“Ramsey Lewis is a man who has touched all of our lives. Not everybody finds their calling in life as a four-year-old boy sitting at a piano in the living room, but ever since he did he’s filled our lives with music and with joy.” President Barack Obama
Description
This immersive new autobiography provides insight into the early life and illustrious career of the late great Ramsey Lewis, one of the most popular jazz pianists of all time.
Beginning with his childhood growing up in Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood, Ramsey Lewis recounts his memories of the music in his parents’ church and his early piano lessons. As he learned classical technique, Lewis also absorbed countless jazz records and heard gospel music weekly, finally becoming a performer himself in his teenage years. With his coauthor and collaborator, Aaron Cohen, Lewis describes his early steps in jazz from joining the Clefs in the ’50s, to eventually establishing the Ramsey Lewis Trio.
This memoir provides an evocative tour of Lewis’s life from the club circuit of the early 1960s and recording with Chess Records to working with producer Maurice White and musicians such as Stevie Wonder. In this deep dive into an exceptional life and expansive career, Lewis takes us through his artistic challenges, offers insight and perspective on his own musical growth and the creative process, and describes his eventual foray into symphonic composition and performance.
Gentleman of Jazz: A Life in Music is an inspiration to young musicians eager to follow in his footsteps and a tribute to the legacy of Ramsey Lewis and is sure to appeal to longtime fans as well as those new to the jazz scene.
Praise
“Ramsey Lewis is a man who has touched all of our lives. Not everybody finds their calling in life as a four-year-old boy sitting at a piano in the living room, but ever since he did he’s filled our lives with music and with joy.” President Barack Obama
“This book is a treasure chest of jazz history, and one gets a chance to be a painting on the walls of sorts to some of the most iconic moments in the life and times of the great Ramsey Lewis. Ramsey is true music royalty. A great mentor, family, and friend. His legacy reigns on. Fantastic read.” Philip Bailey, Grammy-winning lead singer of Earth, Wind & Fire
“I discovered Ramsey Lewis’s artistry and his wonderful storytelling ability on the piano when I was fourteen years old. When I met him at the Hampton House in 1962 I also discovered what a most gracious and generous gentleman he was. These qualities emboldened my desire to play music and tell my story with the piano. I am so happy that he now told us his story in words in this fascinating account.” Monty Alexander, Grammy-nominated, award-winning jazz pianist
“Ramsey Lewis was pure class. A role model indeed. He mentored a generation or more of musicians that went on to lead, discover, and create their own brand of music. He had such a distinct sound. As soon as he put his hands on the keys, you felt at ease. The trio recordings are groundbreaking. No one had ever mastered covering current pop songs in an instrumental soul jazz setting and top the charts. They would burst out of the radio and you felt as if you were there in the club, having fun, grooving, a witness to something glorious…Ramsey and Chicago are synonymous.” Steve Jordan, the Rolling Stones
“As a fellow Chicagoan and jazz artist, I am grateful for Gentleman of Jazz because it beautifully brings his life back to us—his family, memories, influences, artistic evolution, rich collaborations, innovative bridge building of jazz, gospel and R & B, as well as his love and passions that inspired a momentous life well lived.” Ann Hampton Callaway, Tony nominee, Broadway star, and jazz great
Details
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Release Day | May 8, 2023 |
| Release Date | May 9, 2023 |
| Release Date Machine | 1683590400 |
| Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
| Provider | Blackstone Publishing |
| Categories | Arts & Entertainment, Biographies & Memoirs, Cultural & Regional, Art & Literature, Music, Entertainment & Celebrities |
Author Bio
Ramsey Lewis (1935–2022) was one of the most popular jazz pianists of all time, with more than eighty albums to his name. A National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, Top 10 hitmaker, and winner of three Grammys, Lewis also hosted popular television and radio shows that honored the history of jazz music. He was not only influential for many modern jazz artists but beats he created decades ago can be heard across R&B and hip-hop. Through it all, Lewis remained grounded, never leaving behind his roots in Chicago.
Aaron Cohen teaches humanities at City Colleges of Chicago and writes for numerous publications, including the Chicago Tribune, DownBeat, and Chicago Reader. He is the author of Move on Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power and Amazing Grace. Cohen has been a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar and is a two-time recipient of the Deems Taylor Award for outstanding music writing from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
Narrator Bio
Dion Graham is an award-winning narrator named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine. He has been a recipient of the prestigious Audie Award numerous times, as well as Earphones Awards, the Publishers Weekly Listen Up Awards, IBPA Ben Franklin Awards, and the ALA Odyssey Award. He was nominated in 2015 for a Voice Arts Award for Outstanding Narration. He is also a critically acclaimed actor who has performed on Broadway, off Broadway, internationally, in films, and in several hit television series. He is a graduate of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, with an MFA degree in acting.
Overview
This immersive new autobiography provides insight into the early life and illustrious career of the late great Ramsey Lewis, one of the most popular jazz pianists of all time.
Beginning with his childhood growing up in Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood, Ramsey Lewis recounts his memories of the music in his parents’ church and his early piano lessons. As he learned classical technique, Lewis also absorbed countless jazz records and heard gospel music weekly, finally becoming a performer himself in his teenage years. With his coauthor and collaborator, Aaron Cohen, Lewis describes his early steps in jazz from joining the Clefs in the ’50s, to eventually establishing the Ramsey Lewis Trio.
This memoir provides an evocative tour of Lewis’s life from the club circuit of the early 1960s and recording with Chess Records to working with producer Maurice White and musicians such as Stevie Wonder. In this deep dive into an exceptional life and expansive career, Lewis takes us through his artistic challenges, offers insight and perspective on his own musical growth and the creative process, and describes his eventual foray into symphonic composition and performance.
Gentleman of Jazz: A Life in Music is an inspiration to young musicians eager to follow in his footsteps and a tribute to the legacy of Ramsey Lewis and is sure to appeal to longtime fans as well as those new to the jazz scene.