I second that.

Ray was one of my main men and it is sas that he has passed. I saw in in concert live only once in Boston, but no dance party was complete when I was in high school without a Ray Charles 45 RPM What'd I Say? being played at least five or six times.

He always travelled with a great band and singers, and his charts were very difficult. He knew exactly what he wanted and the performances were great.

One of the first CDs I ever wore out (actually three of them) was the compilation of Ray's Atlantic recordings. Listening to that music and feeling the emotion in each recording began a musical inquiry in my life which ultimately resulted in a musical career. No other music had touched me quite like that did. I was 19, bored and sitting in the barracks in Cherry Point NC in 1990 when I decided to cross the street and waste some time in the PX. I have no idea what caused me to actually pick that particular collection up. Maybe it was the retro design or the simple lines and packaging; however, in retrospect it was one of those moments in my life that seemed so trivial at the time, so tentative and unimportant, and yet it definitely altered the course my life has taken.

Ironically, twelve years later I found myself playing regularly with one of Ray's principal trumpet players when he wasn't on tour with Ray. One of the things I will always regret in my life is that I never made the opportunity to go see him live.