Ramsey+lewis

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…

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.

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…

"If you tend to be depressed it gets especially bad during the holidays," the famously depressed Harvey Pekar writes in his liner notes to Verve's Yule Be Miserable. "Everybody's prancing around the Christmas tree…while you lie in bed with a big headache…