Jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis dies at 87

MADRID, September 13 (European Press) –

American pianist and composer Ramsey Lewis died Monday at his home in Chicago at the age of 87, his family announced in a statement.

The three-time Grammy Award winner and NEA jazz professor passed away “peacefully” at his home.

Ramsay E. Lewis Jr. was born in Chicago on May 27, 1935. He grew up on a public housing project in Chicago and began taking piano lessons at the age of four, when he began playing the instrument at a church where his father was a choir director.

When Ramsey was a sophomore in high school, saxophonist Wallace Burton, a friend from the church seduced by Ramsay’s jazz adventures, asked him to join his band, The Clefs, a college room that mixed jazz and R&B.

After the outbreak of the Korean War, many members of the Clefs, including Burton, were introduced to compulsory military service. The three uncharacterized members—Lewis, guitarist Eldi Young, and drummer Red Holt—formed what became known as the classic Lewis symbolic trio.

In 1956, they released their first album, “Ramsay Lewis and the Gentleman of Jazz”. Three years later, Lewis was invited to sing with the trio at Birdland in New York. Their three-week run saw them perform at the Newport Jazz Festival and Village Vanguard, and they recorded with Max Roach, Clark Terry and Sonny State.

Lewis broke his solo path in a big way in 1965 with his first bestselling book, The In Crowd. This funky, elegant Grammy-winning song (written by Dobie Gray) was followed by two other chart-topping songs, “Hang on Sloopy” and “Wade in the Water.”

Over the years, Lewis has played and recorded in an impressive variety of musical settings. Throughout the 1970s, he embraced R&B and Latin music without giving up mainstream jazz. In 1983, on the album “Reunion”, he remade his most famous trio.

Among his many awards are five honorary doctorates and an NAACP Image Award for Best Jazz Artist. The single The In Crowd was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and his personal memorabilia are at the Smithsonian Institution. In 2007, Lewis was awarded the “National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award”, placing him in the sacred company of piano legends such as Ahmed Jamal, Cheek Correa, McCoy Tyner, Dr. Billy Taylor and Cecil Taylor.