js Its hard to think of another jazz musician, outside of George Benson, who has released as many high level pop jazz recordings as Ramsey Lewis. Ramsey is probably one of the top pianists of the modern jazz era, but he has always been more of a crowd pleaser than an adventurer, but that doesn’t mean his playing is light weight at all. “Ivory Pyramid”, released in 1992, is typical of Lewis’ repertoire with masterful renditions of tunes he wrote plus a few covers.

Lewis’ career has often centered around a mix of pop, jazz and gospel and “Ivory Pyramid” continues this legacy. A lot of jazz fans who are not familiar with contemporary (post 70s) gospel music may not recognize the sound of the ensemble on here, but it is very similar to what you would find in African-American churches all across the US. The instrumental makeup of this group is Lewis’ grand piano, plus an electric multi-keyboardist, bassist, guitarist, drummer and an unmistakably gospel choir for one track. To add to this CD’s appeal, there are no over dubs, every thing is played live in the studio and usually recorded on just one take. The rhythms and sound on here are very much within the modern gospel context too with the rhythms being rooted in 70s-80s RnB, soul and funk with very little trace of hip-hop. Likewise, bassist Charles Webb employs the 70s sophisticated slap-pop sound that has found a permanent niche in the church.

Lewis’ grand piano on here has a great full recorded sound and his playing is in top notch form too. If you are a fan of Lewis, you will get to hear plenty of virtuoso piano playing and although this is a pop album, he doesn’t hold back, especially on the umpteenth remake of “Tequila Mockingbird” on which he unleashes an energetic dissonant virtuoso solo with some definite Afro-Cuban leanings. Other top cuts include the moody and mellow sophisto-blues sounds of “Sarah Jane” and the album’s title track. Also, the upbeat rockin melody of “Malachi” recalls the classic high energy pop of his 60s hits like “In Crowd” and “Hang on Sloopy”.

js ‘Wade in the Water’ was the third installment in a trio of very lucrative popular soul jazz party records by virtuoso gospel flavored jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis and his trio. By the time we get to this third record the formula has been set for most of the tunes; a recent popular melody played with a pronounced back beat that features tambourine, and possibly hand claps from a live audience, followed by a middle section with a two-chord jam session in which Lewis plays the crowd pleasing gospel flavored blues piano licks, and then a return to the main theme but with more piano fills.

Although this record was commercial for its time, I think this has aged very nicely. In short, this is really fun groovy music that doesn’t demand too much from you and still delivers much more than just a pop song. If you like 60s instrumental jazz/RnB records, this one is a classic.