Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. (born May 27, 1935) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
,
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
and
radio personalityA radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather, sports or...
. He has been referred to as "the great performer", a title reflecting his performance style and musical selections which display his early gospel playing and classical training (
BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, Beethoven,
BrahmsJohannes Brahms , German composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
,
etc.) along with his love of jazz and other musical forms. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received five
gold recordsIn the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.
Ramsey Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ramsey Lewis, Sr.
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. (born May 27, 1935) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
,
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
and
radio personalityA radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather, sports or...
. He has been referred to as "the great performer", a title reflecting his performance style and musical selections which display his early gospel playing and classical training (
BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, Beethoven,
BrahmsJohannes Brahms , German composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
,
etc.) along with his love of jazz and other musical forms. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received five
gold recordsIn the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.
Biography
Ramsey Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ramsey Lewis, Sr. and Pauline Lewis. Lewis began taking piano lessons at the age of four. At 15 he joined his first jazz band, The Cleffs. The seven-piece group provided Lewis his first involvement with jazz; he would later join Cleffs drummer Isaac "Redd" Holt and bassist Eldee Young to form the Ramsey Lewis Trio.
The trio started as primarily a jazz unit and released their first album,
Ramsey Lewis And The Gentlemen of Swing, in 1956. Following their 1965 hit
The In Crowd (the single reached #5 on the pop charts, and the album #2) they concentrated more on pop material. Young and Holt left in 1966 to form the Young-Holt Trio and were replaced by
Cleveland EatonCleveland Eaton is an American jazz double bassist from Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. His most famous accomplishments are substantial playing stints with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and later with the Count Basie Orchestra. His entertaining style and deep knowledge of jazz...
and
Maurice WhiteMaurice White is a Grammy Award winning African-American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger. He is the older brother of Verdine White and the leader and founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire Maurice has won seven Grammys and he has been Grammy nominated 21 times.He has been...
. White was replaced by Maurice Jennings in 1970. Later, Franky Donaldson and Billy "The Bhudda" Dickens replaced Jennings and Eaton; Felton Crews also appeared on many 1980's releases.
By 1966, Lewis was one of the nation’s most successful jazz pianists, topping the charts with
The In Crowd"The ‘In’ Crowd" is a 1965 song, written by Billy Page, arranged by his brother Gene and originally performed by Dobie Gray on his album Dobie Gray Sings for 'In' Crowders That 'Go Go. His Motown-like version reached #13 in the US Billboard charts...
,
Hang On Sloopy"Hang On Sloopy" is a song by the pop group The McCoys which was #1 in America in October 1965 and is the official rock song of the state of Ohio and The Ohio State University...
, and
Wade in the Water"Wade in the Water"The main chorus is:Many internet sources and popular books claim that songs such as "Wade in the Water" contained explicit instructions to fugitive slaves on how to avoid capture and the route to take to successfully make their way to freedom...
. Many of his recordings attracted a large non-jazz audience. In the '70s, Lewis often played electric piano, although by later in the decade he was sticking to acoustic and using an additional keyboardist in his groups.
In addition to recording and performing, Lewis hosted a morning show on Chicago "smooth jazz" radio station
WNUAWNUA is a Spanish Pop radio station located in Chicago, Illinois, owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications and branded as Mega 95.5.-History:...
(95.5 FM) until May 22, 2009. His weekly syndicated radio program
Legends of Jazz, created in 1990, features recordings from artists such as
David SanbornDavid Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B...
,
George DukeGeorge Duke is a piano and synthesizer pioneer and singer. He made a name for himself with the album The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio...
,
Herbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American jazz pianist and composer. He is regarded as one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century. His music embraces elements of funk and soul while adopting freer stylistic elements from jazz...
,
Charlie ParkerCharles Parker, Jr. was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.Parker, with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, is often considered one of the most influential of jazz musicians...
,
Dizzy GillespieJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer.Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
,
Kurt EllingKurt Elling is an American jazz vocalist.Elling graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota in 1989. He then enrolled in The University of Chicago's Divinity School and remained a student there until January 1992, when he left school one credit short of graduation.In the last...
,
Al JarreauAlwyn Lopez "Al" Jarreau is an American singer. A seven-time Grammy Award winner, he is the only vocalist in history to win in three separate categories: jazz, pop, and R&B...
and
Miles DavisMiles Davis III was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.Widely considered one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music including cool jazz, hard bop, free jazz...
. The show can be heard in 60 U.S. cities and overseas. On December 4, 2006, the
Ramsey Lewis Morning Show became part of Broadcast Architecture's Smooth Jazz Network, simulcasting on other Smooth Jazz stations across the country for the first time. However, the show was still based in Chicago until it was cancelled when WNUA switched over to a Spanish format.
In 2006, a well-received 13-episode
Legends of Jazz television series hosted by Lewis was broadcast on public TV nationwide and featured live performances by a variety of jazz artists including
Larry GrayLarry Gray is a Chicago musician known for his compositions and skill on the Double Bass and Cello. His primary teachers were Joseph Guastafeste, longtime principal bassist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and cellist Karl Fruh, a highly regarded soloist and teacher.Gray has been married to...
