Ramsey Lewis 85th Birthday Concert on Stageit

Ramsey Lewis at home in Chicago, 2019.

Legendary jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis performed a special concert on Stageit on May 30, 2020, in celebration of his 85^th birthday. Since Lewis no longer tours, and because the concert was being broadcast from his living room, I was excited about this opportunity. My wife and I had tickets to see Ramsey Lewis perform at the Ordway a couple of years ago, but before the concert took place, Lewis announced his retirement from touring. Fortunately, we have seen Lewis in concert before, mainly at the Dakota. 

Technical difficulties marred the second half of the show, as the sound and video cut out about 35 minutes into the 50-minute show. After a while, Ramsey reappeared, saying, “What is life without technical difficulties?” Unfortunately, after Lewis had started playing again for just a minute or so, the connection was lost again. This time it was probably 20 minutes or so before Lewis reappeared yet again. This time, he was able to finish the show without any issues. Ultimately, we got 50 minutes or so of music, it was just spread out over 90 minutes. But anyway, onto the music.

Musically, the show was fantastic. It’s clear that Lewis hasn’t lost a step on the piano. He started the show with the classic Percy Mayfield blues song “Please Send Me Someone to Love.” Lewis’ piano playing has always reflected many different influences, and the blues are always there, close to the surface. In “Please Send Me Someone to Love,” the blues bubble up to the top, along with some gospel for extra flavoring. Lewis then played a beautiful ballad called “Wind” that he wrote. “Wind” got me wondering if Lewis has ever recorded a solo piano album. According to my Googling, he hasn’t, although a 2019 Chicago Tribune article about him indicated that his next project might be a solo piano album. 

Next up was a lovely version of “My Ship,” by Kurt Weill (with lyrics by Ira Gershwin). Lewis then played “Spain,” written by Chick Corea. Lewis played a song by Billy Taylor, but I’m not sure of that name of it. It was hard to hear Ramsey when he was speaking, so I missed some of what he said. He also played a song he wrote called “I’ll Never Forget You,” and a tune called “Sarah Jane.” And can I just say that I suspect that Ramsey Lewis has found the fountain of youth? Seriously, if you didn’t know it was his 85^th birthday concert, you’d probably think it was his 65^th birthday concert. It’s probably proof that music keeps you young. 

Whatever Ramsey Lewis plays, he can conjure up all the required sounds from the keyboard. Slow ballads, classically influenced pieces, soulful R&B, funky gospel-inflected tunes: they’re all part of Ramsey Lewis’ repertoire. Lewis closed the concert with a medley of two of his most famous funky jazz songs that crossed over to the pop charts: “Wade in the Water” and “The In Crowd.” They sounded as fresh and groovy as ever, a testament to the continued excellence of Ramsey Lewis, one of the great jazz pianists.