Background: Al Jolson was born as Asa Yoelson (Yiddish: asa yvlsan) in the Jewish village of Srednike (Yiddish: sr`dnyq) now known as Seredzius, near Kaunas in Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire. He was the fifth and youngest child of Moses Rubin Yoelson (1858 - December 23, 1945) and Nechama "Naomi" Cantor (1858 - February 6, 1895); his four siblings were Rose, Etta, another sister who died in infancy, and Hirsch (Harry). Jolson claimed not to know when he was born, and later chose to claim he was born on May 26, 1886.
Context: According to Esquire magazine, "J.J. Shubert, impressed by Jolson's overpowering display of energy, booked him for La Belle Paree, a musical comedy that opened at the Winter Garden in 1911. Within a month Jolson was a star. From then until 1926, when he retired from the stage, he could boast an unbroken series of smash hits."  On March 20, 1911, Jolson starred in his first musical revue at the Winter Garden Theater in New York City, La Belle Paree, greatly helping to launch his career as a singer. The opening night drew a huge crowd to the theater, and that evening Jolson gained audience popularity by singing old Stephen Foster songs in blackface. In the wake of that opening night, Jolson was given a position in the show's cast. The show closed after 104 performances, and during its run Jolson's popularity grew greatly. Following La Belle Paree, he accepted an offer to perform in the musical Vera Violetta. The show opened on November 20, 1911 and, like La Belle Paree, was a phenomenal success. In the show, Jolson again sang in blackface and managed to become so popular that his weekly salary of $500 (based on his success in La Belle Paree) was increased to $750.  After Vera Violetta ran its course, Jolson starred in another musical, The Whirl of Society, propelling his career on Broadway to new heights. During his time at the Winter Garden, Jolson would tell the audience, "You ain't heard nothing yet" before performing additional songs. In the play, Jolson debuted his signature blackface character, "Gus." The play was so successful that Winter Garden owner Lee Shubert agreed to sign Jolson to a seven-year contract with a salary of $1,000 a week. Jolson would reprise his role as "Gus" in future plays and by 1914 achieved so much popularity with the theater audience that his $1,000-a-week salary was doubled to $2,000 a week. In 1916, Robinson Crusoe, Jr. was the first musical in which he was featured as the star character. In 1918, Jolson's acting career would be pushed even further after he starred in the hit musical Sinbad.  It became the most successful Broadway musical of 1918 and 1919. A new song was later added to the show that would become composer George Gershwin's first hit recording--"Swanee". Jolson also added another song, "My Mammy," to the show. By 1920, Jolson had become the biggest star on Broadway.
Question: What was Jolson's involvement with the Winter Garden Theater?
Answer: On March 20, 1911, Jolson starred in his first musical revue at the Winter Garden Theater in New York City,

Problem: Background: Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is a studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter and musician Ray Charles. It was recorded by Charles in February 1962 at Capitol Studios in New York City and at United Recording Studios in Hollywood, then released in April of that year by ABC-Paramount Records. The album departed stylistically from the singer's previous rhythm and blues music. It featured country, folk, and Western music standards reworked by Charles in popular song forms of the time, including R&B, pop, and jazz.
Context: Following his blues fusion with gospel and jazz influences on his earlier Atlantic material, which had brought him much fame and controversy, Charles sought to experiment with country music. As noted by himself in the liner notes for What'd I Say (1959), Charles was influenced by the genre in his youth, stating that he "used to play piano in a hillbilly band" and that he believed that he "could do a good job with the right hillbilly song today." At Atlantic, he attempted to incorporate this style and influence with his cover of country singer Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On". Charles later said about the song, "When I heard Hank Snow sing 'Moving On', I loved it. And the lyrics. Keep in mind, I'm a singer, so I like lyrics. Those lyrics are great, so that's what made me want to do it." The "I'm Movin' On" sessions were his last for Atlantic.  Charles's recording of his acclaimed studio effort The Genius of Ray Charles (1959) brought him closer to expressing his jazz and pop crossover ambitions. Described by one music critic as "the most important of his albums for Atlantic", the record was the first to introduce Charles's musical approach of blending his brassy R&B sound with the more middle of the road, pop-oriented style, while performing in the presence of a big band ensemble. Recording of the album, as well his ABC-Paramount debut, The Genius Hits the Road (1960), a collection of place-name songs devoted to parts of the United States, expanded on Charles's thematic and conceptually-organized approach to albums rather than commercially successful singles production. Inspired by this approach and his recording of "I'm Movin' On", Charles originally made plans for a single-less concept album.  When Charles had announced that he wanted to work on an album of country music in 1961, during a period of racial segregation and tension in the United States, he received generally negative commentary and feedback from his peers, including fellow R&B musicians and ABC-Paramount executives. The country album concept, however, meant more to Charles as a test of his record label's faith in him and respect for his artistic freedom than as a test of social tolerance among listeners amid racial distinctions of country and R&B. Fueled by his esteem for creative control, Charles pitched the idea of a country album to ABC representatives. Following the successful lobby of the concept and a contract renewal in early 1962, which was linked to the launching of his own Tangerine label, Charles prepared his band for the recording sessions that produced Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.
Question: was the album successful?
Answer: