Live music at Ray’s on the River is no more.
Owner Ray Schoenbaum ended live music at Ray’s on River, Ray’s Killer Creek in Alpharetta and Ray’s in the City in downtown Atlanta last month.
The Sandy Springs restaurant is a favorite destination for seafood lovers and, equally so, a popular draw for fans of live music since the mid-1980s. Killer Creek had been staging live music for 25 years and Ray’s in the City for 30 years.
Some of Atlanta’s most notable musicians have performed at Ray’s on the River over the decades including the late Elgin Wells, the late singer Theresa Hightower, trumpeter Joe Gransden, jazz violinist Ken Ford and saxophonist Will Scruggs.
Scruggs booked jazz musicians to perform at the restaurant over the last five years and says the decision to stop the music was surprising.
“For it to go away, we’re still all in shock,” Scruggs said. " … I had just started negotiating a new contract and every indication was (Schoenbaum and the corporate office) were extremely happy with the musicians.”
Scruggs said he has learned that Ray’s Restaurants plan to rebrand next year. The Sandy Springs establishment could close temporarily in early 2024 for several months and reopen with a new concept, he said.
“They didn’t explain why they would cut the music six months before they close for renovation,” he said.
Several phone calls to Ray’s Restaurants corporate office were not returned. An email from Melissa Libby and Associates public relations firm stated: “They have modernized their music program to now include curated playlists rather than live music.”
Ray’s on the River was the first of the three brand restaurants and opened in 1984 overlooking the Chattahoochee River.
Within two years, the restaurant’s music space was packed with patrons wanting to see entertainer Elgin Wells.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a story in 1990 that said acoustic padding on the walls and ceiling at Ray’s allowed bands to produce quality sound “normally only heard in studio settings.”
“The acoustical improvements are particularly advantageous for Mr. Wells, who plays 18 instruments. His 10 onstage instruments include the soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, flute, guitar, violin, trumpet, fluegelhorn, trombone, keyboards and, occasionally, even the penny whistle.”
Saxophonist Steven Charles, a mainstay in Atlanta’s jazz music scene, first performed at Ray’s on the River in 1985.
“The room was all wood floors and windows and mirrors on the wall,” Charles said Wednesday. “The place would be jam packed. ... That was, I think, the first place I played where I had the most incredible band with Sonny Emory on drums, Sam Sims on bass and William Green on (keyboard).”
While Ray’s Restaurants has not confirmed what its future holds in live music, Scruggs says he feels the finality. The restaurant group gave him its music equipment, he said.
“I now have the grand piano,” Scruggs said. “I have the sound systems from all three places. (Schoenbaum) seriously is done or says he’s done with music.”
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