LOS ANGELES (March 9, 2005) - Earlier this year, the final recording from the late Ray Charles, 'Genius Loves Company,' took home a record-tying eight GRAMMY Awards, including Album and Record of the Year. BET Jazz and radio industry legend George Daniels (of George¹s Music Room) were given exclusive back-stage access to an all-star party, which was hosted by Concord Records and Starbucks Hear Music, at Spago's in Beverly Hills, CA and joined friends and admirers of the music 'Genius' as they celebrated the evening¹s success, as well as his life and career. BET Jazz has captured these amazing performances and stellar tributes in a heart-warming, one-hour special for television.

Billy Preston and his band performed for an audience that included Alicia Keys, George Duke, Joe Pesci, Isaac Hayes, Taylor Hackford (director of the movie 'Ray'), Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Carson Daly, and The Roots, among others.

Daniels also interviewed John Burk of Concord Records, who produced ³Genius Loves Company,² and Ken Lombard, President of Starbucks Entertainment, both of whom discussed the Ray Charles legacy and how they collaborated on this final recording from an American music icon.

Jammin' For Ray
Airdate for BET: 3/13/05 at 4pm ET/PT
Airdates for BET Jazz: 3/8/05 & 3/22/05 at 12pm, 8pm, 12am; 3/10/05 & 3/24/05 at 12pm, 8pm, 1am ET

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ABOUT BET
BET, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is the nation¹s leading television network providing quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs programming for the African-American audience. The BET Network reaches more than 79 million households according to Nielsen media research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. BET is a dominant consumer brand in the urban marketplace with a diverse group of branded businesses: BET.com, the Number 1 Internet portal for African Americans; BET Digital Networks ­ BET Jazz, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, specializing in a full range of event production services, including event management, venue selection, talent recruitment, sound, lighting and stage production; and BET Books, the nation's leading publisher of African-American themed romance novels under the Arabesque imprint which also publishes compelling fiction under the Sepia imprint and inspirational fiction and nonfiction under the New Spirit imprint.

ABOUT BET JAZZ: THE JAZZ CHANNEL
BET Jazz: The 24 Hour Jazz Channel, a subsidiary of BET and Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is the principle location for the fulfillment of all jazz interests. The network is the first and only 24-hour television programming service dedicated exclusively to jazz music and culture, and reaches more than 10 million homes according to Nielsen Media Research. BET Jazz features many of the finest names in jazz through in-studio performances, festivals, concert coverage and celebrity interviews. Many of the shows feature original programming as well as historic footage unavailable on any other television network.