As far as American popular music goes, Ray Charles is about as
holy as it gets.
His blues, gospel, jazz and country amalgamations have forever
left their indelible stamp on America’s musical landscape.
Since his death in 2004, it has become rather fashionable to pay
the man musical homage ““ a gracious thanks from today’s
artists for the influence and inspiration he has given them. On
Oct. 14 at Royce Hall, UCLA Live will present John Scofield doing
just that ““ bringing his guitar, band and guest singer Mavis
Staples to commemorate the work of Ray Charles.
However common it may be to venerate Charles, the act of
remembering him is anything but orthodox. Like Charles himself, the
artists he inspires follow his example by expanding their own
musical boundaries. Scofield certainly plans to, as he performs
Charles’ music in a way that is inimitably his.
“When you do this sort of thing you play the music of an
artist you really like but you do it your own way, because
it’s ridiculous to try to do it the same exact way they did
since it just can’t be done,” Scofield said. “His
music has such a wide spectrum, from country to blues to jazz, …
so I took all of them and added a bit of myself.”
Charles’ music is apt for this kind of performance, as the
songs are built in a way that leaves room for new ideas. As one of
jazz’s reigning guitarists, Scofield jumped on the chance to
mix jazz complexity with the songs’ more straightforward
structures.
“A lot of the songs are really simple, using just a couple
chords. They really beg for rearranging and let me put a lot of
myself in them,” Scofield said.
With the sonic palette of a modern jazz ensemble ““
vocalist Dean Bowman, keyboardist Gary Versace, bassist Ruben
Rodriguez and drummer Steve Hass ““ and an ear for rock and
funk fusion, Scofield adds and removes parts of the originals,
changing the architecture of the songs. Manipulating a groove here
or a horn section there may shine a new light on different aspects
of Charles’ originals.
Some of his changes are premeditated, but others come from the
nature of the music. Stretching out in a guitar solo,
Scofield’s very presence will bring new colors to the
venerated repertoire.
“It’s like language. … Even though I’ll be
playing his songs, even the same phrases, it comes out my own way
because I’m playing it. I can’t help that,”
Scofield said.
Scofield is an experienced interpreter of this music, having
released the album “That’s What I Say,” his
tribute to Ray Charles, in 2005. Combining Charles’ most
popular songs, like “Hit the Road Jack” and
“Georgia on My Mind” with some of his lesser known
works, the album paints a rounded portrait of the soul great.
But, as always, things will come out differently live in
comparison to the record. The live space and the audience bring a
different energy to the music ““ especially heavily improvised
music like jazz ““ that makes each performance unique.
“It’s all changed; it’s all kind of different
from the CD. This happens every time songs go on the road and
slowly morph into a different character,” Scofield said.
A bit of consistency between the performance and the CD will be
in the presence of veteran R&B vocalist Mavis Staples. Fresh
from her 2005 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Staples will lend
her experience and personal memories of Charles to the tribute.
“She’s simply one of the greatest R&B and gospel
singers of all time, and kind of like Ray Charles to me.
She’s a great singer from a golden era,” Scofield
said.
Scofield’s interest in that “golden era” goes
back a long way.
“I grew up loving Ray Charles’ music. When I was a
teenager, his hits were on the radio, and I got his albums,”
Scofield said.
The spirit that led Charles to famously combine soulful rhythms
with gospel may be, at least in part, alive in Scofield as
well.
As the now-deceased musician created his amalgamations, the
guitarist has developed his own over the course of his career. From
his early days as a straight-ahead jazz guitarist to his later
incorporations of soul, funk and hip-hop into a more contemporary
sound, Scofield has been unafraid to reach across genres in his
musical explorations.
“All the musicians I’ve played with that were better
than me have all affected me. … Each one leaves his imprint on
me, and that’s the nature of this music. The great thing
about jazz musicians is that we tend to migrate around,”
Scofield said.
This tribute to Charles will take advantage of straight-ahead
jazz elements, incorporating modern swing into Charles’ soul
““ a blend of influences characteristic of Scofield and jazz
in general.
No one can claim to know what the late Charles would think of
others performing his work, but his music speaks for him to say
that he believed in just this sort of change. Scofield certainly
does.
“If you’re not changing and moving on, you’ve
stopped, which means (your music is) dead,” he said. “I
just see (Charles) as one of the great musicians in R&B and one
of the originators of it, so it’s great to reinterpret his
songs.”