Soul Brothers

by Dave Nathan By the time this album was cut, Ray Charles was already an established rhythm & blues star, fortified with the recording of his 1955 hit "I Got a Woman." He joined up with Milt Jackson two years later for a session that merges the soul styling of Charles with the jazz orientation of Jackson. Although some discographies have it the other way around, this is really a Charles event and thus there is a play list consisting mostly of songs he composed and certainly music that he was comfortable playing, with a nice balance between soul, blues, and straight-up jazz. Apparently, one objective of this album was to demonstrate that Charles' talent extended beyond vocals and piano. Here he is heard as more than a fair-to-middling alto sax player, as well as dabbling with the electric piano, and he doesn't sing on this edition of the session. The set kicks off with a slow-dragging version of Leroy Carr's "How Long, How Long Blues," where Charles plays both alto sax and piano at the same time, obviously through the use of dubbing, with Skeeter Best's guitar getting in some significant licks. This track is as close to pure soul as one can get within a jazz context. Charles also used this occasion to establish himself as a swinging bop pianist as he and Jackson trade fours and eights on "Cosmic Ray," underscored by drum breaks by Connie Kay. "Charlesville" is devoted entirely to Charles' pianism with just the rhythm section in tow. Jackson sits this one out. An excellent session by two masters of their art.