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Ray Band live @ Coda playing the music of Ray Charles

Coda
San Francisco, CA

The Ray Band...

I listened Ray Charles when I was a kid and I knew that it was great music back then. But about 4 years ago I heard "Hallelujah, I Just Love Her So" and I was completely blown away. It occurred to me recently that the music Ray made on Atlantic Records may be the most honest music he ever laid down; no one was telling him what to play, he was just doing his thing. After listening to pretty much everything Ray ever recorded I started to put my pen to some work. I picked 20 of my favorite tunes, some hits and some lesser known songs, and I started arranging them for a small big band and 3 Raelettes. When I started telling people what I was doing I got the same reaction every time "Can I be in the band?" so at least I'm not alone in my obsession. The hardest part of putting the band together was finding the right singers. I've always loved the way Lech from the California Honeydrops sings and he was thrilled at the idea of doing a Ray-band. As for the Raelettes, I had just about every female singer west of Mississippi interested in singing. I ended up with 3 awesome ladies, Allegra Bandy, Rashida Calendening & Karen Fremont.
- Mike Irwin Johnson

The complete lineup is as follows:

Mike Irwin Johnson Bass/Arrangements,
Lech Wierzynski Lead Vocals,
Allegra Bandy Vocals,
Rashida Calendening Vocals,
Karen Fremont Vocals,
Niel Levonius Lead Trumpet,
Joel Behrman Trumpet,
Scott Larson Trombone,
Gabe Eaton Alto Sax,
Rob Barics Tenor Sax,
Marcus Stephens Tenor Sax,
Fil Lorenz Bari Sax,
Jay Standards Piano,
Elizabeth Goodfellow Drums

Minimum Age: 21

Kid Friendly: No

Dog Friendly: No

Non-Smoking: No

Wheelchair Accessible: No

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