Grammy winning pianist Ramsey Lewis will make his Concord Records debut on September 29th with the release of Songs From the Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey. The CD features12 new original tunes composed over a period of two years, performed in a trio setting.
Featured on the new set is music from two commissioned world premiere performances at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois, and eight others are from the score of Lewis' 2007 ballet To Know Her..., which was written for the Joffrey Ballet. Four additional pieces were featured in 2008's Muses And Amusements Suite performed with the Turtle Island Quartet.
Lewis' most recent release is the 2006 gospel set With One Voice, which he recorded live with the choir at James Memorial AME Church in suburban Chicago. Special guests included gospel artists Smokie Norful, Donald Lawrence of the Tri-City Singers, and Darius Brooks.
At 74 years old, Lewis is still going strong, He was the producer of the PBS TV sho Legends Of Jazz, and continues to be heard nationwide on his syndicated radio porgram of the same name. He explained that while his schedule is quite full, his staff and producers help him get through: "You know, I'm a media man and I take that hat off, I'm a musician and I take that hat off, and we're producing television and I ... So it sounds like I'm terribly, terribly busy. But it's sort of arranged -- my folks sort of arrange this stuff so I can get it done without going bananas."
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