The first time I remember hearing Ramsey Lewis's name was when he released his classic collaboration with Earth, Wind & Fire "Sun Goddess" in early 1975. It was early on a sunny Saturday afternoon while I read the funny papers on the sculptured avacado carpet in front of the Lloyds FM stereo speakers when I heard this glorious sounding guitar riff play and then the voice of Maurice White saying "Hey wanna solo" sounding like he was right there next to me. Jazz Funk had been breaking since 1974, about the same time disco started pumping and I grew up right along side of it. Ramsey is his real name and he was born May 27, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois. At the age of four he took up the piano, and keyboards became his forte. In 1956, he released his first album but did not attain public notice until he charted with "The In Crowd" which peaked at #5 in 1965. Picking up the electric piano, he put out 1974's "Sun Goddess" that turned out to be a career defining record for Earth, Wind & Fire. His fifth album in three years, 1977's "Love Notes" had him back on a grand piano and provided him with another jazz funk classic, "Spring High" a song written by Stevie Wonder. I became fascinated with this new genre and found that WBLS in Detroit was playing what I wanted to hear, Bob James "Westchester Lady", Kool & The Gang's "Summer Madness". Looking back, Ramsey Lewis records uplifting and celebratory music, which provided me a much needed distraction from the trials of real life. These days, with all the stupid overly dramatic crap in the news it seems there is not much good out there and music like this is still distracts me today. The happy funk takes me to a party already in progress, good friends, good food, blue skies and refreshing alcoholic beverages. I have this one on repeat, it just feels good to hear Ramsey rocking those 88's, and I wonder how George Benson would have sounded scatting through this one. I found an incredible collection of Jazz Funk Classics put out by Mastercuts a series of seven CD's that accurately and exhaustively depicts the jazz funk movement in all of its jagged glory. I was looking for Sun Goddess in full, when I found Volume 3 had it, and it also had Bob James, who I knew so I picked it up. After I got home and listened to the entire CD, I found another song that I couldn't identify that ended up being Kool & The Gang's "Summer Madness". I was hooked! The hardest volume to find is Volume 6, I ended up with a Japanese import edition. This stuff is great for cruising or long distance driving which I love to do to.
