President Barack Obama
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.”
Mark Ruffin
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.”
Booklist
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.”
Philip Bailey
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.”
the Rolling Stones Steve Jordan
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.”
AudioFile
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.”
Ann Hampton Callaway
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.”
Rick Bleiweiss
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.”
Monty Alexander
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.”
Barry Avrich
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.”
Mark Selby
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.”
Library Journal
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
June 2023 - AudioFile
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
