Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra plays tribute to Ray Charles and Quincy Jones

Ray Charles and Quincy Jones were teenagers when they met in a Seattle nightclub, one of dozens clustered around Jackson Street in the 1940s. They were both aspiring jazz musicians, Charles a pianist, Jones a trumpeter.

They were among many now- familiar names who got their start in Seattle: Buddy Catlett, Ernestine Anderson, Gerald Wiggins, Floyd Standifer. Jones and Charles eventually achieved the most fame, moving beyond their original genre, becoming stars of pop and R&B.

The pair collaborated on the seminal 1961 album "Genius + Soul = Jazz," which featured Charles on the Hammond B3 organ, with members of the Count Basie band, performing big-band arrangements by Jones. The scores that came out of that collaboration will be performed by Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra in two shows this weekend as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival, which ends Sunday.

"It's a celebrated partnership and this album is the most famous collaboration between Quincy Jones and Ray Charles," said saxophonist Michael Brockman, who with drummer Clarence Acox directs SRJO.

SRJO's Sunday show at the Kirkland Performance Center is sold out, but at presstime tickets were still available for a Saturday-night concert at Benaroya Hall (200 University St., $15-$38, 206-523-6159 or www.srjo.org).

For the first time, SRJO will perform with a Hammond B3 organ as part of the band, played by guest artist and local musician Joe Doria, who has gigged with most of the members of the band at one time or another. New York vocalist Dean Bowman was chosen to channel Charles' distinct singing style. Bowman's musical education is rooted in blues and gospel, and he has performed the work of Ray Charles before.

"It was a difficult choice, because the comparisons are inevitable," Brockman said. "Dean Bowman has his own distinct voice and we haven't in any way asked him to be a Ray Charles copycat. We needed someone who knew the repertoire and was very comfortable singing it."

More Earshot

The final three days of Earshot also feature guitar master John Abercrombie, who plays two shows tonight at the Triple Door at 7 and 9:30 p.m. (216 Union, $24, 206-838-4333 or tripledoor.net); Seattle's Greta Matassa sings Saturday night at 7 at the Northshore Performing Arts Center (18125 92nd Ave. N.E., Bothell, $15-$20, 425-408-7988 or www.npacf.org); and the festival concludes Sunday night with the premiere of "Acknowledgment of a Celebration," a composition by local bassist Evan Flory-Barnes for large ensemble and modern dance troupe, an opus that blends elements of jazz, classical and hip-hop music (8 p.m., Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., $18-$24, www.brownpapertickets.com).

Hugo Kugiya: hkugiya@yahoo.com