Ramsey Lewis - Ramsey Lewis: A Life in Music '2022

Tracks list

Tracklist:

01. The "In" Crowd (Live At The Bohemian Caverns, Washington, D.C., 1965)
02. Summer Samba
03. Wade In The Water
04. Hey Mrs. Jones
05. Cry Baby Cry
06. Rocky Raccoon
07. Exactly Like You
08. Black Eye Peas
09. Dear Prudence
10. Since I Fell For You (Live At Bohemian Caverns, D.C./1965)
11. Dancing In The Street (Live At Basin Street West / 1967)
12. Up Tight
13. Mother Nature's Son
14. Something You Got (Live At Bohemian Caverns, D.C., 1964)
15. Do What You Wanna
16. A Hard Day's Night (Live At The Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, CA.,1965)
17. Julia
18. Quiet Nights (Corcovado) (Live At Basin Street West / 1967)
19. Hang On Sloopy (Live At The Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, CA., 1965)
20. Soul Man
21. Little Liza Jane
22. The More I See You (Live At The Lighthouse / 1965)
23. Sexy Sadie
24. Bold And Black
25. The Tennessee Waltz (Live At The Bohemian Caverns, Washington D.C / 1965)


 Read moreLewis was born in Chicago on May 27, 1935 and was introduced to
music by his father, who directed the choir at a local church and enjoyed the
music of Duke Ellington and Art Tatum. He began studying the piano when he was
four years old and was soon accompanying the choir at Sunday services. At the
age of 15, he joined a jazz combo called the Cleffs, who played at parties and
dances. Lewis was interested in a leaner, more bebop-oriented sound, and when
the group splintered after several members joined the military, he formed the
Ramsey Lewis Trio with two other former Cleffs, bassist Eldee Young and
percussionist Redd Holt. The trio became a fixture on the Chicago jazz scene,
and they were signed to a deal with Chess Records, releasing their first album,
Ramsey Lewis & His Gentlemen of Jazz, in 1956.

Lewis and his trio continued to record and tour steadily over the years,
building a sizable audience among jazz fans, but their career received a serious
boost in 1965, when they recorded a swinging version of Dobie Gray's hit "The In
Crowd" at a gig in Washington, D.C. Chess released the track as a single, and it
became a sizable pop hit, earning Lewis his first gold record, as well as a
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance. As Lewis' star rose, he returned to the
pop charts in 1966 with versions of "Hang on Sloopy" and "Wade in the Water."
Meanwhile, Young and Holt left Lewis' trio to form their own group, Young-Holt
Unlimited, and the pianist hired a new rhythm section of Cleveland Eaton on bass
and Maurice White on drums.

In 1970, White resigned to form his own group, and Morris Jennings signed on as
the trio's new percussionist. Lewis continued to record for Chess until 1972,
when he moved to Columbia, and as his music developed a more contemporary
groove, White's group, Earth, Wind & Fire (also on Columbia), was beginning to
enjoy considerable success on the R&B charts. White produced Lewis' 1974 album
Sun Goddess, in which he experimented with electronic keyboards for the first
time, and several members of EWF played on the sessions; it became a major
crossover hit and took Lewis to the upper ranks of the smooth jazz/fusion scene.
Lewis would record R&B-influenced material throughout the '70s but continued to
explore his roots in more traditional jazz sounds as well as Latin rhythms. In
1983, he went into the studio with Eldee Young and Redd Holt for the album
Reunion; in 1984, he collaborated with Nancy Wilson on The Two of Us; in 1988,
he recorded with London's Philharmonia Orchestra for the album A Classic
Encounter, and in 1989, Lewis and Dr. Billy Taylor cut a set of piano duets, We
Meet Again.

In 1992, Lewis signed with the successful jazz label GRP Records, and in 1995,
he launched the side project Urban Knights, in which he collaborated with a
handful of successful crossover jazz stars, including Grover Washington, Jr.,
Earl Klugh, and Dave Koz. In 1997, Lewis added disc jockey to his résumé,
hosting a popular show on Chicago's WNUA-FM that ran until 2009; the show went
into syndication in 2006 under the name Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis, and
is still on the air. In 2005, Lewis looked back on his roots in gospel music
with the album With One Voice, which earned him the Stellar Gospel Music Award
for Best Gospel Instrumental Album. In 2007, he was commissioned to write a jazz
ballet for the Joffrey Ballet Company, and "To Know Her..." debuted at Highland
Park, Illinois' Ravina Music Festival, where Lewis is artistic director of the
festival's jazz series and helped found their Jazz Mentor Program.

Lewis has also written several pieces for string ensemble and orchestra that
have premiered at Ravina; highlights were featured on the 2009 album Songs from
the Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey, his first release from Concord Records. In
addition to his work as a performer, composer, educator, and disc jockey, Lewis
has received five honorary doctorate degrees, won the National Endowment for the
Arts' Jazz Master Award in 2007, and is one of the few noted jazz artists to
carry the Olympic Torch, having briefly escorted the flame as it passed through
Chicago en route to the 2002 Winter Games. In 2011, he delivered Taking Another
Look, a reworking of his classic 1974 electric jazz-funk album Sun Goddess. The
album was reissued in a deluxe package with bonus tracks in 2015. Two years
later, Lewis was a featured guest on pianist Alan Storeygard's trio album New
Directions. In 2019, he rejoined Urban Knights for VII, which featured original
songs as well as renditions of classics by John Coltrane, Chick Corea, and the
Beatles. ~ Mark Deming

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