Ramsey Lewis

Although Ramsey Lewis' career with Chess stretched from the mid-'50s to the end of the 1960s, it was only in the mid-'60s that he made a significant dent in the pop market. Accordingly, this 18-track collection is not so much a representative sampling of his Chess output as it is a heavy dip into his most popular mid-'60s recordings. Although the tracks do span 1961-1967, all but four cuts were done in 1964-1966. Not that this is such a bad thing; this era was the time at which Lewis issued not just his most popular stuff, but also his best. It's a strong group of his best pop-jazz-R&B material, including all four of his Top 40 hits ("The 'In' Crowd," "A Hard Day's Night," "Hang on Sloopy," and "Wade in the Water")…

Pianist Ramsey Lewis first came to fame as the purveyor of swinging soul-jazz in the mid-'60s, but like a lot of musicians he underwent some major changes by the end of that decade. Sun Goddess (1974), Lewis' biggest success of the decade, is miles away from the finger-snapping supper club sounds of "The In Crowd." By this time, Lewis had transformed himself into a jazz fusion funkateer, riffing on electric piano and synthesizer amid arrangements that meld jazz with funk, R&B, and yes, even touches of progressive rock…

Those shocked or even dismayed by the lack of jazz on 1975's Don't It Feel Good would no doubt be pleasantly surprised by this. Released in 1976 and produced by Maurice White and Charles Stepney, Salongo offers a more substantial look at African and Latin styles…

Standard Ramsey Lewis vehicle; good-to-routine pop-flavored and soulful material with some rousing piano solos and some not so energetic. Lewis was in the middle of another impressive run, making one hit album after another.

Ramsey Lewis staked his claim to fame with The In Crowd, an instrumental version of Dobie Gray's Top 40 hit. He also was one of the first soul jazz icons of the mid-'60s, based on the strength of the sales of this recording, done over three days during a club date at the Bohemian Caverns in Washington, D.C. What is not readily acknowledged over the years is that bassist Eldee Young is really the star of the show. He's the one who gets the crowd revved up with his vocalizing in tandem with the notes he is playing. It's on his Ray Charles-like take on "Tennessee Waltz" and a similar treatment of Gale Garnett's minor pop hit "You Been Talkin' 'Bout Me Baby" that gets the patrons off. Of course the quintessential hip shakin' introductory title track gets the groove in motion, but it's Young that lights the fuse…

Pianist and contemporary jazz icon Ramsey Lewis revisits his classic 1974 electric jazz-funk album Sun Goddess for 2011's Ramsey, Taking Another Look. Featuring a newly minted lineup of his '70s electric band, Taking Another Look features keyboardist Mike Logan, guitarist Henry Johnson, bassist Joshua Ramos, and drummer Charles Heath, all of whom reveal a knack for the funky, soulful jazz Lewis is reinvestigating here. Included are reworkings such classic '70s tracks as "Tambura," "Love Song," and "Jungle Strut." These are dance-oriented jazz-funk cuts with an organic, groove-oriented vibe that stick closely to the original '70s conception. In fact, the original version of Lewis' hit "Sun Goddess" is included and rounds out the album nicely…

Its hard to think of another jazz musician, outside of George Benson, who has released as many high level pop jazz recordings as Ramsey Lewis. Ramsey is probably one of the top pianists of the modern jazz era, but he has always been more of a crowd pleaser than an adventurer, but that doesn’t mean his playing is light weight at all. “Ivory Pyramid”, released in 1992, is typical of Lewis’ repertoire with masterful renditions of tunes he wrote plus a few covers.