One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
A Jazz Guitarist Interprets Ray Charles Classics
Listen
0:00
Listen
When the record label Verve approached veteran jazz guitarist John Scofield about an album of Ray Charles music, he says he was ready to dismiss the idea. He had never done a tribute album, and he certainly wouldn't have been the first to do one for Charles.
But then he considered the material: "It really resonated with me," he tells Scott Simon. "I grew up on that music." The resulting album, That's What I Say, also has appearances by singers John Mayer, Aaron Neville, Dr. John and Mavis Staples.
The 53-year-old guitarist, who has played with Miles Davis, Charles Mingus and the band Medeski, Martin and Wood, counts Charles among the reasons he got interested in jazz and R&B. Charles' hits from the '60s were a "common language" among bands when he would play in his early days, he says. Scofield will be speaking that language on tour in the U.S. and Europe this summer.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDA1OTI3MjQ5MDEyODUwMTE2MzM1YzNmZA004))
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
