Ramsey Lewis: Biography

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• Ahmad Jamal
• Ray Bryant
• Les McCann
• Gene Harris
• Junior Mance
• David Benoit
• Oliver Jones

• Bud Powell
• Oscar Peterson
• Art Tatum
• John Lewis
• Erroll Garner
• Ahmad Jamal

• The Herbaliser
• George Duke
• The Zombies
• Bob James
• David Benoit
• Earth, Wind & Fire
• Joe Jackson

• Young-Holt Unlimited
• Ken Watters

Born:

May 27, 1935 in Chicago, IL

Genres:

Classical Music, Jazz Music, Contemporary Jazz Music

Decades Active:

1950's|1960's|1970's|1980's|1990's|2000's

Artistic Quality

Medium

Cultural Impact

Medium

Popularity

Medium

Ratings Guide

Ramsey Lewis has long straddled the boundary between boporiented jazz and pop music. Most of his recordings (particularly by the mid'60s) were very accessible and attracted a large nonjazz audience. In 1956, he formed a trio with bassist Eldee Young and drummer Red Holt. From the start (1958), their records for Argo/Cadet were popular, although in the early days, they had a strong jazz content. In 1958, Lewis also recorded with Max Roach and Lem Winchester. On the 1965 albums The In Crowd and Hang On, Ramsey made the pianist into a major attraction and from that point, on his records became much more predictable and poporiented. In 1966, his trio's personnel changed with bassist Cleveland Eaton and drummer Maurice White (later the founder of Earth, Wind Fire) joining Lewis. In the 1970s, Lewis often played electric piano, although by later in the decade he was sticking to acoustic and hiring an additional keyboardist. He can still play melodic jazz when he wants to, but Ramsey Lewis has mostly stuck to easy listening pop music during the past 30 years. In 2004 he released Time Flies, a look back at some of his most popular songs through new recordings.

- Scott Yanow, All Music Guide