Walk with him down any Chicago street and watch people nod and smile or tell him what they were doing the first time they heard "The In Crowd," "Hang on Sloopy" or "Wade in the Water." Chicago institution Ramsey Lewis is used to such treatment; he's been receiving it for 30 years.
Through those
three decades he's given his fans much to be proud of — three Grammy awards,
several golden albums and countless memorable live performances with his own groups
and with symphony orchestras from Minneapolis to London and numerous cities in
between. Ramsey Lewis has climbed to the top of his own "Ivory Pyramid."
The trip there was not always easy. Growing up in various Chicago neighborhoods, including Cabrini Green, Lewis was attracted to the piano at an early age. In fact, when he was only four, he pitched a terrific tantrum upon learning his older sister would be receiving piano lessons and he would not.
So intense was his tantrum and so convincing were his pleas, that his family agreed to let him have lessons, too. His enthusiasm never waned. In his teen years, while studying with Dorothy Mendelsohn at Chicago Musical College, he decided to become a concert pianist; but while spending his practice time with Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and the 32 Beethoven Sonatas, he played his first dance job.
Lewis's musical experience until then was largely classical, with several nights each week dedicated to accompanying the choir at the Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church in Cabrini Green. Although he frequently listened to the recordings of Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson and Errol Garner, in his own words, "had never played one lick of jazz."
That soon changed. By the time he was 18 he, with drummer Red Holt and bassist Eldee Young, was playing Chicago clubs when jazz deejay Daddy-O Daylie arranged an audition for Chess Records.
The clouds parted and the top of the ivory pyramid was in view. The Ramsey Lewis Trio was booked into New York's legendary Birdland. Festival appearances soon followed and so did the eventual stint as house band at Chicago's London House. Recording dates continued. Both "The In Crowd" album and single achieved gold status. So did "Wade in the Water," "Hang on Sloopy," "The Sound of Christmas" and "Sun Goddess." Through his career he's made more that 60 albums. But there is more than piano playing that fills his life.
In 1993 Lewis succeeded Gerry Mulligan as artistic director of Jazz at Ravinia. In addition to programming the festival's jazz offerings, he has been instrumental in the development of Ravinia's Jazz in the Schools Mentor Program. For his efforts he was recognized by ABC's Peter Jennings, who dedicated a "Person of the Week" segment of
Wide World Tonight to the former choir accompanist from Cabrini Green.
Lewis, who still lives in the city of his musical roots, has hosted a weekly cable TV show on the
Black Entertainment Network and a weekly jazz radio show on Chicago's WNUA. He has also opened his own recording studio, aptly named Ivory Pyramid Productions.
Lewis's Ravinia Festival debut was in 1966.