How do Ray Charles fans show their love?  For many, listening to the music and knowing details about the recordings is heaven enough.  Others want to be surrounded by everything Ray Charles.  More and more fans and collectors are searching for the fine pieces of art that announce their devotion to “The Genius.”

Here is a quick overview of some of the fine art choices now available for the Ray Charles fan and collector.

Ray’s longtime manager and friend Joe Adams, a man of many talents, had a fabulous eye as a photographer, and often clicked away when Ray was doing a television appearance, or on the bus traveling from gig to gig.  Backstage or onstage, Joe Adams had the exclusive access to one of the world’s music icons and with his photography produced some especially intimate and compelling portraits of Ray.

This unseen treasure trove of Joe Adams’ Ray Charles images can only be found in the limited edition book “Yes, Indeed,” published by Genesis Publications in the U.K.  All the photographs are printed to the highest standards alongside unpublished text from Ray Charles and interviews from 30 legendary performers, including Willie Nelson, Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones.  A DVD of rare performances accompanies the book.  For more info, go to www.genesis-publications.com/ray-charles-yes-indeed/

Morrison Hotel Gallery, the world’s leading purveyor of fine art music photography, has published a choice selection of three of Joe Adams’ images of Ray Charles as gorgeous lambda prints, 16×20″ size, each in a limited edition of 90.  Owner Richard Horowitz reports that they only have eleven prints signed by Joe Adams remaining.  To learn more,  go to www.morrisonhotelgallery.com

German photographer and musician, Juergen Lechner, officially licensed an image of Ray Charles which he shot during a jazz festival in Germany in November, 2001, to create a 31.5″ x 31.5″ x 1.8″ amazing giclee canvas print.  It is a photograph that looks like a modern painting, and would be the centerpiece in any decor.  It comes fully stretched on a cross-braced stretcher.  It is in a limited edition of 500.  Juergen has several available in the U.S. for easy delivery to American fans.  Check out this lovely artwork at Juergen’s website:  http://www.juergenlechner.de/limited

In 2000, Ray Charles received the Blues Foundation Lifetime AchievementAward which was sculpted by artist Paul Wegner.  It was so beautiful that it has remained on top of the piano in Ray’s office ever since.  The award-winning sculptor has won acclaim for his moving series of sculptures on Jazz and Blues greats, now into its 25th year.  Wegner’s free-floating style (called “fragmentation”) evokes an almost musical feel to the design itself, allowing figures to roll with the instruments in a wave of upbeat, visual enjoyment.  Paul Wegner can be contacted at 3rd Wish Studio.  Go to www.pauldwegner.com