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October 6, 2004
in Chr | j n r t la ttò O ^b a rru rr
Ray Charles Remembered at Concert
(A P) — An eclectic lineup o f
m usicians honored Ray Charles in
a tribute concert, praising the late
sin g er’s rich life and his ability to
transcend race and m usical genres.
“ M ake no m istake about it, there
will be no pity party,” said music
producer Q uincy Jones, who met
C harles when the tw o were teens.
Jones told the packed audience
at the Beverly H ills Hotel that
C harles “lived more lives than any
900 o f you. In his last days, he told
me, ‘M an, I’ve already lived it a ll.'”
Stevie Wonder performs at a tribute to Ray Charles. (AP photo)
Performers at the Sept. 29 gala
included Stevie Wonder, country
singer Travis Tritt, former Doobie
Brother M ichael M cDonald, and
R&B artists James Ingram and Patti
Austin. They sang Charles’ hits, such
as “Georgia On My M ind,” “What
I’d Say” and “Hit the Road Jack.”
Bill C osby w as host o f the event,
w hich raised m oney for the $15
million M orehouse C ollege Center
for the Arts in Atlanta. C harles gave
the black liberal arts college $2 m il
lion to help fund the com plex, which
will contain a perform ance space in
his name.
Cosby shared som e o f his favor
ite m em ories o f the singer, w ho had
been blind since age 7. He recalled
how during a jazz festival at the
Hollywood Bowl, Charles appeared
on stage with a band o f all white
musicians.
“I said to Ray, ‘Y our band is all
w hite.' H esaid, ‘T hat’sfunny.T hey
d o n ’t sound w hite.’”
C harles was 73 when he died o f
acute liver disease June 10.
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Latifah Adds Jazz to Repertoire
(A P)— Queen Latifah
Post. “ Hopefully, with
is getting a little jazzier.
the success o f it, I’ll be
in it till I'm dead. I’ve
Five albums and 15 years
alw ays looked at sing
a fte r her h ard -h ittin g
hip-hop debut “All Hail
ing as som ething I can
th e Q u e e n ,” Q u e e n
do forever. I don ’ t know
if 1 can rap forever. I
Latifah has released the
d o n ’t know that I can
ja z z - o b s e s s e d “ T h e
D ana O w ens A lbum .”
stay as hot as the hot
“T his is definitely not
test girl in the gam e.”
a o n e-sh o t d e a l,” the
It was herexperience
Queen Latifah
singer, whose real nam e
in the 1998 feature film
is D ana O w ens, told The D enver
L iving O ut L oud,” co-starring
Northwest Osteopathic
Medical Foundation’s
O ctober 16 & 17
9 :J O am * 5 B O pm
Presenting Sponsor.
V
/
X E
^PG E ,
Don t monkey around conie to O.MSl and
alongside Holly H unter and Danny
D eV ito, that led to her new album.
She played nightclub singer Liz
Bailey and sang a couple o f jazz
stan d ard s.
T he new album , w here she tack
les so n g s by A1 G reen an d T he
M am as & the P apas, is so m e
th in g o f a d ep a rtu re fo r an artist
w hose last record w as “O rd er in
the C o u rt,” one o f 1998’s b etter
e ffo rts at co m b in in g R&B and
h ip -h o p .
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