Jamie Foxx's Piano Skills Were A Blessing And A Curse While Playing Ray Charles
Prior to 1999, Jamie Foxx (who is gratefully "feeling blessed" following his recent hospitalization) was best known as a comedian. He came into the public eye in 1991 when he joined the cast of Keenan Ivory Wayans' immensely popular sketch comedy series "In Living Color," and quickly made the leap to films. In Barry Levinson's surreal fantasia "Toys," Foxx appeared as a comic relief soldier. After films like "Booty Call" and "The Players Club," Foxx appeared in his first dramatic role, playing a hotshot football player in Oliver Stone's energetic sports opera "Any Given Sunday." After proving his versatility as a performer, Foxx began attracting the attention of many high-profile directors, and worked with Michael Mann on both "Ali" and the excellent L.A. crime thriller "Collateral."
In 2004, Foxx landed the lead in Taylor Hackford's biopic "Ray," in which the actor astonished the Academy with his performance as Ray Charles, earning him a Best Actor Oscar. Foxx not only played an energized character in "Ray," but nailed the singing and movement style of the famous musician. Foxx, however, did not do his own singing for the role. The vocals were recordings of Charles himself. Foxx's Ray Charles impersonation was good enough, however, to warrant guest performances on records by Ludacris and Kanye West. He also played all his own piano parts in "Ray," having played the instrument in his childhood church, and having attended college on a piano scholarship.
According to a 2018 interview with Yahoo! Life, however, Foxx's own proficiency at the piano wasn't necessarily a help. It seems that to match Charles' actual vocals, he had to play the piano quite differently than he would ordinarily. Foxx essentially had to re-teach his fingers to match the tempo of Charles' pre-recorded tracks.
Playing Monk with Ray
Ray Charles passed away in June of 2004, only four months before the release of "Ray." Luckily, Charles was able to take in an early cut of the movie after providing vocals for the production. Foxx was able to meet Charles and even — honor of honors — play piano with him to display his chops. Foxx recalls the time he and Charles sat down to riff on the music of a legendary jazz and blues musician, and how Foxx had a great deal of keeping up. Not that this was embarrassing; who could keep pace with Ray Charles? It seems, though, that making a mistake on the piano in front of Ray Charles will elicit some advice. Foxx recalled:
"We sat down and we started playing the blues on the piano and then he moved to some Thelonious Monk, which is very intricate, for all you piano enthusiasts out there. And I hit a wrong note. He immediately stopped playing and said, 'Why the hell would you do that?' I said, 'I'm sorry, I was trying to keep up.' He said, 'Don't hit the wrong notes ... life is about finding the wrong notes, and taking your time to find the right notes.'"
Foxx found the right notes. He continued:
"I played it, we got it right, and he got up and said, 'The kid's got it,' and he walked out. After that, we were off to the races, beautiful journey, and we got a chance to show him the movie — he viewed it in his own way, just before he passed. It was a blessed experience."
There can be no things more exhilarating than receiving a seal of approval from a musician of Charles' stature.
The blessing and the curse
When it came time to play on camera, it seems that the director of "Ray" wasn't familiar with Foxx's piano training. Thanks to a foible with production, though, Foxx's training was made largely moot. It seems that Charles played while he sang his "Ray" tracks, freestyling on the piano. Foxx explains why that was difficult for him, saying:
"The piano thing came in a weird way. Taylor Hackford says, 'I think you're going to be great as the character; I just need to find someone who can mirror you on the piano.' I said, 'You happen to be in luck, because I went to college on a classical piano scholarship.' He was like, 'What?!' That meant he can just hold me in the frame and not have to cut away to someone else's hands. It was a blessing and curse, because the curse was that Mr. Charles had re-recorded some of his songs, but he played freely without singing, and then he sung on top of that.
As such, achieving an authentic look took a great deal more work than Foxx anticipated. Luckily, he was game. The actor said:
"I had to learn all of the fingering of the piano, in order for it to look authentic. That was hours and hours and hours of not leaving the hotel with the piano, to make sure it was right. But I think that's what gives it an edge."
Jamie Foxx said he can tell in all musical autobiographies when an actor is playing and when they're faking it. As such, he was determined to buck the trend and actually get the musical elements right. It was worth it. One cannot see a scrap of artificiality in Foxx's playing. His Oscar was well deserved.