Table of Contents
The “In” Crowd – Jazz Play Along vol. 146 Ramsey Lewis & MP3 tracks (sheet music, Noten, spartiti)
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Ramsey Lewis
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Ramsey Lewis Jr. was born in Chicago on May 27, 1935. He grew up in a Chicago public housing project and began taking piano lessons at the age of four, when he began playing the instrument at a church where his father was choir director.
When Ramsey Lewis was a freshman in high school, saxophonist and pianist Wallace Burton, a church friend whose jazz adventures had seduced Ramsey, asked him to join his band, the Clefs, a septet for college kids that mixed jazz and R&B.
Following the outbreak of the Korean War, conscription took several members of the Clefs, including Burton. The three members who were not drafted — Lewis, bassist Eldee Young and drummer Redd Holt — formed what would become known as the classic Ramsey Lewis Trio.
In 1956, they released his first album, ‘Ramsey Lewis and His Gentlemen of Jazz’. Three years later, Lewis was invited to perform with the trio at Birdland in New York. Their three-week run led to performances at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Village Vanguard, and recording with Max Roach, Clark Terry, and Sonny Stitt.
Lewis broke through on his own in a big way in 1965 with the first bestseller, ‘The In Crowd’. This elegantly funky, Grammy Award-winning song (written by Dobie Gray) was followed by two other chart hits, ‘Hang on Sloopy’ and ‘Wade in the Water’.
Over the years, Lewis has performed and recorded in aremarkable variety of musical settings. Throughout the ’70s, he embraced R&B and Latin music without abandoning mainstream jazz. In 1983, on the album ‘Reunion’, he reconstituted his most famous trio.
Among his many honors are five honorary doctorates and an NAACP Image Award for Most Outstanding Jazz Artist. The single ‘The In Crowd’ was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and his personal memorabilia resides in the Smithsonian Institution.
In 2007, Lewis received the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award, placing him in the hallowed company of piano legends such as Ahmad Jamal, Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, Dr. Billy Taylor and Cecil Taylor.
Discography
Albums
Year Title
1956 Ramsey Lewis and his Gentle-men of Swing
1958 Ramsey Lewis and his Gentle-men of Jazz, Volume 2
1958 Lem Winchester and the Ramsey Lewis Trio
1959 Down to Earth (The Ramsey Lewis Trio Plays Music from the Soil) An Hour with the Ramsey Lewis Trio
1960 Early in the Morning (Lorez Alexandria with the Ramsey Lewis Trio) Stretching Out
The Ramsey Lewis Trio in Chicago
1961 More Music from the Soil
Never on Sunday
Sound of Christmas
1962 The Sound of Spring
Country Meets the Blues
Bossa Nova
1963 Pot Luck
Barefoot Sunday Blues
1964 Bach to the Blues
The Ramsey Lewis Trio at the Bohemian Caverns
More Sounds of Christmas
1965 You Better Believe Me (with Jean DuShon)
The In Crowd
Hang On Ramsey!
Choice! The Best of the Ramsey Lewis Trio (compilation)
1966 Wade in the Water
The Movie Album
Goin’ Latin
1967 Dancing in the Street
Up Pops Ramsey Lewis
1968 Maiden Voyage
Mother Nature’s Son
Ramsey Lewis Live in Tokyo
1969 Encore! Ramsey Lewis in Tokyo (Vol. 2)
Another Voyage
The Piano Player
1970 Them Changes
1971 Back to the Roots
1972 The Groover
The Best of Ramsey Lewis (compilation)
Upendo Ni Pamoja
1973 Funky Serenity
Ramsey Lewis’ Newly Recorded All-Time Non-Stop Golden Hits
1974 Solar Wind
Sun Goddess
Solid Ivory
1975 Don’t It Feel Good
1976 Salongo
1977 Love Notes
Tequila Mockingbird
1978 Legacy
1979 Ramsey
1980 Routes
1981 Blues for the Night Owl
Three Piece Suite
1982 Ramsey Lewis Live at the Savoy
Chance Encounter
1983 Les Fleurs
Reunion
1984 The Two of Us (with Nancy Wilson)
1985 Fantasy
1987 Keys to the City
1988 Classic Encounter
1989 We Meet Again (with Billy Taylor)
Urban Renewal
1992 Ivory Pyramid
1993 Sky Islands
1995 Urban Knights I
1996 Between the Keys
1997 Urban Knights II
1998 Dance of the Soul
1999 Appassionata
2000 Urban Knights III
2001 Urban Knights IV
2002 Meant to Be (with Nancy Wilson)
2003 Urban Knights V
Simple Pleasures (with Nancy Wilson)
2004 Time Flies
2005 Urban Knights VI
With One Voice
2009 Songs from the Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey
2011 Taking Another Look
2019 Urban Knights VII
2021 Manha de Carnaval
Singles
Year Title
1964 “Something You Got” (as the Ramsey Lewis Trio)
1965 “The ‘In’ Crowd” (as the Ramsey Lewis Trio)
“Jingle Bells” (as the Ramsey Lewis Trio)
“Hang On Sloopy” (as the Ramsey Lewis Trio)
1966 “Winter Wonderland”
“Wade in the Water”
“Up Tight”
“Hi-Heel Sneakers”
“A Hard Day’s Night”
1967 “Soul Man”
“One, Two, Three”
“Day Tripper”
“Dancing in the Street”
1968 “Since You’ve Been Gone”
1969 “Julia”
1972 “Slipping into Darkness”
1973 “Kufanya Mapenzi (Making Love)”
1975 “Sun Goddess” (with Earth, Wind & Fire)
“Hot Dawgit” (with Earth, Wind & Fire)
1976 “What’s the Name of This Funk (Spider Man)”
“Don’t It Feel Good”
“Brazilica”
1977 “Spring High”
1981 “So Much More”
1982 “You Never Know”
1985 “This Ain’t No Fantasy”
1987 “7–11”
As sideman
With Max Roach
MAX (Argo, 1958)
With Jimmy Woode
The Colorful Strings of Jimmy Woode (Argo, 1957)
With Young/Holt
Feature Spot (Cadet, 1967)