Ray (15)
Film series: “What does it sound like, baby?”
- When?
- Friday 18 January 2013, 19:00
- Where?
- The Electric Theatre, Onslow Street, Guildford, GU1 4SZ
- Open to:
- Staff, Students, Public
- Admission price:
- £7, £5.50 concessions
- Admission information:
- Tickets from Electric Theatre Box Office (Mon-Sat 10:30-17:00), 01483 444789, or online at www.guildford.gov.uk/electrictheatre
Taylor Hackford’s 2004 Oscar- and BAFTA-winning film Ray tells the story of music legend Ray Charles, who broke down countless social and musical barriers through his musical brilliance and his refusal to accept the limitations and categorizations imposed upon him by others.
In the 1950s Charles pioneered Soul music by combining ecstatic Gospel vocal techniques and sophisticated Jazz arrangements with earthy R&B grooves and carnal lyrics, causing great controversy in the process. Later he crossed racial lines by performing Country ballads in Nashville’s slick “Countrypolitan” ballad style but with his own intensely expressive approach to the voice, transforming two genres of music in the process.
Yet the story of Ray Charles’ career is one of continual struggle against blindness, bigotry, commercialism, scandal, and his own all-too-human weaknesses. Made at the end of Charles’ life and with his full participation, Ray is a dramatic but unflinching portrait of a great artist in all his complicated glory, given life by Jamie Foxx’s historic, Oscar-winning performance in the title role.
(2004) Director: Taylor Hackford, 152 min, Cert 15
Film Series: "What does it sound like, baby?" - The quest for sound in music creation, performance and recording
This series brings together four extraordinary films about a broad range of artists who share a common goal: the right sound for their music. Sometimes this was done by fusing unrelated existing sounds to create entirely new genres (Ray Charles or Jimmy Page), sometimes by bringing highly traditional sounds into the present (Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch or Jack White); sometimes by endlessly searching for the right sound for a simple part (U2’s The Edge); or sometimes combining all of the above (producer Tom Dowd). This series draws from the research of University of Surrey popular music scholar Tim Hughes, who will give a short introductory talk before each screening, and will be available after the screenings to engage in more relaxed discussions at the bar.