Ramsey Lewis has died at the age of 87

US piano icon Ramsey Lewis has died at home in Chicago US media report citing the musician's son Bobby who said that his father was ''at peace''. The multiple Grammy winner best known for his accessible piano trio and above all ultimate clapalong …

Published: 13 Sep 2022. Updated: 19 months.

US piano icon Ramsey Lewis has died at home in Chicago US media report citing the musician's son Bobby who said that his father was ''at peace''. The multiple Grammy winner best known for his accessible piano trio and above all ultimate clapalong The In Crowd was 87. He began the trio with the record Ramsey Lewis and the Gentle-Men of Swing in 1956. Named a NEA Jazz Master (the highest jazz honour in the US) in 2007 Lewis was steeped in gospel and classical music. Lewis’ The In Crowd was a pop hit both as a single and as an album in 1965 for Ramsey with bassist Eldee Young (1936-2007) and drummer Redd Holt (born 1932) and began a trend towards soul-jazz using pop songs in jazz settings. Compared sometimes to Ahmad Jamal, Ramsey recorded the classic album at Washington DC venue the Bohemian Caverns and encouraged by a waitress who played it on a cafe's jukebox decided to cover Dobie Gray’s 'The In Crowd' where a late set crowd took to it most and whose contribution counted in the overall effect.

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Hitherto unreleased Michael and Randy Brecker 35-year-old live recordings surface

SEPARATE BANDS IN THE SPOTLIGHT LIVE IN GERMANY - IN A BANNER YEAR FOR MICHAEL. The Jazzline Classics’ NDR Fabrik series is this autumn to release for the first time the Michael Brecker Band & Randy Brecker Band Live at Fabrik Hamburg 1987. Issuing …

Published: 13 Sep 2022. Updated: 19 months.

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SEPARATE BANDS IN THE SPOTLIGHT LIVE IN GERMANY - IN A BANNER YEAR FOR MICHAEL.

The Jazzline Classics’ NDR Fabrik series is this autumn to release for the first time the Michael Brecker Band & Randy Brecker Band Live at Fabrik Hamburg 1987. Issuing formats include vinyl and CD. Release date is 7 October.

Interest in tenor saxophone icon Michael Brecker (1949-2007) has again peaked in recent years all these years after his death with the publication of Bill Milkowski's superbly written Ode to A Tenor Titan and the excellence of tribute band Charged Particles as leading keepers of the flame.

1987 was the year Michael Brecker debuted at last as a leader after many years at the top of the New York session player firmament with his formidable self-titled album on Impulse (MCA Impulse as it was branded then) featuring Pat Metheny, Kenny Kirkland, Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette.

The saxophonist's brother trumpeter-flugel player Randy, 76, is still in high demand as a featured artist for example on Chris Standring's pristine Wonderful World last year.

This Fabrik Hamburg recording dates to 18 October 1987. Michael's band has guitarist Mike Stern, pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Jeff Andrews and drummer Adam Nussbaum. Randy's has tenorist Bob Berg, pianist David Kikoski, bassist Dieter Ilg and drummer Joey Baron.

Listen to the highly laconic tightly arranged head that sets up 'No Scratch,' top, from Randy's band ahead of release which fans will also know from 1987 Denon release In the Idiom above with Joe Henderson, Al Foster and Kikoski among the line-up.