and his sense of timing was impeccable, too.

WOW! The best ones don't try to be. They just are.

When he hits that note at 1:13, that response, the feel, the emotion....That was incredible. Mr. Charles was a bad bad man!!!

I saw Mr Charles live probably 20 times from 1963 to 2001. What a stupendous talent and what a loss. Listen to the captivating, invigorating, scintillating sounds of the genius...the genius of Ray Charles. Miss him.

Not very many musicians left in the world these days that could pull off this level of Bluesy, Jazzy, Churchy mood. Get it Uncle Ray...

Muddy said he would only play slow blues if he could. That's when the feeling is most intense. Of course, audiences want up-tempo. Ray really gets into the stratosphere here. Never seen him so wild.

Could you imagine a today’s artist just playing an instrument and singing with no fire work backstage light display. Young but man I love older music

WOW! this brother is really the epitome of SOUL.

Watching him perform,the way he feels music is fuckin beatiful.

this wrecks me. one of the most beautiful performances that i've ever heard.

Ray Charles a killer voice, a master in blues.

Priceless. Dizzy Gillespie called the way Ray played these licks "funeral blues". They were so achingly slow and exciting at the same time.