Milwaukee smooth jazz fans recently
dodged a bullet. Our beloved smooth jazz station flipped
to soft rock. Egad! We’d already lost our
traditional jazz station. How is a person to live without
jazz radio? Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, another
Milwaukee station adopted the smooth jazz format and Smooth
Jazz 106.9 was born. Milwaukeeans are breathing easy
again.
By way of celebrating this accomplishment, Smooth Jazz
106.9 hosted a “listener only” party. We
were treated to an amazing performance from the station’s
Morning Show host, Mr. Ramsey Lewis.
In addition to his illustrious 50+ year musical career, Mr.
Lewis has enjoyed a long career in radio. Since 1990 he hosts
a weekly traditional jazz show, now known as “Legends
Of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis” which is heard around the
world. He co-hosts mornings on WNUA in Chicago since the fall
of 1997 with Karen Williams, a longtime Chicago radio personality
originally from Little Rock, Arkansas. After nearly a decade
together, Mr. Lewis and Ms. Williams have developed an easy
rapport which showcases their shared passion for music. Informative
and engaging, they inspire us to get out of bed and be motivated
to make it a great day. The morning show is now syndicated
to over 25 cities, including Milwaukee.
The evening of January 14th, 2008 arrived. We ventured
out into the cold and snow to see the Ramsey Lewis Trio perform
at the Northern Lights Theatre in the Potawatomi Casino complex. It
is a gracious, intimate venue, with comfortable Las Vegas style
booth seating. The jovial audience came ready to enjoy and
this musically brilliant and elegant performance did not disappoint.
Let me put it this way, the Ramsey Lewis Trio was on fire! With
Mr. Lewis stroking the keys of a lustrous Steinway grand piano,
Larry Gray plucked an upright bass as Leon Joyce Jr. manned
the drums. Several times throughout the evening, it sounded
as if 10 or more musicians were on stage. What a lush,
bountiful, and joyous noise it was!
The show opened with “House To Have.” An
atmospheric introduction bloomed into full swinging jazz. An
energetic plucked bass solo was followed by a spirited romp
between drummer and pianist. At the conclusion of the piece,
Mr. Lewis explained that piece was played to warm up their
fingers because they had just driven hours from Chicago in
a snow storm to reach us.
Gifted composer/arranger/producer/vibes musician Charles Stepney
wrote the next song, “Close Your Eyes And Remember,” which
Mr. Lewis has recorded a few times. This live rendition
was simply beautiful. First, Gray’s solo bass carried
the melody. Then Mr. Lewis built his piano part into
a moving crescendo. The trio was really cookin’ which
garnered appreciative rounds of applause. Bringing it
to an end, Mr. Lewis gently ran his fingers up the entire keyboard
until there were no more notes, but kept his finger tips walking
across the black wood and over the piano’s end, which
brought on a joyous burst of applause.
During “Sun Goddess,” the trio sounded like a
full blown EWF-type band with Joyce’s driving drums and
Mr. Lewis’ stride piano. The trio brought down
the house with this familiar Lewis classic.
Mr. Lewis has written a ballet, which is being performed by
the Joffrey Ballet on tour in 2008. From this new body of work,
he played “The Way She Smiles.” It is a lovely
composition and does sound like people should be dancing
to it. Gray played a heartfelt solo and Joyce was let loose
on drums. Mr. Lewis stepped out on piano with some of
his most gorgeous playing of the evening. With tight melodic
lines entwined with elements of New Orleans rhythms and Latin
beats, creating undulating moods and textures. Anyone
in the audience could see the fun these consummate artists
have playing together – lots of eye contact, dynamic
body language, warm smiles, and infectious laughter.
To close the set, we had the opportunity of “going to
church” with Mr. Lewis’ trio. A diverse medley
of Christian hymns and gospel tunes opened with a soulful “Amazing
Grace” piano improvisation, morphing into some bluesy
gospel and tight trio interplay. It was a delight to behold
as the audience tried to keep up with each new melody woven
into the elegant tapestry. Gray’s solo was so impeccably
delivered, tenderly woeful ending with a reverent bowed bass
improv that finally carried the melody “Sometimes I feel
like a motherless child.” For Joyce’s solo, this
prodigiously talented drummer closed his eyes and crossed arms
over arms again and again, gloriously sounding skins and metal. So
wanting to be a part of the musical experience on stage, the
audience enthusiastically clapped along in time. “Let
it shine! Let it shine! Let it shine!” As “Wade
In The Water” came into the mix, Mr. Lewis brought it
triumphantly home with a grand flourish. The crowd leapt to
their feet in a long and appreciative standing ovation. The
skillful interweaving of gospel, blues, classical, and jazz
made this the best music imaginable.
Thunderous applause drew the trio back on stage where they
played an upbeat version of “The In Crowd.” The
evening’s final encore was “Oh Happy Day,” syncopated,
exultant, clear, and hearty. Bringing it down, Mr. Lewis closed
with a delicate jazz improv. After booming applause,
Mr. Lewis ended our evening together by saying with a big smile, “I
think we’ve got to come to Milwaukee more often.” That
would suit us just fine, Mr. Lewis.
Thanks to Smooth Jazz 106.9, its sponsors, Mr. Gray, Mr. Joyce,
and especially to Mr. Lewis for a first class evening of premium
entertainment. It doesn’t get much better than
this.
For more information on Mr. Lewis, please read our interview
with him by clicking
here.
Photography by John McCally.
This concert review is dedicated to the memory of George Washington,
loyal and capable, kind and true, who served as Mr. Lewis’ personal
assistant and Vice President of Operations.
He passed away December 29, 2007. You will be deeply missed,
George.
- Anne Aufderheide
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