The members of Better Together may not live in the Southland but they have been making quite an impact in Park Forest.
After Better Together presents The Jazz Soul of Al Jarreau started Freedom Hall’s 2018-2019 season, the group returned for Better Together: Songs of Hope and Healing: Soul, Jazz, & Gospel Favorites for the venue’s first virtual streaming concert in 2021.
Now the band, which includes performers from Berwyn and Chicago, is back for Better Together presents The Jazz Soul of Ray Charles on Feb. 25, a show booked by Chuck Sabey, cultural arts supervisor for Freedom Hall.
“We just love it. It’s a beautiful space to perform in. It’s so open. There’s definitely not a bad seat in the house. They always have excellent sound. Chuck is a very nice guy who really supports bringing high-quality music to the area,” Better Together vocalist Bruce A. Henry said.
His bandmates are guitarist and vocalist Henry Johnson and Jo Ann Daugherty on keyboards, acoustic bassist Joshua Ramos and drummer Ryan Bennett, who is Daugherty’s husband.
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“A lot of the members in the band are pretty eclectic so everyone in the band sits comfortably at that junction of jazz and soul music. Ray was a pioneer in that,” said Henry of Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood.
“Ray taught us how to do that historically so that junction between jazz, soul and blues with that gospel energy — Ray is all of that. For us particularly we love playing his music because it’s just right in there and he is a great legend.
“Even as a young person I would listen to him and the passion he delivered every time for every song.”
Better Together presents The Jazz Soul of Ray Charles includes “Hallelujah I Love Her So,” “Hit the Road Jack,” “I Got a Woman,” “Let the Good Times Roll,” “Night Time Is the Right Time,” “Unchain My Heart,” “What’d I Say” and “You Don’t Know Me.”
“One of my favorite songs would be ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You.’ The arrangement we have for that is really sweet. It features Henry Johnson on guitar and a vibrato moment,” said Henry, who added that the bluesy “Sinner’s Prayer” is another highlight.
“Also, ‘Georgia on My Mind’ because I’ve sung this song a thousand times and I’m always surprised. You audibly hear that the audience has been waiting for that wherever you play that in the world so I love it because they love it.”
Saxophonist Rajiv Halim and background vocalists Lara Flip and Lauren Dukes join Better Together for this Freedom Hall show.
“We’re adding a saxophone player and two background vocalists to further enrich the musical experience and to get a little bit of that Ray energy with The Raelettes,” Henry said.
“The interplay with the background singers was a major part of Ray’s performances so that’s going to be a treat. We’re going to be doing some of his classic tunes that everybody knows and loves.”
Henry was approximately 10 years old when he became a fan of the late Charles after hearing the singer’s emotional delivery of “I’ve Had My Fun (Going Down Slow)” on vinyl.
“I did have the pleasure of seeing him in Colorado. That would have been in 1994. It was just unreal. I can’t really find a recording that captures seeing him live, being in the fourth row outside and the intensity and the way he related to the audience,” Henry said.
“He had a big band with him. Being a musician, the thing I noticed too was how he used his entire body to conduct the band. It was the way he rocked. He was actually a metronome for the band.”
The many accolades for the man some referred to as The Genius and others called Brother Ray includes being a member of the 1986 inaugural class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and being inducted as a 2022 honoree in the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in Atlanta on Feb. 17.
“Ray Charles’ songs are the soundtrack of a lot of our lives. For the younger ones who don’t know his music, now is a good time to be introduced to his music,” Henry said.
“He’s so important to the development of soul music and the history of rhythm and blues.”
Better Together presents The Jazz Soul of Ray Charles
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25
Where: Freedom Hall, 410 Lakewood Blvd., Park Forest
Tickets: $30
Information: 708-747-0580; freedomhall.org
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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