309. Mitchell Froom on Ray Charles 'The Genius of Ray Charles' (1959)

<p>Legendary record producer <strong>Mitchell Froom</strong> (Crowded House, Sheryl Crow, Randy Newman) joins me to unpack ‘The Genius of <strong>Ray Charles</strong>’, the audaciously titled classic album where Charles took his first ambitious step outside of R&B into full on jazz. We unpack Charles’s brilliant piano solos, <strong>Quincy Jones</strong>’s arrangements, the combining of Ray’s band with musicians from <strong>Count Basie</strong> and <strong>Duke Ellington’</strong>s orchestras, how to breathe new life into songs that have been recorded many times and how Mitchell bonded with <strong>Randy Newman</strong> over their shared love of this record.<br /> Plus, Mitchell talks about writing and producing ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ with <strong>Sheryl Crow</strong>, why he won’t write his memoirs, what it’s like to hear songs he’s produced while out in the world and gives insight and updates on the new upcoming <strong>Crowded House</strong> record he and the rest of the band have been working on during isolation.</p>