Ramsey Lewis, jazz pianist who revitalized style, dies at 87

Muricas News  — 

Relying on which music pundit you ask, jazz “died” when its Nineteen Twenties heyday ended. Others consider jazz music misplaced its luster when the Sixties – and rock music – rolled round.

However Ramsey Lewis, an ingenious jazz pianist and one of many nation’s most revered artists within the style, continued to seek out novel methods to maintain the style alive and evolving and, crucially, develop new generations of jazz listeners.

Lewis spent almost 60 years recording and performing unique jazz music, hanging gold in 1965 with the crossover hit “The ‘In’ Crowd.” He received three Grammys, scored seven gold information and in 2007 was named a Nationwide Endowment of the Arts Jazz Grasp, the best honor bestowed upon jazz musicians within the US.

Lewis died Monday at his house in his native Chicago, his supervisor Brett Steele confirmed. He was 87.

A lifelong Chicagoan, Lewis grew up within the Cabrini-Inexperienced housing venture within the metropolis’s Close to North Aspect. Although he performed piano all through his childhood, his publicity to jazz got here solely at house, when his father would play information from Duke Ellington and Artwork Tatum (one in every of Lewis’ all-time favourite artists). He didn’t try to study to play jazz himself till one other musician at his church approached him to begin a band when he was 15, in accordance with the Nationwide Endowment for the Arts’ biography of Lewis.

After honing his jazz piano abilities with that band, the Clefs, he shaped the Ramsey Lewis Trio with bassist Eddie Younger and Redd Holt on percussion, per his web site. Their debut album was launched in 1956, but it surely wasn’t till nearly 10 years later that they turned nationwide stars: The trio’s instrumental cowl of “The ‘In’ Crowd” turned successful upon its 1965 launch and received Lewis his first of three Grammys.

The mid-Sixties additionally noticed the discharge of crossover hits like “Hold on Sloopy” and “Wade within the Water,” two songs that resonated with listeners from all backgrounds, not simply jazz aficionados.

The trio’s line-up shuffled over time – different members included Maurice White on drums (he ultimately departed the trio to begin Earth, Wind & Hearth however returned to provide Lewis’ 1974 album “Solar Goddess”). Lewis collaborated with different artists in his style, too, together with the late jazz vocalist Nancy Wilson on a number of albums, together with 1984’s “The Two of Us.”

Lewis melded the gospel music and blues he’d grown up taking part in with the jazz his father beloved and the favored sounds of the time to create what turned modern jazz music. His jazz compositions had funk and soul (a method he perfected on “Solar Goddess” and showcased on packages like “Soul Practice”), although he might play classical compositions with ease and panache, too (he as soon as counted Bach as one in every of his favourite sources of “mind meals”).

Lewis had a prolific output, releasing two to a few albums a yr for a number of years after the success of “The ‘In’ Crowd.” In all, he recorded greater than 80 albums, together with final yr’s “Maha de Carnaval.”

He retired in suits and begins. In 2018, he informed Chicago station WGN that he took off a number of days in a row from performing and working towards piano and shortly turned bored. In 2019, he opened the Chicago-based Ravinia Pageant and informed the Chicago Tribune that yr that he was “90-some p.c retired” – he’d nonetheless carry out domestically, however he was totally retired from touring throughout the US.

When he wasn’t performing, Lewis was nonetheless introducing listeners to new artists and replaying outdated favorites: He hosted a number of jazz packages on public radio and TV stations in Chicago all through his life.

He was additionally an important proponent of arts training and uplifting musically gifted younger individuals. He based the Ramsey Lewis Basis in 2005, which introduced music packages to at-risk youth. He recalled his personal foundational arts training at his Chicago public college, which he mentioned provided numerous bands and musical electives. He lamented the defunding of public college arts courses.

“Once they knocked that out of the general public college system, we misplaced quite a lot of children who might most likely have contributed to the scene as we all know it,” he informed WGN.

Music was oxygen to Lewis; he couldn’t stop composing unique songs even after he “retired.” Within the 2018 interview with WGN, he shared that he was nonetheless tinkering with a tune he began writing 15 years earlier. He spent a lot of his time at house at his beloved Steinway piano, which he mentioned he purchased in 1962. An everlasting pupil desperate to sharpen his abilities, he listened to all the pieces, throughout genres, that will match on his iPod.

When requested in 2009 what he thought of the best album ever, he replied, “There isn't any such animal.”

“What feels satisfying to me at this time may not tomorrow or subsequent week,” he informed Pop Issues in 2009. “The perfect album I ever heard was the one I simply listened to, except I’m spending time researching different cultures or auditioning new music/artists. So then … you by no means know!”

Lewis was remembered by his mates and admirers for his progressive fashion and inquisitive spirit. The Rev. Jesse Jackson recalled dwelling close to Lewis for greater than 40 years, watching their kids develop up collectively.

“Ramsey had beautiful style and was formally educated and disciplined,” Jackson tweeted. “I'll miss him as a pal and a neighbor.”

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot mentioned the town of Chicago was grateful to have Lewis as a “native son.” Based mostly on his lifetime of taking part in in his beloved Chicago, he felt the identical satisfaction representing his metropolis. As he put it succinctly in a 2011 interview: “Chicago is house.”

Lewis is survived by his spouse and 5 of his kids.