Ray Charles’ long-lost duet “Curiosity” with jazz singer Steve Tyrell has been released over 30 years after the track was recorded. The song features on Tyrell’s new covers album Shades of Ray.

In honor of what would have been Ray Charles’ 90th birthday year, Tangerine Records is releasing the limited edition box set, True Genius, on September 10th. The record label, which the late legend founded in 1962, has remastered 90 of Charles’ most important works for the six-CD box set.

The Atlantic Jazz series continues with this slice of mostly '60s jazz-soul treats. Fittingly, the 11-track disc includes a side by one of the prime progenitors of soul, Ray Charles: He and MJQ vibraphonist, Milt Jackson, stretch out on the canonized "How Long Blues." Further expounding on the soul-jazz trajectory, the collection spotlights work by organist Shirley Scott (the Aretha Franklin hit "Think"), Les McCann and Eddie Harris (their classic Montreux Festival cut "Compared to What"), Yusef Lateef ("Russell and Elliot"), and Hank Crawford ("You're the One"). And there's even a bit of boogaloo-enhanced bossa, compliments of trumpeter Nat Adderley ("Jive Samba"). The soundtrack to your next retro-cool shindig.

Ray Charles was the musician most responsible for developing soul music. Singers like Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson also did a great deal to pioneer the form, but Charles did even more to devise a new form of black pop by merging '50s R&B with gospel-powered vocals, adding plenty of flavor from contemporary jazz, blues, and (in the '60s) country. Then there was his singing; his style was among the most emotional and easily identifiable of any 20th century performer, up there with the likes of Elvis and Billie Holiday. He was also a superb keyboard player, arranger, and bandleader. The brilliance of his 1950s and '60s work, however, can't obscure the fact that he made few classic tracks after the mid-'60s, though he recorded often and performed until the year before his death.

These four CDs represent the most creative period of Ray Charles’ life – roughly 1954 to 1962. He died in 2004 and, at the time of his death, was working on a duets album which was released, very appropriately, as Genius And Friends. When the excellent bio-pic, Ray was released with Jamie Foxx, one of the straplines was a quote from Frank Sinatra, “Ray Charles is the only genius in our business.”

Recorded in 1985, The Spirit of Christmas finds Ray Charles performing a variety of holiday favorites with vocal assistance from the Raelettes and an appearance by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. The ten tracks mix standards and originals, including "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and the ballad "That Spirit of Christmas," which was featured in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The Spirit of Christmas is perfect background music for any holiday celebration.

One of a series of ultra-loose concept albums Ray Charles cut in the '60s, this one is dedicated entirely to songs with titles or lyrical references to crying and tears. It's an excuse for Charles to choose his usual varied menu of upbeat jumpers, slow countrified weepers, and proudly saccharine pop standards. The production, as one might fear, also tends to the lachrymose side on the slow tunes, with the thick strings and backup vocals straight out of TV variety shows. One is almost tempted to think that Charles was toying with audience expectations by mixing unabashedly sentimental slow tunes with the far more bluesy, satisfying, and upbeat numbers, such as "Don't Cry, Baby" and "Baby, Don't You Cry," as well as his surprisingly brassy, punchy treatment of "Cry Me a River." These outings have always played much better with critics than the gloppy pop tunes, and for good reason - they are much better.

Ray Charles is an American legend beyond compare. This deluxe eight-disc box set proves it by encompassing Ray's entire Atlantic Records repertoire on the first six CDs. Additionally, the set includes an entire disc (27 tracks, all but three previously unreleased) of outtakes, live recordings, and alternate versions. Plus, there's a bonus DVD that features Ray live at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960 and an exclusive interview with Ahmet Ertegun, conducted by Ray Director Taylor Hackford. Special packaging features a record player-style box and a linen-bound hardback book.