Three-time Grammy®-winning jazz legend Ramsey Lewis, who first rose to prominence in the mid-1960’s, released his 80th collection, Ramsey, Taking Another Look on September 20, 2011.  On the stirring 10-song CD, Lewis and his Electric Band breathe new life into many of Lewis’ favorite tunes, including a new rendition of the Stevie Wonder-penned “Living for the City” and a new edit of the original “Sun Goddess” recording featuring Earth, Wind & Fire.

 

“Living for the City” is accompanied by a music video created at Chicago’s Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, with Film & Broadcast and Recording Arts students taking the lead on production.  Featuring an energetic performance by Ramsey Lewis and his Electric Band, the clip celebrates the visual vibrancy of Chicago at night time.

 

A noted advocate for Steinway pianos, Ramsey, Taking Another Look represents Lewis’ first return to playing the Fender Rhodes piano in fifteen years.

 

Ramsey Lewis on Ramsey, Taking Another Look:

 

"When the idea of the electric band came up I had been playing mostly in an acoustic trio format for twelve-fifteen years. So I decided to get together with some hand-picked musicians to see how it felt. The rehearsals went so well that I called my engineer, Danny Leake and my producer/son, Frayne Lewis, to come in and roll tape. Of all the albums, this album takes its place among the top five."

 

“Not unlike most European Classical music and the Great American Songbook, there are Jazz compositions that deserve reconsideration or repeated interpretation – probably even more so today in Jazz because our interpretations are ‘of the moment,’ therefore we now undoubtedly see things differently than in years past. So in putting together the electric band, I went back and listened to some of the things we had performed during the Sun Goddess period and was interested to see what these new young musicians currently in my band would do with them. I was not at all surprised to hear some innovative ideas on these pieces. I thought it important to include them on the album.”

 

“Taking Another Look and the Sun Goddess Tour happened almost suddenly. The idea of including electric instruments in performances and on the album started with the suggestion of Rio Natsume in Japan at the Blue Note Tokyo when we were there in October 2010. Almost immediately after I returned home, there was a suggestion from Jack Randall at the Ted Kurland Agency for the same thing. Then after the holidays, I decided to have a jam session/rehearsal with the guys and try it out. The whole thing happened within a span of about 90 days. By no means have I abandoned my love for the nine-foot Steinway Grand – we just now include electric instruments as well.”

 

The album, like Lewis’ remarkable live performances, continues to generate rave reviews.

 

Here’s what the critics are saying:

 

"...Ramsey Lewis’ new album is worth a listen. Ramsey, Taking Another Look (★★★1/2), the smooth Chicago jazzman’s 80th album (!), is billed to Ramsey Lewis & His Electric Band…(the) recording accomplishes more than merely rehashing Lewis’ mildly funky moment, adding new tracks ('To Know Her Is to Love Her' swings ever so lightly with real finesse) to lively revisitations..."

— Chicago Sun-Times

 

“(An) excellent collection...re-imagined…as fresh as the day they were first recorded…the spellbinding ‘Love Song’ provides a timely reminder of the huge musical legacy that the great Ramsey Lewis has given to contemporary jazz.”

— Smooth Jazz Therapy

 

A breath of fresh air…(the album) made me fall in love with the man’s music all over again…outstanding jazz from a master of the form."

— The Dirty Lowdown Blogspot

 

“During an era when the Beatles, Motown, and rock-and-roll dominated the charts, jazz legend Ramsey Lewis earned widespread notoriety by releasing ‘The In Crowd,’ ‘Hang On Sloopy,’ and ‘Wade in the Water,’ singles that each sold more than a million copies—a most unlikely scenario in the 1960s for an acoustic trio. The recordings established the funky, soulful jazz sound that would become a Lewis trademark…(1974’s Sun Goddess) is the focus of his current tour, which has been so successful that Lewis took the band into the studio to record Ramsey, Taking Another Look.” — The Washingtonian

 

“Infectious, telling, and powerful…a spectacular album…there are legends and icons (Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, Coltrane and others).  Do you think we can count among the very top of that list someone who has withstood the test of time?” — The Smooth Jazz Ride

 

“There's a friendly interactive verve between Ramsey and his new band, which includes keyboardist Mike Logan, guitarist Henry Johnson, drummer Charles Heath and percussionist Joshua Ramos. That's best heard on the album's quietly effective version of the Stylistics' ‘Betcha By Golly Wow,’ and the lightly funky ‘Intimacy.’”

— All About Jazz

 

“After headlining so many albums, it’s truly saying something when Lewis states that 'this album is definitely among the top five.'"

- Contemporary Jazz

 

“Ramsey has truly showed his expertise style with Ramsey, Taking Another Look.”

— Smooth Jazz Magazine

 

 

Almost 150 years after his untimely death, Abraham Lincoln is considered by many to be America’s greatest President, as much for his leadership during a time of crisis as for his eloquence and humanity. Among those artists who were inspired to pay tribute to Lincoln during his bicentennial year was Grammy-winning jazz legend, pianist and composer Ramsey Lewis. In the summer of 2009, Lewis premiered a new, large-scale, mixed-media symphonic poem at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois, which had commissioned the work as part of its celebration of the Lincoln bicentennial. Now, public television audiences will have the opportunity to experience Lewis’ vision, as his profoundly moving work Proclamation of Hope comes to PBS beginning in April 2011 (check your local listings).

 

Proclamation of Hope, taped this past November before an enthusiastic audience at the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., was composed by Lewis and conducted and arranged by Scott Hall for a 22-piece orchestra – wind ensemble, rhythm section and voice. The work is organized in eight movements that draw upon jazz, gospel and blues. Each movement was inspired by an actual historical event from or impacted by Lincoln’s life and vision for America, and considers Lincoln’s profound and lasting influence on the United States’ quest to become “a more perfect Union.” The music is performed against visual designer Michael Coakes’ sweeping

mixed-media tableau of historic images and photos.  University of Pennsylvania music professor Guthrie P. Ramsey, author of Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop, worked with Lewis to provide accompanying written notes.

 

For further information and air dates visit PBS online here.