Customer Reviews

Funky Serenity

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ramsey Lewis had'nt quite shaken off the influences of
the sould-jazz he helped popularize in the 60's so this album
has (by 1973) a very retro feel.Only the grooving opening song
and "Serene Funk" look to a new future.Elsewhere he retreads old
territory with covers of "Betcha By Golly Wow" and so forth.So
I think fans of his Ramsey Lewis Trio period will probably find this album alot more enjoyable as an introduction to his later
electric music,even if it isn't always very jazzy.But fans of
Ramsey's funk are better off seeking out albums like "Tequilla
Mockingbird" or getting a vinyl copy of the essencial 1975 LP
'Don't It Feel Good'.

It's been awhile since I've listened to this. What makes it worth it for me is his treatment of Nights in White Satin.

This is classic Ramsey Lewis, at his best blending his love for jazz and popular music. The selection of tunes illustrates Ramsey's grasp of music of all genres. In addition to already-known hits, check out "Serene Funk" and "Dreams."

What a hero-at the height of free jazz, race riots and black power, Ramsey Lewis cuts The In Crowd, the quitessential jazz-pop single, lands on the radio, and grabs interational fame . What a contrarian, audatious move.

By the time this came out in 1973, jazz pop was a little more in vouge-can you say H-E-A-D---H-U-N-T-E-R-S- but this is just Lewis keeping on with what he did best. The sound is updated, with eletric panios and more rock percussion, but this brand of music never gets old and is always a great place to return to when Mr. Ra, Mr Taylor or Master Coltrane has taken you to the farest reaches you can withstand.

Nothing new here. And that is why we love it.

I bought this album in '73 (21 years old) and loved it rightaway. It sounded great at the time, so well produced. I had never heard an accoustic bass so clearly on a record. Great playing by Cleveland Eaton and the others.