Gentleman of Jazz: A Life in Music

by Ramsey Lewis, Aaron Cohen

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798200951727
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	05/09/2023
Sales rank:	207,419
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

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).

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2023

During the last two years of his life, jazz/gospel/classical pianist Lewis (1935–2022) collaborated with Aaron Cohen (Move On Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power) on this brief autobiography. Although told by Lewis, he wanted other voices to help tell his story, so periodically others break into the narrative to give their (sometimes differing) perspectives. Lewis begins with his childhood in Chicago, where he exhibited an early interest in the piano, taking classical lessons and playing gospel music for a church. Influenced by the classical-jazz hybrid of the smartly dressed Modern Jazz Quartet, Lewis chronicles his signing to Chess Records, which, in 1956, released his debut Ramsey Lewis and his Gentle-Men of Swing. That was followed by more than 30 recordings until 1972, when Ramsey moved to Columbia Records. The pianist explains the crossover popularity of his 1965 hit "The ‘In' Crowd," which sold more than a million copies, and his popular foray into funk in 1974 with Sun Goddess. The book closes with his experiments in classical music and ballet and his work as a host of radio and television programs. VERDICT Lewis provides a straightforward, candid, and lively account of his more than 60-year-long musical journey that will appeal to general readers and jazz fans.—Dr. Dave Szatmary

Library Journal

Dion Graham's brisk pacing works well to invite listeners into the energetic life and career of jazz icon Ramsey Lewis. Delivering Aaron Cohen's foreword, Graham's tone is reverential, and he also brings Lewis's own first-person chapters to life. Graham's deftly modulated performance celebrates the musician's remarkable story and long career without fawning or overselling. After taking classical piano lessons as a youngster in 1930s Chicago, Lewis became well known in jazz but also worked in other genres, including classical. In 1965 he won a Grammy for Best Jazz Performance. The beloved music legend and family man died in 2022. This audiobook defines an important American musician who made major contributions to twentieth-century jazz. T.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

June 2023 - AudioFile

As his first radio producer Ramsey Lewis became more of a father figure to me than someone I worked with. As if he didn’t have enough sons he adopted me and taught me discipline in love, family, spirituality, humility, positivity and artistic integrity. When I heard that Aaron Cohen was chosen to help with his autobiography, I called Ram and told him if he would’ve asked me who should do it, I would’ve said Aaron. It’s not only Ram’s music history that comes through in these pages but all those essentials of life that he taught me and lived in his own life. Kudos to Mr. Cohen.”

Mark Ruffin

Poignant…Lewis’s artistry is on full display (documented in an annotated discography) even as Cohen laments that Lewis has been overlooked in jazz history texts. Gentleman of Jazz, he notes, ‘is intended to help correct the blanks in that historical record.’ It does so with grace and, yes, a gentlemanly dignity.”

Booklist

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

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.”

the Rolling Stones Steve Jordan

Dion Graham’s brisk pacing works well to invite listeners into the energetic life and career of jazz icon Ramsey Lewis…This audiobook defines an important American musician who made major contributions to twentieth-century jazz.”

AudioFile

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

Don’t miss this superb memoir filled with fascinating encounters with the likes of Barack Obama, Aretha Franklin, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and scores of other well-known personalities and top music superstars. This captivating book captures Ramsey’s life as a hitmaker, virtuoso jazz pianist, radio and television personality, humanitarian, and so much more.”

Rick Bleiweiss

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

If there was a Mt. Rushmore of Jazz, Ramsey would easily be immortalized in stone. His storytelling, like his music, is elegant, profound and blissful.”

Barry Avrich

The accolades and the audiences agree: Ramsey Lewis was a jazz legend. How lucky we are to have his incredible six-decade career on record and, thanks to this book, recounted through these anecdotes, where his generosity as a musician and a human being shines through.”

Mark Selby