 
Soul Of The Holy Land In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Recorded nearly a decade apart, each of these three discs adds another chapter to the musical legacy of the late Ray Charles. The best of the lot is without a doubt, the footage from Brazil. Shot during one of the high points of his career, we are treated to two performances – the first, a studio rehearsal shot in front of an audience (the day before his 33rd birthday) and the second, a concert that was shown only once on Brazilian TV. At this point in his career, Ray was traveling with a big band and four Raeletts, including the incredible Margie Hendricks. Material ranges from his ‘50s R&B sessions to his renditions of country & western-inspired classics. There are so many highlights, they can’t all be listed, but one would have to be the dueling saxophones of David “Fathead” Newman and Tina Brooks on “Birth Of A Band” and the instrumental that closes the first set with Ray himself on sax, wailing away like there’s no tomorrow. This is a must have for any Ray Charles fan. Soul Of The Holy Land documents Ray’s trip to Israel in 1973 with performance footage from his sold-out show in Tel Aviv. Fashions have changed, many of the band members are sporting facial hair and afros and there are even a few white faces in the band. Ray meets with David Ben-Gurion, who in typical fashion, cuts him off in mid-sentence and appears to refuse several gifts that the musician brought for him. We see Ray visiting the Wailing Wall and the shrine that supposedly sits over the cave where Jesus was born. He also meets Ben-Gurion again in what looks like a classroom and leads the crowd in a rousing rendition of “Hava Nagila” Sound quality is less than perfect, but of no concern in the big picture. Fast forward to 1981, where Ray performs a slick 48-minute set with Canada’s Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, that leaves just enough time for commercials to round out the hour. The Raelettes have now grown to five and the set list contains nothing but hits. While it’s a nice performance, it doesn’t measure up to the ’63 Brazilian shows. -- David Bassin
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Ray
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