Corporate Entertainment - Jazz - Ramsey Lewis Trio booking information

**Ramsey Lewis**
We have the pleasure and experience of providing the smooth jazz sounds of The Ramsey Lewis Trio for special events! Here is Ramsey Lewis' amazing story: Largely responsible for popularizing Chicago jazz in the 1960s, Ramsey Lewis was born in the Windy City on May 27, 1935, and first played the piano at age four. By virtue of his early love for classical music, he decided at age 13 to focus on a future as a concert pianist. And then there was gospel, as he began playing for his church choir during those same formative years. Later, in high school another church musician, Wallace Burton, invited Lewis to join his seven piece band. The Cleffs.

Attending Chicago Musical College, he formed the Gentlemen of Swing (later known as The Ramsey Lewis Trio) with The Cleffs’ rhythm section Eldee Young (bass) and Red Holt (drums). A weekend gig caught the ear of an influential local deejay, named Holmes "Daddy-O" Daylie, who convinced blues record company owner Phil Chess to expand into jazz and sign the trio. Their first Chess recording was released in 1956. Lewis’ love for music expanded between playing European classical music, America’s Classical music, jazz and gospel.

As word got out about the trio, they were offered bookings at New York’s Birdland, The Village Vanguard and the Randall’s Island Jazz Festival. After three months in New York, Lewis returned home to sold out shows all over Chicagoland, and offers poured in from all around the country. Over the next few years, they wore out three Plymouth station wagons touring as a top attraction, often playing four sets a night, six nights a week in nearly every state. In between their travels across America, the trio was asked in 1960 to be the house band at Chicago’s London House, "the top-cream job in Chicago, playing opposite groups like George Shearing, Oscar Peterson and the Modern Jazz Quartet."

By the mid-60’s, Lewis was one of the most successful popular jazz pianists in the country, hitting the pop singles charts four times in 1965 and 1966 with "The In Crowd" (which reached #5), covers of rock classics "Hang on Sloopy" and "A Hard Day’s Night," and "Wade in the Water." Three of these singles, as well as the albums Sound of Christmas (1966) and the later Sun Goddess (1975), went gold and Lewis won performance Grammys for "The In Crowd." "Hold It Right There" and "Hang on Sloopy."

At the height of their fame, the original trio broke up, with Young and Holt giving way to Cleveland Eaton and Maurice White, who would later achieve superstardom of his own as leader of Earth, Wind & Fire (and produce the Lewis-led Urban Knights I and II projects for GRP). Eaton went on to become the permanent bassist with the Count Basie Band. The new trio continued with great success throughout the ‘60s.

In the ‘70s, Lewis forsaked his synthesizers to spend full time with his first love, the Steinway Grand piano, and led a septet with "smart young musicians with independent imaginations bound by the shared pleasure of transmutation." The septet achieved great popularity (helped by doing two tours with EWF as a result of the hit record Sun Goddess), but Lewis began feeling more like a bandleader than a pianist. In the early 80s, he went back to the trio format, reuniting for a time with Young and Holt. Since then, he’s changed his surrounding sidemen numerous times, from quartet to quintet, to duets with pianist Billy Taylor and solo recitals. Nowadays, his group consists of: Henry Johnson, guitar; Mike Logan, keyboards; Chuck Webb, bass; and Oscar Seaton, drums.

Lewis has earned numerous accolades during his career, including three Grammy awards and five gold albums. He has been presented with honorary doctorate degrees from DePaul University and University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as a lifetime Achievement Award from Roosevelt University.

In addition to recording and playing live dates, currently Lewis divides his time between hosting "Legends of Jazz." a syndicated radio program heard in about 50 cities across the United States; doing the morning drive for WNUA Chicago; hosting weekly jazz programs for BET on Jazz, the 24-hour cable channel, for which he was nominated for an ACE award two years in a row; and acting as artistic director of the Jazz in June Festival at Ravinia Park. Lewis also founded and works at Ivory Pyramid Entertainment, a diverse company encompassing a recording studio and a production company that seeks out new artists and helps to develop their careers.

Lewis also finds time to gives to his community by working with several Chicago-area organizations including Merit, CYCLE, Gateway Foundation--Richard B. Ogilvie Society, Ravinia Mentor Program, and Cares for Kids Foundation.

Despite the numerous phases and accomplishments in a career spanning over four decades. Lewis basic approach to his instrument is still as simple as it was in the beginning. "Experience has taught me music is built of transitory things, and this knowledge is reflected in my playing. It has taken on more depth and I express emotion more directly. I don’t think when I play, I simply feel. A beautiful melodic line will come... as if I am a conduit. I play a mood and it is yours. I want to bring that secret to an audience who will recognize it in the deeper secrets of their own hearts."

Now available for your next corporate event - the magic of The Ramsey Lewis Trio! Contact us to arrange an appearance at your next special event with the legendary Ramsey Lewis!