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  • LIVING LEGEND RAY CHARLES JOINS LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC FOR TWO EVENINGS AT HOLLYWOOD BOWL
  • Aug. 24, 2001
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    SATURDAY and SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 and 25, 8:30 PM

     

    Lexus Passionate Performances

    Media Sponsors: KPCC 89.3 FM, MEGA 92.3 FM (August 24)

    Media Sponsors: 94.7 The WAVE and KLON 88.1 FM (August 25)

    Multi-Grammy Award winner Ray Charles, one of the world's most celebrated and popular musicians, will join the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Victor Vanacore, at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, August 24 and Saturday, August 25 at 8:30 p.m. Charles last performed at the Hollywood Bowl during the summer of 1996.

    Tickets ($3 - $85) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl box office, all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations) or online at www.hollywoodbowl.com. Groups of 10 or more can receive a 20% discount on single ticket prices; call 323/850-2050 for details. For general information or to request a brochure, please call 323/850-2000.

    The name Ray Charles brings to mind the quintessential musician. A man of many honors including a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame, a bronze bust enshrined in the Playboy Hall of Fame, a bronze medallion cast and presented to him by the French Republic on behalf of its people, he still keeps the music central to his mission. He considers music his single driving force, one that catapulted a poor, black, blind, orphaned teenager from there to here. "I was born with music inside me. That's the only explanation I know of, " he remarked in his autobiography. He is a member of various Halls of Fame including Rhythm & Blues, Jazz, Rock & Roll and has been the recipient of 12 Grammys.

    Charles' professional career began in Seattle, where he became a minor celebrity in local clubs. There he met an even younger musician, Quincy Jones, who he took under his wing, marking the beginning of an inter-twining of two musical lifetimes.

    Charles cut his first professional recording in Los Angeles. His first big hit record was "I Got A Woman," and by the early 1960's Ray Charles had accomplished his dream. He had become a great musician, posting musical milestones along his route. He made it to Carnegie Hall, the hit records ("Georgia," "Born to Lose") successively kept climbing to the top of the charts, and he made his first triumphant European concert tour in 1960 (a feat which, except for 1965, he's repeated at least once a year ever since). He's taken virtually every form of popular music and broken through its boundaries with such achievements as the LP's "Genius Plus Soul Equals Jazz" and "Modern Sounds in Country & Western."

    In 1966, Thomas Thompson wrote in his profile of Ray Charles for Life, "His niche is difficult to define. The best blues singer around? Of course, but don't stop there. He is also an unparalleled singer of jazz, of gospel, of country and western. He has drawn from each of these musical streams and made a river which he alone can navigate."

    Both concerts are Lexus Passionate Performances. Media Sponsors are KPCC 89.3 FM, MEGA 92.3 FM (Friday, August 24) and 94.7 The WAVE and KLON 88.1 FM (Saturday, August 25).

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    Friday, August 24, 8:30 PM

    Saturday, August 25, 8:30 PM

    HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Avenue, Hollywood

    Living Legend - Ray Charles

    RAY CHARLES

    THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    Victor Vanacore, conductor

    Lexus Passionate Performances
    Media Sponsors are KPCC 89.3 FM, MEGA 92.3 FM (Friday, August 24)

    and 94.7 The WAVE and KLON 88.1 FM (Saturday, August 25

    Tickets ($3 - $85) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl box office, all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations) or online at www.hollywoodbowl.com. Groups of 10 or more can receive a 20% discount on single ticket prices; call 323/850-2050 for details. For general information or to request a brochure, please call 323/850-2000.

     

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  • Contact:

    Elizabeth Hinckley 213/972-3034; Rachelle Roe 213/972-7310; Laura Stegman 310 645-1755