What was Ray Charles's central musical idea?
My whole thing, my central idea, was about breakin' down walls and bringin' people together through music. See, I grew up hearin' all these different sounds, from the church to the juke joint, the jazz club to the country radio. I realized those sounds, though different, they all spoke to the same human heart. My idea was to take that gospel fire and blend it with the blues ache, the jazz improvisation, and even that plainspoken country truth. It was about findin' the common soul in all these styles. When you hear 'I Got a Woman,' you hear that gospel spirit in a secular way. It's all about feelin', man. That's the common ground.
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