Genius + Soul = Jazz

Genius + Soul = Jazz is a studio album by Ray Charles, released in February 1961 on Impulse! Records and produced by Creed Taylor with arrangements by Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns, the fullest realization of Charles's jazz identity within a major-label commercial framework and the album that proved the formula in the title: that Charles's soul vocal approach, applied to jazz big band material, produced a synthesis greater than either element alone. Charles did not write the primary material; the album includes his interpretations of 'One Mint Julep' (Rudolph Toombs), 'I've Got News for You,' 'Let's Go,' and a version of 'Birth of the Blues', with Quincy Jones's big band arrangements giving Charles's vocal and piano performances a rhythmic framework that amplified both elements. 'One Mint Julep' reached number one on the R&B chart and the top ten on the pop chart, demonstrating that jazz-oriented material with Charles's vocal approach could achieve mainstream commercial performance. The album reached number four on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and established the Impulse! recording as a high point in the jazz-pop crossover tradition. Genius + Soul = Jazz is cited by both jazz and soul critics as a definitive album in both traditions and as the clearest documentation of the musical intelligence that had earned Charles his 'Genius' designation.