INA and Reelin’ In The Years have teamed up for a DVD featuring the first concerts in France by Ray Charles, filmed by Jean-Christophe Averty at the 1961 Antibes Jazz Festival.

Featured in a world premiere at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood, this documentary includes no fewer than twenty-five songs rediscovered in INA’s archives, in clips scattered amongst a variety of programmes.

Digitised in high definition by INA, the 16mm films have been meticulously put back into their original sequence, before being synchronised with the radio tapes of the same concerts, remastered in Memphis by renowned sound engineer Joe Palmaccio.

The result: it is now possible to watch the “Genius” in a breathtaking 105-minute show performing his greatest hits (What’d I Say, Georgia On My Mind, Hallelujah I Love Her So…), accompanied by a seven-piece orchestra and Ray Charles’ legendary backing vocalists, the Raeletts.

Ray Charles, Live in France 1961.  1 DVD from Eagle Rock, distributed by Naïve. Worldwide release 25 October 2011.