PEOPLE documents two compelling lineups fronted by tenor saxophonist Ray Blue: one his deeply swinging working band, the other a special collaboration with the great Kenny Barron on piano. Barron and Blue play due on Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood”, and their refined chemistry tells you all you need to know. Barron also joins on the title track, “People” by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, made famous by Barbara Streisand in the 60’s in ‘Funny Girl’. Ray takes it at a medium tempo, citing Eddie Harris as the model. There’s pathos in the message – people who need people are the luckiest people in the world – and Ray intends it as such, bringing his expansive tenor sound to bear as he makes music for #PEOPLE, in every sense of the term. “Each song was chosen because it touched one of those universal feelings.”
Deeply rooted in the New York Jazz community, Ray is also a world traveler and jazz ambassador. He and his wife lived in Berlin from 2002 to 2012 , so he’s happy to share memories of Paris, St. Petersburg, Beijing, Athens, Istanbul, Ankara, Cape Town, Dar Es Salaam, Libreville and more. This worldly sensibil-ity comes through in his own sound, and in songs such as “Cross Continental Spirit” (in a South African Guouma feel) and “Fungi Mama” (a classic calypso by trumpet great Blue Mitch-ell). In his broad, expressive tenor you can hear the range of Ray’s experience. He is , above all, a man of melody, as every Ray Blue release to date has made clear. — David R. Adler
Rel Date: Spring 2023 Artist: Ray Blue Title: #People Label: Jazzheads Cat No: JH1265
- DARK BERRIES 4:55
- PEOPLE 4:37
- DREAMER 3:55
- FUNGII MAMA 3:05
- CROSS-CONTINENTAL SPIRIT 5:36
- ALWAYS WITH A PURPOSE 4:17
- IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD 5:34
- WHEN SUNNY GETS BLUE 6:29
- WE’LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN 2:41
Radio: Michael Carlson (360) 598-3044 | mcpro@earthlink.net
