EyeShotJazz | Jazz Photography

Celebrating the historic musical kinship of Quincy Jones and Ray Charles, this SRJO project focused on the body of work that yielded the pivotal recording Genius + Soul = Jazz.

The 1961 release features Count Basie’s hard-swinging big band – including Clark Terry, Roy Haynes, Thad Jones, and Fathead Newman – arrangements by Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns, plus Charles on organ and singing a couple. The remake of “One Mint Julep” on the record was a chart-topper, which understates the lasting effect of this seminal recording, a genre-busting favorite of music lovers everywhere. Ably handled by the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra – including Bill Ramsay (baritone sax), Mark Taylor (alto sax), Jay Thomas (trumpet), Thomas Marriott (trumpet), Clarence Acox (drums) – with special guest vocalist Dean Bowman, above, the performances featured guest organist Joe Doria, below,  commemorating Charles’s debut recording on Hammond B3.