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Artist
Ramsey Lewis
12+ albums
jazzfunksoulpianojazz piano
about
Ramsey Lewis (born Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. in Chicago on 27 May 1935 ; died 12 September 2022) was an American jazz and pop pianist and keyboardist. Lewis formed The Ramsey Lewis Trio in 1956 and went on to record over 80 albums, receiving five gold records and three Grammy Awards during his career. Lewis began taking piano lessons at the age of four. As a young man, Lewis played with a number of local ensembles, such as Edward Virgil Abner's Knights of Music. Lewis would eventually join a jazz group called The Clefs. He formed The Ramsey Lewis Trio in 1956 with Eldee Young and Isaac Holt. They started as primarily a jazz unit but after their hit, "The In Crowd", in 1965 (the single reached fifth place on the pop charts, and the album second place) the trio concentrated more and more on pop material. Young and Holt left in 1966 to form the Young-Holt Trio and were replaced by Cleveland Eaton and Maurice White. White was replaced by Maurice Jennings in 1970. In the late 1970s an additional keyboard player was frequently added to the lineup. A contemporary version of "The In Crowd" was recorded for Lewis' 2004 album, Time Flies. His 2005 album "With One Voice" pays homage to his gospel roots with the help Smokie Norful, Darius Brooks, and Donald Lawrence and the J.W. James Memorial A.M.E. Church Combined Choir. In addition to recording and performing, he was a radio host on Chicago's Smooth Jazz station, WNUA (95.5 FM). His syndicated show Legends of Jazz, featuring
