LP-741

The Ramsey Lewis Trio At The Bohemian Caverns

Released 1964

Recording and Session Information

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Bohemian Caverns, Washington D.C, June 4 + 6 1964

13256 All of you (unissued)
13257 The cave
13258 Let's have it... (unissued)
13259 The shelter of your arms
13260 People
13261 Something you've got
(West Side Story medley :)
13262 Maria
13263 Somewhere
13264 Jet song
13265 To-night
13266 Fly me to the moon
13373 My babe

Track Listing

West Side Story Medley	L. Bernstein	June 4 + 6 1964
Somewhere		June 4 + 6 1964
Maria		June 4 + 6 1964
Jet Song		June 4 + 6 1964
Somewhere		June 4 + 6 1964
People	J. Styne	June 4 + 6 1964
Something You Got	Chris Kenner	June 4 + 6 1964
Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)	B. Howard	June 4 + 6 1964
My Babe	W. Dixon	June 4 + 6 1964
The Caves	R. Lewis	June 4 + 6 1964
The Shelter Of Your Arms	S. Collie	June 4 + 6 1964

Liner Notes

FOR MORE than four years the Bohemian Caverns in Washington, D. C., has provided a steady home for jazz and its faithful supporters. This club is known world wide for its physical layout of sculpturesque beauty and stalactite formations hanging from its ceiling. Said club owner Tony Taylor to his partner Angelo Alvino and myself, "That's why, times when we don't even have a strong act in the room to draw the people, there are a certain amount of individuals who might filter through here anyway, just to see the place". So here we find the very necessary ingredients of the mixture to make jazz — the customer, the atmosphere, and the world's finest performing artists.

One of the most exhilarating feelings a jazz fan could have is to watch and listen to great musicians, and the audience here attests in unanimous agreement to the aforementioned statement. I assume by now that you know that the Ramsey Lewis Trio recorded this album live at the Bohemian Caverns, in the heart of the nation's capital. On hand was a full house of eager Ramsey Lewis fans, a new piano, and bass and drums tuned to perfect pitch. Here you will find an energetic and joyous atmosphere as the trio - opens with music from WEST SIDE STORY. The improvisations in the West Side Story medley are not all in the jazz choruses. The arrangement itself is more than just a clever restatement of the melody. Each section of the score reveals to the listener a different face of the structure, and when the final Chorus and the dramatic coda are reached, a thorough exposition of the remarkable work of Leonard Bernstein has been accomplished.

In creating a jazz version for three themes of this story, the trio combined its great musical know-how to reveal beautiful, dramatic contrast, tenderness, love, and unrest.

On "PEOPLE", the trio defies description, and proves that "people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world."

The blues can often come very close to truc poetry, a virtue that is often overlooked, and a mighty convincing story is told here in the very popular opus, "SOMETHING YOU GOT".

It is difficult to praise Ramsey Lewis' pianistic ability too highly. Ramsey makes a bold adventure of "FLY ME TO THE MOON" or "IN OTHER WORDS": and his consistently high performances are just short of miraculous.

One of the country's best cello and bass players, since Oscar Pettiford, is Eldee Young. This young man is so advanced that there is seemingly no harmonic puzzle too abstract for resolution, no rhythmic limb too high for him to jump off. All this is proven in his venturesome journey with "MY BABE" Many professional players of swinging repute mention Red Holt as their favorite drummer. Red can do more with his left hand, than most can do with both. He is well received for his efforts on "SHELTER OF YOUR ARMS".

"THE CAVES" brings the fellows together with great applause; this one written by the trio for the club.

This album contains many musical principles and musical feelings; and before jazz fulfills its promise there may be a long lonesome road ahead, yet efforts like this show the way and make the whole thing worth while. You will agree that this is one of the best sessions in the career of the three: Ramsey, Red, and Eldee — the illustrious RAMSEY LEWIS TRIO.

Al Clarke
WOOK Radio
Washington, D. C.