Concert Calendar

Ramsey Lewis

Trio | Live in Concert

April 3, 2009

Laurie Auditorium 8 pm

tickets on sale at Ticketmaster.com

or by calling 210-224-9600

or at the Laurie Auditorium Box Office

Ramsey Lewis is a Grammy Award winning American jazz icon, composer and pianist. He is known for his exciting performance style and diverse career spanning straight ahead jazz, soul jazz, and crossover music.

Lewis’ first album, Ramsey Lewis And The Gentlemen of Swing, was released in 1956 with trio members Isaac “Redd” Holt and Eldee Young. In 1965 they released their smash hit “The In Crowd,” and the single reached #5 on the pop charts, one of the few times mainstream jazz has broken through into the mainstream music scene. Many of Ramsey Lewis’ recordings attracted a large non-jazz audience, including “The In Crowd,” “Hang on Sloopy,” and “Wade in the Water,” and remain popular today.

In 1990 Lewis began hosting a weekly syndicated radio program "Legends of Jazz," a show that features recordings from artists such as David Sanborn, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. The show can be heard in 60 U.S. cities and overseas. In 2006, Lewis hosted a 13-episode Legends of Jazz television series on public TV featuring live performances by a variety of jazz artists including Dave Brubek, Chick Corea Kurt Elling, Benny Golson, Pat Metheny and Tony Bennet.

To date, Lewis has recorded over 80 albums, received five gold records, and earned three Grammy Awards. Ramsey Lewis was the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award in January 2007.