Basie band backs Ray Charles

The team that helped Ray Charles sell more albums and win more Grammys after his death in 2004 than he had in life is back with a new project posthumously pairing the late soul singer with the modern-day Count Basie Orchestra.

“Ray Sings, Basie Swings” uses Charles’ vocals from a live performance in the 1970s with instrumental backing from the Basie band newly tailored to the performance. John Burk, who produced Charles’ Grammy-winning “Genius Loves Company” album, said he came across the live tapes while working on that project.

“The quality of these reels wasn’t great,” Burk said in a statement. “They appeared to be recordings from the live soundboard with Ray’s vocal way up front, and the band way in the background.... But Ray sounded amazing.”

So Burk enlisted the Count Basie Orchestra, which had shared the bill with Charles the night the recording was made, to re-record the music for Charles standards as well as his versions of “Let the Good Times Roll” and the Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road.”

The album will be released Oct. 3.