Customer Reviews

Time Flies

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

 

 

. . . but dragged down by a few gratuitous moves. The big question for me is why couldn't've Ramsey Lewis resisted the urge to bring in some crowd-pleasing elements and just stuck with the glorious piano trio sound he conjures for most of this disc? After all, fellow fusionista Bob James stayed the course on his latest, as did Harvey Mason, and the results were pretty great. Alas, Mr. Lewis just couldn't seem to untether himself from the safety net of sweetening.

It must be admitted that sometimes the inclusion of additional musicians lifts the proceedings onto a higher plane, esp. when they are subtly deployed as on "Wade in the Water," featuring some very tasty guitar (by Buddy Fambro) and B3 organ (courtesy of Kevin Randolph) as well as the soulful vocals of Ronald McCowan. But on the two gospelized numbers, "Open My Heart" and "Hosannah," the aural signature ventures so far from the established vibe as to be distracting, the main offenders being The Chicago Gospel Voices, who, in other circumstances, I'm sure, are perfectly wonderful. It doesn't help that Lewis himself succumbs to the cheese by engaging in some rather gratuitous pianistic grandstanding on these numbers.

Still and all, there are so many great moments on this disc that I'm of a mind to forgive Ramsey Lewis his excesses, and not even subtract a half star.

Really, there's no reason to grouse. The moments of sheerly glorious beauty (esp. the two classical numbers) far outshine the deficiencies.

With quite a wide variety of material, mostly thoughtfully--even ingeniously rendered--everything from Bach to Brahms to spirituals to pop to folk--this disc is easily recommended.

In the interest of full disclosure let me begin by stating that I have absolutely no qualifications to review a jazz album. I do not seem to have an ear for jazz, I don't understand it and for the most part I don't enjoy it. I hate improvisation. Having said all that I found that I really did enjoy the music of Ramsey Lewis during his heydey in the 1960's. I bought many of his great Chess singles and still play his Greatest Hits collection from time to time. So when I noticed that he had released a brand new CD in June 2004 I thought it might be fun to give it a listen.
There are 11 tracks on this CD offering a wide variety of musical styles. Two classical pieces are included here as well as several of Ramsey's own compositions. While I enjoyed the classical pieces they were not my favorite tracks by a long shot. It is not surprising that the two Lewis compositions I enjoyed most were "Open My Heart" and "Hosanna". These tracks have a definite R&B/gospel influence and were backed by stunning vocals from the Chicago Gospel Voices. An A+ on both of these tracks! What really prompted me to purchase this disc however, was the chance to hear brand new arrangements of two of the Ramsey Lewis Trio's biggest hits. While I enjoyed "Wade In The Water" I think I prefer the original version. However, I did find the new version of "The In Crowd" to be superb. Obviously it is different but it is every bit as good as the original. Overall I would say that this disc was not quite what I expected. It is quite a bit more mellow than I thought it would be. I anticipated more uptempo stuff. Nevertheless I enjoyed hearing the music of Ramsey Lewis once again nearly forty years after he came onto the scene.

Ramsey Lewis' Time Flies simply shows that Ramsey is still at the top of his game. The fresh version of The In Crowd is scintillating and the rendition of Hosanna is R& B gospel at its best. The eclectic mixture of classical( Poco Allegretto from Brahms third symphony ), jazz, a dash of rock and a little blues all work for one of the best collections that I have heard in years. There isn't a second rate piece on the CD; and, nothing in this collection would ever be considered a "filler". This CD jams.

i have 4 ramsey lewis' album and this is by far the best one i've heard... in this album ramsey uses the cello in some of the most emotionally involving tracks particularly Second Thoughts and Air From Suite #3... i first got wind of this album from a friend who loaded it in my ipod...after listening to the whole album a couple of times, i immediately bought the CD... i enjoy the music much more now because it's in WAV format instead of MP3, and i'm playing it on my hi-fi audio system!

Wouldn't you know it, only Ramsey Lewis can give his love to everyone at once.

The sound on this CD is beautiful, and the performances are excellent, with something for everybody. The additional musicians enhance the sound without overpowering the music. However, every recording has its bad moments, and I would have given this recording five stars save for the annoyingly pretentious acapella solo vocal kickoff to "Wade in the Water". This few seconds is justification enough to knock off a star or two. The classical numbers are tastefully done, and the new version of "In Crowd" moves along nicely. Worth buying, but program your player to skip "Wade in the Water."

First of all, the title is Time Flies no Files.
Secondly, I had ordered several new and used from you and had sent them to alot of our friends. Unfortunately, One of those cd/s was blank!
I was so embarrassed. What can be done about this?