The Ramsey Lewis Trio

[Jazz Kat]

Here's a trio w/Cleveland Eaton & Maurice White.

Yes, that Maurice White.

the Ramsey Lewis, Eldee Young, Red Holt trio is what I'm talking about. I dont care that much for the the trio with the drummer for EW&F.

[JSngry]

Yeah, but I think that Cleveland Eaton's bass playing on those sides is worthy of your consideration. Cat had a nice BIG tone on the wood, and more modern-oriented chops than his predecessor. The Young-Holt group is archetypical, to be sure, but the trios with Eaton (White wasn't with him all that long, btw) made more interesting (relatively speaking) music, especially once Ramsey started playing Rhodes.

This is all just my personal preference, mind you.

[Jazz Kat]

As is with most many things said here on this site, that people like to believe as, "facts."

[JSngry]

For future reference, when it comes to anything I say about music other than provable historica data and/or technical detail, just assune that it's all opinion, nothing more. That goes for most everybody here as well, I'd suppose.

It's all opinion, every bit of it, which is why it's fun to exchange and debate. Facts is facts, but opinions fly all over the map. If my opinions are strongl;y held, so be it. I've developed them over time and not without a lot of testing. They do tend to be strong, but that's how it goes. They're still just opinions, though, and if you prefer Young to Eaton, hey, that's what you dig and I'll only tell you that my opinion is different from yours, and tell you why. I'll not not that you're "wrong" for doing so. THAT would be wrong!

Have an opinion. Have a strong opinion and an informed one. And stick to it, by god! Just appreciate that others will be doing the same.

[Jazz Kat]

exactly

[mikeweil]

White, Eaton, & Morris Jennings.

Got a 5-Star review in Down Beat, for whatever that's worth.

Now that's a nice LP, but five stars is a little exagerrated.

It adds Derf Reklaw Rahim (= Fred Walker) on percussion, BTW.

[Jazz Kat]

It depends how you rate it. Some people say 5 stars is aka-masterpiece. When I reveiw 5 stars just means I like it a lot, 4 is its ok, 3, could of been better, and it gets worse.

[Degiorgio]

Love the track proto-E,W & Fire track "Uhuru" from that ANOTHER VOYAGE album - nice kalimba... and the typically grand Charles Stepney track "Opus No.5"

KD

[JSngry]

Been checking this one out today...the trio with Eaton & Morris Jennings, both of whom do it.

[.:.impossible]

I only discovered this stuff this year. It seems I am a big fan of the stuff that Kat did not like! Charles Stepney.

[Rabshakeh]

Ramsey Lewis Trio – Bach To The Blues

Listening to this one for the first time. Expecting some Loussier nonsense and instead it is a great record. 

Any other lesser known Ramsey Lewis trio records anyone wants to push on me?

[Gheorghe]

Is it possible that he was not so well known in European countries, or was he more popular  for a certain community of fans than among musicians ? 
During my jazz education it seems that he was not mentioned, and I didn´t see his records in the collections of fellow musicians/jazz-lovers. 
I have not heard about the mentioned other members of that trio, not the bass player, not the drummer. 
 

I think I saw him on a festival schedule in Austria in the 80´s and until then I didn´t even know him. As much as I try to remember it was quite nice chamber music jazz, a bit of latin touch, I don´t know who was the personnel, but I remember an electric bass player who played a bass with two necks, and got the most solo space. Lewis´ statements where shorter inputs, but I think the crowd was spending very very much applause to that electric bass player. 

[ghost of miles]

Not sure if he posts here or not, but I have to put in a plug for the new Ramsey Lewis memoir that my friend Aaron co-authored:

 

[JSngry]

check live footage this out (the early incaration of the Eaton/White group):