By Lauren McSherry

Legendary soul musician Ray Charles performs with his orchestra that included Los Altos resident Steve Elliott.

For most people, Ray Charles was the king of soul. For Los Altos resident Steve Elliott, Charles was much more.

Elliott toured with Charles for eight years as part of the Ray Charles Orchestra. He played his first gig with Charles in 1986. When his friend quit the 17-piece jazz orchestra in 1991, Elliott joined the orchestra as lead alto saxophone.

He toured extensively with Charles in Europe and Japan until the end of 1998. The orchestra performed worldwide at nearly every major jazz festival.

“I got to go around the world with him,” Elliott said. “The playing was easy. The traveling was a lot.”

Charles died June 10 from liver disease. Born in 1930 and raised in the deep South, his music climbed to the top of the charts in the 1960s. Charles was a pioneer of soul music, famous for blending jazz and gospel music into rhythm and blues. His hit records included “Georgia” and “Born to Lose.” He won 12 Grammy Awards during the course of his career.

Charles set a high standard for his musicians and the slow tempo of his songs challenged the abilities of many musicians, said Elliott, who left Los Altos June 17 to attend the memorial service for Charles in Los Angeles.

“If he didn’t like the way you played, you’d hear about it,” he said. “If he liked the way you played, you wouldn’t hear anything, and you would know everything was okay.”

Elliott attended Los Altos High, where he was drum major and studied music theory under Rex Baker. He is a freelance musician who has performed with Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Lionel Hampton, the Temptations and the Four Tops.

As a member of the Ray Charles Orchestra, Elliott appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Fox Television 50 Year Salute to Ray Charles,” which featured Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Michael Bolton.

“Most people thought he was a great singer,” Elliott said. “He was a great piano player, too.”