,
Lonnie SmithLonnie Smith is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He made his debut for the Philadelphia Phillies on September 2, 1978 and later played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Baltimore Orioles...
, Joey Defrancesco,
Dave BrubeckDavid Warren Brubeck , known as Dave Brubeck, is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational...
,
Chick CoreaArmando Anthony "Chick" Corea is a multiple Grammy Award winning American jazz pianist, keyboardist, drummer, and composer.He is known for his work during the 1970s in the genre of jazz fusion...
,
Kurt EllingKurt Elling is an American jazz vocalist.Elling graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota in 1989. He then enrolled in The University of Chicago's Divinity School and remained a student there until January 1992, when he left school one credit short of graduation.In the last...
,
Benny GolsonBenny Golson is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.-Biography:While in high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Golson played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and...
,
Pat MethenyPatrick Bruce Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer....
and
Tony BennettTony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
.
Lewis is artistic director of Jazz at Ravinia (an annual feature at the
Ravinia FestivalRavinia Park is a private park in Highland Park, Illinois with a variety of outdoor and indoor performing arts facilities, and it is best known as the site of the Ravinia Festival, the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States, with a series of outdoor concerts and performances held every...
in
Highland Park, IllinoisHighland Park is a city in the Moraine Township of Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 31,365 at the 2000 census. It now has 33,492 citizens as of September 28th, 2009. Highland Park is one of several affluent towns on the North Shore of Chicago...
) and helped organize Ravinia's Jazz Mentor Program. Ramsey also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Merit School of Music, a Chicago inner-city music program. Early in 2005, the Ramsey Lewis Foundation was created to help connect at-risk children to the world of music. As an offshoot of that foundation, Lewis plans to form a Youth Choir and Youth Orchestra. In January 2007, the
Dave BrubeckDavid Warren Brubeck , known as Dave Brubeck, is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational...
Institute invited Lewis to join its Honorary Board of Friends at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Lewis is an Honorary Board member of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra.
Lewis still lives in Chicago, Illinois, the city of his musical roots. He has seven children, fourteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Discography
| Album |
Date |
| Gentlemen of Swing |
1956 |
| Gentlemen of Jazz |
1958 |
| Lem Winchester with the Ramsey Lewis Trio |
1958 |
| Down to Earth (Music from the Soil) |
1959 |
| An Hour with the Ramsey Lewis Trio |
1959 |
| Stretching Out |
1960 |
| More From Soil |
1961 |
| Never on Sunday |
1961 |
| Sounds of Christmas |
1961 |
| Bossa Nova |
1962 |
| The Sound of Spring |
1962 |
| The In Crowd Live at the Bohemian Cavern |
1962 |
| Pot Luck |
1963 |
| Barefoot Sunday Blues |
1963 |
| Bach to the Blues |
1964 |
| More Sounds of Christmas |
1964 |
| At the Bohemian Caverns |
1964 |
| Country Meets the Blues |
1964 |
| The In Crowd |
1965 |
| Choice! The Best of the Ramsey Lewis Trio |
1962-64 |
| Hang on Ramsey (Live) |
1965 |
| Wade in the Water Wade in the Water is a 1966 album by Ramsey Lewis. The album has been certified gold in the US. The track Hold It Right There won a Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance - Vocal or Instrumental.-Side 1:#Wade in the Water...
|
1966 |
| The Movie Album |
1966 |
| The Groover (Live) |
1966 |
| Hang on Sloopy "Hang On Sloopy" is a song by the pop group The McCoys which was #1 in America in October 1965 and is the official rock song of the state of Ohio and The Ohio State University...
|
1966 |
| Goin' Latin Goin' Latin is a live jazz album by the Ramsey Lewis which was released on Cadet Records in 1967. The album reached number 2 and number 16 on the Billboard Black and Jazz Albums Charts.-Side 1:#Hey, Mrs...
|
1967 |
| Dancing in the Street Dancing in the Street is a live jazz album by the Ramsey Lewis Trio which was released on Cadet Records in 1967. The album reached number 3 and number 16 on the Billboard Black and Jazz Albums Charts.-Side 1:...
|
1967 |
| Up Pops Ramsey |
1967 |
| Greatest Sides, Vol. 1 |
1964-67 |
| Maiden Voyage |
1968 |
| Mother Nature's Son (album) Mother Nature’s Son is a studio album recorded by Ramsey Lewis which was released on Cadet Records. The album was produced by Charles Stepney and consisted of ten instrumental songs which were originally recorded on the album The Beatles, also known as The White Album.-Cover Art:The album cover was...
