LP-757

The Ramsey Lewis Trio - The In Crowd

Released 1965

Recording and Session Information

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Bohemian Caverns, Washington D.C, May 13-15 1961

13924 A felicidade [Happiness]
13925 Stack (unissued)
13936 Without a song (unissued)
13937 Spartacus [Love theme from Spartacus]
13938 The "In" crowd
13939 Tennessee waltz
13940 A hard day's night (unissued)
13941 Sometimes I feel like a motherless child (unissued)
13942 Come Sunday
13943 It happened (unissued)
13944 And I love her (unissued)
13945 Theme from "Golden Boy" (unissued)
13996 Since I fell for you
13997 Night song (unissued)
13998 You been talkin' 'bout me baby

Track Listing

The 'In' Crowd	Billy Page	May 13-15 1961
Since I Fell For You	Buddy Johnson	May 13-15 1961
Tennessee Waltz	Pee Wee King / R. Stewart	May 13-15 1961
You Been Talkin' 'Bout Me Baby	Garnett / Hirsch / Riviera	May 13-15 1961
Spartacus (Love Theme From)	Alex North	May 13-15 1961
Felicidade (Happiness)	A.C. Jobin / V. DeMorais	May 13-15 1961
Come Sunday	Duke Ellington	May 13-15 1961

Liner Notes

The Ramsey Lewis three are among the best-selling jazz artists on records today. A collection of their works shows the many facets of their styles. Lewis has been presented with big bands and strings in addition to the regular trio format and in all situations he plays good jazz — sometimes pretty, sometimes blue. sometimes cool, but always swinging and straight from the heart of a true jazz artist.

The scope of jazz today has widened and young men like Ramsey Lewis are improvising, drawing from many sources, blending and putting into jazz something that was not there before, but never losing the source — the blues. The shaping of a mature musical personality is a long, slow process that is often as stormy as growing from adolescence to adulthood. In many cases, final crystallization never occurs and the musician is stalled on the brink of something important. For Ramsey Lewis, however, the process is just about complete and there is no doubt in my mind that his playing has reached a finality which indicates the culmination of the long trip.

The strides Ramsey has made in the last few years have been amazing. His sound and style have grown completely distinctive, and could be considered a synthesis of the older elements of jazz — elements that project the roots, beginnings and emotional undercoating of the idiom.

The trio was formed about a decade ago, while Ramsey was a student at DePaul University. The trio still consists of the original members, with bass and cello player extraordinary, Eldee Young, and the brilliant drummer Isaac "Red" Holt. All are from Chicago.

In recent years, the Ramsey Lewis Trio's popularity has risen to phenomenal heights. Nowhere in the country has the trio been more enthusiastically received than in the nation's capitol, where they *enjoy the praises of fans of all nations. It is stnall that hundreds or global neighbors waited in line to enter the beautiful, sculpturesque, world-renowned BOHEMIAN CAVERNS, the home of the 'IN' crowd, to see and hear the Ramsey Lewis Trio.

Recording night for the trio is an event for Washington fans, and this is the trio's second recording date in the famous BOHEMIAN CAVERNS. The first (ARGO LP-741) was as a big commercial success.

The trio opens this albunn with "I'm in with the 'in' crowd...I go where the 'in' crowd goes." Here Ramsey swings with a touch of the blues in the chordal work.

"Since I Fell For You" is a splendid old composition played in a manner that holds the attention all the way to the lonely sounding end.

On "Tennessee Waltz", Eldee Young plays cello with unbelievable dexterity. His approach ranges from a gentle reserve to unpredictable aggressive movements and his "Flamenco" introduction is a priceless bit of merriment.

On other selections, such as "Love Theme From Spartacus." "You Been Talk-in' 'Bout Me Baby" and "Felicidade", I find drummer "Red" Holt increasingly impressive, most effectively so, in his unique contributions.

From the beginning, the trio settled into a comfortable groove. relaxed and swinging. "I'm in with the 'in' crowd I know what the 'in' crowd knows." Yes, they know what the 'IN' crowd wants to hear, so they recorded a thoroughly satisfying collection of fine music, tailor-made for the 'IN' crowd.

Ramsey Lewis has made a lot of fine recordings and this is one more to add to his illustrious background.

Al Clarke
WOOx Radio
Washington. D.C.

