A
quadruple-header from Ramsey Lewis – four albums from his great 70s electric
period on Columbia Records! First up is Funky Serenity – sweet electric funk
from Ramsey Lewis! The album's one of his best from the 70s – and it's got
Ramsey on Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, and other keyboards, grooving
away in an open-ended 70s mode that still retains all the heavy soul of his
classic work for Chess. Morris Jennings adds in some very nice percussion with
his drum work, and Cleveland Eaton's on funky bass, giving the set a strong
bottom groove. Features the sublime sample cut "My Love For You", a
great version of "Knights In White Satin" that's done with a weird
spacey groove, plus the tracks "Kufany Mapenzi (Making Love)",
"Serene Funk", "What It Is!", and "Dreams".
Golden Hits
isn't a "best of", but instead has Ramsey and his funky mid 70s trio
with Morris Jennings and Cleveland Eaton revisiting some of his best loved
material from the Cadet years, but with the groovy Rhodes and wah wah sound
that we dig so much about his CBS recordings. Unlike some of the other records
from this period, the group's nice and stripped down, just the electric piano,
bass and drums, so the groove's nice and wide open, Ramsey and company popping
along with the sanctified soulful vibe of his 60s work, but updating their
sound with some nice electric touches. 9 numbers in all: "Hang On Sloopy",
"Blues For The Night Owl", "Hi-Heel Sneakers",
"Carmen", "Delilah", "Wade In The Water",
"Slippin' Into Darkness", "Somethin' You Got", and
"The In Crowd".
Solar Wind
was cut smack dab in the middle of Ramsey's glory days at Columbia Records –
with great production help and work on bass from the mighty Cleveland Eaton!
The style is nice and lean, with just some occasional fuller touches – and
Ramsey plays plenty of Fender Rhodes, in addition to bits of Arp and moog too –
in a setting that's mostly trio, with a few guest players stepping into the mix
from track to track! There's a nice degree of fuzz at points, thanks to added
help from Steve Cropper – and titles include a great funky version of
"Summer Breeze", plus "Solar Wind", "Come Down In
Time", "Love for A Day", "Hummingbird", "Jamaican
Marketplace", and "Sweet & Tender You".
Sun Goddess
is one of our favorite Ramsey Lewis albums ever – and a perfect summation of
the genius that was brewing on the Chicago scene in the late 60s and early 70s!
The album has Ramsey working strongly with Earth Wind & Fire – no surprise,
given his close ties to Maurice White, who was the drummer in Ramsey's trio
before starting his own group – and the shared relationship both artists had
with producer Charles Stepney! The three were all key parts of the late 60s
sound at Chess Records – but here, they've brought the same soulful energy to
Columbia – working in a wider, more mature groove for the 70s – one that has
Lewis' wicked Fender Rhodes lines stretching out strongly over tight,
compressed, funky lines from EWF! The centerpiece of the set is the massive 7
minute "Sun Goddess", but there's lots of other nice ones like
"Living For The City", "Gemini Rising", and "Jungle
Strut". Funky, electric, and sublimely wonderful all the way through! ~ dustygroove.com
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