|
1968 |
| Live in Tokyo |
1968 |
| Solid Ivory (His Greatest Hits) |
1963-68 |
| Another Voyage |
1969 |
| The Piano Player |
1969 |
| The Best of Ramsey Lewis |
1970 |
| Them Changes |
1970 |
| Back to the Roots |
1971 |
| Upendo Ni Pamoja |
1972 |
| Funky Serenity |
1973 |
| Newly Recorded . . . Golden Hits |
1973 |
| Solar Wind |
1974 |
| Sun Goddess |
1974 |
| Don't It Feel Good Don't It Feel Good is a 1975 Jazz album by Ramsey Lewis released on Columbia Records.The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard Jazz Albums and #5 on the Black Albums chart...
|
1975 |
| Salongo Salongo is a 1976 Jazz album by Ramsey Lewis released on Columbia Records.The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard Jazz Albums and #17 on the Black Albums chart...
|
1976 |
| Love Notes |
1977 |
| Tequila Mockingbird |
1977 |
| Legacy |
1978 |
| Ramsey |
1979 |
| Routes |
1980 |
| Best of Ramsey Lewis |
1981 |
| Blues for the Night Owl |
1981 |
| Three Piece Suite |
1981 |
| Live At The Savoy |
1982 |
| Chance Encounter |
1982 |
| Les Fleurs |
1983 |
| Reunion |
1983 |
| The Two of Us (with Nancy Wilson) |
1984 |
| Fantasy |
1985 |
| Keys To The City |
1987 |
| A Classic Encounter |
1988 |
| We Meet Again (with Billy Taylor) |
1989 |
| Urban Renewal |
1989 |
| Electric Collection |
1991 |
| This is Jazz #27 |
1991 |
| Ivory Pyramid |
1992 |
| Sky Islands Sky Islands is a 1993 Jazz album by Ramsey Lewis released on GRP Records.The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.-Tracklist:-Musicians: *Tony Carpenter - Percussion, Vocals...
|
1993 |
| Urban Knights I Urban Knights I is a jazz album by Urban Knights which was released on GRP records in 1995. The album reached number 3 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums Chart.-Track listing :#On the Radio 4:40#Wanna Be With You 4:41...
|
1995 |
| Between the Keys |
1996 |
| Urban Knights II Urban Knights II is a jazz album by Urban Knights which was released on GRP records in 1997. The album reached number 5 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums Chart.-Track listing :#Scirroco 4:03...
|
1997 |
| Dance of the Soul |
1998 |
| Appassionata |
1999 |
| Urban Knights III |
2000 |
| Ramsey Lewis's Finest Hour |
2000 |
| Urban Knights IV |
2001 |
| Meant To Be (with Nancy Wilson) |
2002 |
20th Century Masters - The Millennium
Collection: The Best of Ramsey Lewis |
2002 |
| Urban Knights V |
2003 |
| Simple Pleasures |
2003 |
| Times Flies |
2004 |
| Urban Knights VI |
2005 |
| With One Voice |
2005 |
| The Best of Urban Knights |
2005 |
| The Very Best of Ramsey Lewis |
2006 |
| Mother Nature's Son |
2007 |
| Songs from the Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey |
2009 |
Grammy history
- Career Wins: 3
- Career Nominations:
| Ramsey Lewis Grammy Awards History |
| Year |
Category |
Title |
Genre |
Label |
Result |
| 1965 |
Best Jazz Performance - Small Group or
Soloist with Small Group |
"The In Crowd" |
Jazz |
Argo/Chess |
Winner |
| 1966 |
Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance -
Vocal or Instrumental |
"Hold It Right There" |
R&B |
Chess |
Winner |
| 1973 |
Best Rhythm & Blues Instrumental Performance |
"Hang on Sloopy" |
R&B |
MCA |
Winner |
Gold records
Currently, the normal RIAA certifications for a gold album is 500,000 units.
| Gold Records |
| Year |
Title |
Label |
| 1965 |
The In Crowd |
Chess |
| 1966 |
Hang on Sloopy |
Rhapsody |
| 1966 |
Wade in the Water Wade in the Water is a 1966 album by Ramsey Lewis. The album has been certified gold in the US. The track Hold It Right There won a Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance - Vocal or Instrumental.-Side 1:#Wade in the Water...
|
Chess |
| 1968 |
The Sound of Christmas |
Chess |
| 1976 |
Sun Goddess |
Columbia |
Recognitions
- 2002: Ramsey Lewis, carried the Winter 2002 Olympic Torch, Ramsey lights the cauldron for its brief stop in Chicago.
- 2003: NAACP Image Award, Best Jazz Artist, for his album Simple Pleasures (2003)
- 2006: 22nd Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards, Best Gospel Instrumental Album, With One Voice (2005)
- 2007: National Endowment for the Arts, Jazz Masters Award
- 2007: Landmarks Illinois, Legendary Landmark Award, as one of living treasures of Illinois. "Just like our landmarked buildings, our three Legendary Landmarks have been critical to the civic well-being of Chicago and stand as a testimony to the greatness of our cultural integrity." said David Bahlman, president of Landmarks Illinois.
External links