Ramsey Lewis 1935-2022

 

The great jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis, 1935-2022.

My Dad's copy of The Ramsey Lewis Trio at the Bohemian Caverns, 1964. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

My Dad's copy of Barefoot Sunday Blues, 1963. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Ramsey Lewis in concert, 1981.

The jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis passed away on Monday at the age of 87. Lewis was a superb musician, and he took a vast array of influences-blues, gospel, pop, and classical, and combined them into his own unique style of jazz. Lewis had a huge hit in 1965 with his version of the pop song "The 'In' Crowd." The single peaked at number 5 on the pop charts, becoming an even bigger hit than the original. The album The In Crowd also soared into the Top Ten, peaking at number 2 on the LP chart. 

I was lucky enough to see Ramsey Lewis in concert several times: in 2009 at Orchestra Hall, and at the Dakota Jazz Club in 2012, 2015, and 2017. I also wrote short reviews of two of Lewis' 2020 concerts on Stageit. I went to most of these concerts with my Dad, who had been a fan of Ramsey Lewis since the 1960's. He owned several Ramsey Lewis albums: The In Crowd, Barefoot Sunday Blues, and At the Bohemian Caverns. My Dad was a jazz fan, and he helped introduce me to the music of Ramsey Lewis, Ahmad Jamal, Dave Brubeck, and Oscar Peterson. My Dad passed away last December. My Dad's birthday is tomorrow, September 15th, so he's been on my mind a lot lately, and Ramsey Lewis' passing just adds to the emotion of this week. My Dad and I watched Ramsey Lewis' 2020 Beatles concert on Stageit together, and it was fun for us to see this masterful musician playing a solo concert in his own home. 

"The 'In' Crowd" was, like many hit records, a product of chance and happenstance. The song had been a hit for singer Dobie Gray, peaking just outside the Top Ten on the pop and R&B charts in February 1965. A couple of months later, a waitress suggested the song to Lewis, bassist Eldee Young and drummer Redd Holt. They listened to the song on the jukebox a few times and put it in their set. It received a rapturous reaction from the audience at the Bohemian Caverns nightclub, where the trio was recording a live album. The energy of the song was infectious, and suddenly Ramsey Lewis was a household name. "The 'In' Crowd" won a Grammy for the Best Jazz Performance-Small Group. 

Lewis recorded a lot of albums throughout his lengthy career. Some of the Ramsey Lewis albums I really enjoy are Down to Earth, a 1958 collection of folk and traditional songs, Mother Nature's Son, an exploration of tunes from the Beatles' White Album, 1974's funky Sun Goddess, and 2011's Taking Another Look, where Lewis re-recorded most of the songs on Sun Goddess. Of special note for Twin Cities music fans is the excellent 1970 live album Them Changes, recorded in May of 1970 at the Depot, a venue better known today as the legendary club First Avenue. 

Ramsey Lewis leaves behind a rich legacy of superb jazz music in a long and varied career. RIP to a true master of the keyboard.

Ramsey Lewis Plays the Beatles Songbook

Image for Ramsey Lewis Plays the Beatles Songbook, July 25, 2020.

The amazing cover of Ramsey's album Mother Nature's Son, on which he plays 10 songs from the White Album.

On Saturday, July 25, 2020, Ramsey Lewis played a Stageit show of the Beatles’ music. Titled “Ramsey Lewis Plays the Beatles Songbook,” it was a terrific hour of solo jazz piano from a master. I tuned into to Lewis’ May Stageit show, celebrating his 85^th birthday. That show had some technical difficulties, including about 20 minutes or so where there wasn’t any sound or video. Fortunately, the technical side was much better this time around. I still had to refresh the screen a few times when the sound dropped out, and there was a lot of chatter on the Stageit chat about technical issues.

