Ray Charles Genius + Soul = Jazz (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series) 180g LP Scratch & Dent

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Seeking to offer definitive audiophile grade versions of some of the most historic and best jazz records ever recorded, Verve Label Group and Universal Music Enterprises' new audiophile Acoustic Sounds vinyl reissue series utilizes the skills of top mastering engineers and the unsurpassed production craft of Quality Record Pressings. All titles are mastered from the original analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged by Stoughton Printing Co. in high-quality gatefold sleeves with tip-on jackets. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings.

One of the original releases on Impulse! when the label debuted in 1961, the album emphasizes Ray Charles as a jazz instrumentalist. He also switched from his usual electric piano to a Hammond organ, brought in Count Basie's band and used Quincy Jones's hard-blowing arrangements. The success of the album and its single "One Mint Julep" helped put Impulse! on the map. Verve's Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180g vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging

"Each step in our production process - from title selection to mastering, pressing and packaging - is designed to meet the highest standards, and we want everyone who hears these albums to feel the love and hard work we put into everything we do," says Chad Kassem CEO of Acoustic Sounds.

One of the best early-'60s examples of soul-jazz crossover, this record, like several of his dates from the period, featured big-band arrangements (played by the Count Basie band). This fared better than some of Charles' similar outings, however, if only because it muted some of his straight pop aspirations in favor of some pretty mean and lean, cut-to-the-heart-of-the-matter B-3 Hammond organ licks. Most of the album is instrumental and swings vivaciously, although Charles does take a couple of vocals with 'I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town' and 'I've Got News for You.' Yet one of those instrumentals, a cover of the Clovers' 'One Mint Julep,' would give Charles one of his most unpredictable (and best) early-'60s hits.

Listening to Genius Soul was near exhausting as every last detail is brought to the surface. The nasty tone of Charles' electric organ. Freddy Green's steadily bouncing guitar. Every individual brass and woodwind instrument. Every player is RIGHT THERE, jockeying for your attention.