This drummer co-wrote and produced two of the tracks for his former boss, and had most of his band play on those tracks. It got a big assist by the contributions of his former drummer from the late sixties. It was mainly pop-oriented jazz as usual, but some of the tunes weren’t quite as lightweight as what he was generally known for. In that year, Lewis recorded an album for Columbia records that was one of his best sellers of all time. By 1974, he had largely dispensed of his acoustic piano in favor of electronic keyboards and synthesizers (although that was only temporary). With crossover hits like “The In Crowd” and “Hang On Sloopy,” both from 1965, Ramsey undoubtedly reached a larger audience, though.Īs r&b and popular music in general changed dramatically as the sixties turned into the seventies, so did Lewis. Unlike those other cats, though, Lewis was never accused of challenging the existing conventions of jazz. Like Ahmad Jamal, Cecil Taylor and Paul Bley, Ramsey Lewis is a jazz pianist who first emerged in the 1950s and is still with us today. He was seventy-four years old.īefore Earth, Wind & Fire, White’s career got going in 1966 when eminent crossover jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis hired him to be the drummer in his band shortly after Lewis scored a blockbuster hit with “The In Crowd.” Eight years later, White returned the favor to Lewis by lending his talents to an album that put Lewis back in the public spotlight.īelow are my original thoughts from 2008 about a funk-jazz classic that has become as idientified with Lewis (and with EWF) nearly as much as “The In Crowd.” It’s a testament to the RnB genius of White that was manifest even before his own band’s breakthrough album That’s The Way of The World. Sun Goddess is also something of a stealth Earth, Wind & Fire album, as it features most of the key players from that band, and bears echoes of EW&F's jazzier, more atmospheric side.Earth, Wind and Fire founder and frontman Maurice White died the morning of Februafter a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. Sun Goddess (1974), Lewis' biggest success of the decade, is miles away from the finger-snapping supper club sounds of 'The In Crowd.' By this time, Lewis had transformed himself into a jazz fusion funkateer, riffing on electric piano and synthesizer amid arrangements that meld jazz with funk, R&B, and yes, even touches of progressive rock. Pianist Ramsey Lewis first came to fame as the purveyor of swinging soul-jazz in the mid-'60s, but like a lot of musicians he underwent some major changes by the end of that decade. Your browser does not support the audio element.

Ramsey lewis sun goddess