There’s an intimacy to the Stageit shows that is very appealing. You’re getting to see Ramsey Lewis in his living room, playing the grand piano that he practices on every day. That’s very cool. Lewis played about 10 Beatles songs during Saturday’s show. He opened with “Here, There and Everywhere” and “And I Love Her,” which were given extended treatments. Other songs, like “Lady Madonna” and “Rocky Raccoon,” Lewis just played through once and didn’t really solo on. He was laughing as he made his way through those songs, as though he was surprised by the melodic twists and turns they were taking. That, combined with the fact that Lewis had sheet music in front of him, made me wonder how many times he'd played these songs before. Lewis did record “Lady Madonna” on his 1968 album Maiden Voyage, and he also recorded “Rocky Raccoon” on his excellent Mother Nature’s Son album, on which he played 10 tracks from the White Album, recorded just weeks after the White Album was released. I assume that Lewis is a brilliant enough pianist to play a song through while just glancing at the sheet music, but I’d be interested to know how much he had played some of these songs before Saturday.

Lewis’ song selection was heavily skewed towards songs that were predominately written by Paul McCartney. The only song that was predominately written by John Lennon was “In My Life.” I didn’t take the song selection to be a slight on John Lennon, rather, I think it’s an indication of what a rare melodic genius Paul McCartney is. In addition to the songs I’ve already mentioned above, Lewis played “Hey Jude,” “Let it Be,” “The Fool on the Hill,” “The Long and Winding Road,” and “Michelle.”

The afternoon concluded with Lewis playing a medley of his biggest hits: “Sun Goddess,” “Hang On, Sloopy,” “Wade in the Water,” and “The In Crowd.” It was a fun afternoon spent with a master of the piano.

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.

Concert Review: Ramsey Lewis at the Dakota Jazz Club

Ramsey Lewis and his band. From left to right, Tim Gant on keyboards, Charles Heath on drums, Ramsey Lewis on piano, Joshua Ramos on bass, and Henry Johnson on guitar.

Last night I saw the great jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis at the Dakota Jazz Club. I’ve seen Ramsey Lewis three times before, in 2009, in 2012, and in 2015. Each time he’s put on an excellent show full of his vibrant piano playing. Lewis played with the same group I’ve seen him with before, Tim Gant on keyboards, Henry Johnson on guitar, Joshua Ramos on bass and Charles Heath on drums. 

Ramsey Lewis’ first album, recorded in 1956, was titled Ramsey Lewis and His Gentle-Men of Swing. The very first song on that album was “Carmen,” a jazz version of the habanera from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. Ramsey Lewis always comes across as a gentleman-he’s always impeccably dressed and seems like a very nice guy. And it’s fitting that his first song on his first album was a fusion of classical and jazz. Lewis studied classical piano as a young man, and his playing brings together many different elements-jazz, classical, soul, R&B, pop, and more. 

Lewis achieved crossover success in 1965 with his recording of “The ‘In’ Crowd,” which had been a pop hit for Dobie Gray. Recorded live at the Bohemian Caverns club in Washington, D.C., with his great trio of Eldee Young on bass and Redd Holt on drums, the album and the single were both Top 5 hits on the pop charts, an unprecedented feat for a jazz group. Lewis’ recording of “The ‘In’ Crowd” is often used in TV shows and movies, as it has become a song that instantly captures its era in just a few funky notes. 

Lewis opened the concert last night with the smooth funk of “Tequila Mockingbird,” and he mixed a musical quote from “The Trolley Song.” His next song was a version of the Beatles “Here, There and Everywhere.” He began the song solo, and slowly the rest of the group joined in as it moved in other directions. Lewis followed that up with another Beatles song, “A Hard Day’s Night,” which he had a hit with in 1966. The band really got to show off their chops on “A Hard Day’s Night,” as everyone took lengthy solos. The whole band is excellent, and special mention must be made of Henry Johnson on guitar, who reminds me a lot of Wes Montgomery. Johnson also had some terrific exchanges with Joshua Ramos on bass. Lewis played a beautiful version of “Dear Lord,” a John Coltrane song. Lewis is adept at playing both ballads and funky swingers. His style is always smooth and easy to listen to.

Lewis closed the 7PM show with his two biggest hits, “Sun Goddess,” which he revealed was written as an Earth, Wind & Fire song that Maurice White couldn’t think of any words for, and of course, “The ‘In’ Crowd.” At the age of 82, Ramsey Lewis doesn’t disappoint.