LP-756

James Moody - Cookin' The Blues

Released 1965

Recording and Session Information

Howard McGhee, trumpet; Bernard McKinney, trombone; James Moody, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute; Musa Kaleem, baritone saxophone; Sonny Donaldson, piano; Steve Davis, bass; Arnold Enlow, drums; Eddie Jefferson, vocals
Jazz Workshop, San Francisco, June 1961

10955 Bloozey (unissued)
10956 Little Buck
10957 Home fries
10958 Disappointed
10959 It might as well be spring
10960 One for Nat
10961 Bunny Boo
10962 The Jazz Twist
10963 Sister Sadie
Moody Flooty

Track Listing

The Jazz Twist	James Moody	June 1961
One For Nat	Gene Kee	June 1961
Bunny Boo	James Moody	June 1961
Moody Flooty	James Moody	June 1961
It Might As Well Be Spring	Rodgers & Hammerstein	June 1961
Disappointed	E. Jefferson	June 1961
Sister Sadie	Horace Silver	June 1961
Little Buck	James Moody	June 1961
Home Fries	Gene Kee	June 1961

Liner Notes

BACK in 1946, James Moody made his first recording date. He was the featured tenor saxophonist with Dizzy Gillespie's big band on a number called Emanon. Moody was cookin' the blues — to a turn.

Almost twenty years later, Moody is back with Diz, and cookin' better than ever. In between. however, he was a band leader in his own right, as anyone who is aware of Argo Records well knows. Moody's bands have always been big little bands or little big bands, depending on how you look at it. They combined musicality and swing, and certainly knew how to play the blues. This 1961 edition, recorded live at The Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, is no exception. Here the band is heard in a supporting role, save a short solo by pianist Sonny Donaldson on The Jazz Twist. The stage is Moody's for the most part, except on the two selections in which his long-time buddy, singer Eddie Jefferson, steps into the spotlight.

When Moody went to Europe in the late Forties as a member of the Gillespie band, he decided to stay on the Continent. In France and Sweden, he became a recording star on both tenor and alto, his original instrument. When he returned to the United States in 1951, Jimmy continued to utilize both horns. Later in the Fifties, he added flute to his already heavy arsenal. In this album, he uses all three weapons to cook the blues.

Moody is very "vocal" on all his instruments but perhaps no place as much as on alto. His Jazz Twist solo, at a groovy medium tempo, gets into some screaming before it's finished. On the minor-key Home Fries, he does some hard wailing and crying. Even on It Might As Well Be Spring he imparts a bluesy inflection replete with a rowdy rooster crow.

His flute has a pleasing, beautifully-controlled, but never effete sound that is as azure as his other axes. Moody is flutin' the blues on only one track in this set and that's Moody Flooty. Once again he shows how to get a jazz feeling on flute without becoming hysterical.

Moody's tenor is never harsh but has an edge that bites and a center with plenty of guts and he fingers it with the same incredible facility that he brings to the smaller alto. James is a tough man at any tempo. As fellow saxophonist Allen Eager said to me, one night at Birdland, when we were enjoying James' playing, "He can do anything he wants to on his horn."

One For Nat has Moody in full flame and a short drum break by Buddy Enlow. Bunny Boo is in a rocking, finger-popping groove with the mood for Moody set by the walking Steve Davis and Enlow. Moody's Little Buck is a terse, swift, riffy blues with a Lester Young-ish beginning and a few hints of Pres in other places.

In abetting vocalist Eddie Jefferson's portrait of Horace Silver's Sister Sadie, Moody blows a particularly hot tenor chorus. This one swings all the way with Jefferson's words even taking in Blue Mitchell's trumpet solo from Silver's original version.

Jefferson was the first singer to write words to instrumental solos and perform them. "I started doing it back around 1938 or 1939," he told me. "I used to have a record player in my hotel room and just sing along with the records for my own amusement and for the cats who always hung around." Eddie's other solo in this set is Disappointed, based on Charlie Parker's Lady Be Good solo from Jazz At The Philharmonic. The first time Jefferson recorded this, he sang: "I got in trouble foolin' around with a pretty woman." This time he tells us: "I got in trouble feelin' around with a pretty woman." That's some fancy foolin'! Eddie's sense of humor is all over this one in a demonstration of how to make a sad story amusing. It's the only track in the album where Moody doesn't solo, but Jefferson takes good care of all the business. Elsewhere, it's all Moody, and he cooks the blues with the authority and élan of a musical Escoffier.

—IRA GITLER

LP-755

The Ramsey Lewis Trio - Choice!

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Chicago, 1958

8795 Carmen

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Chicago, 1959

9185 Delilah

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Chicago, April 22 1959

9275 C C Rider

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Chicago, February 23 & 24, 1960

10065 Little Liza Jane

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Chicago, February 16 & 17 1961

10701 Hello, Cello!
10704 Blues For The Night Owls

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass, cello; Redd Holt, drums; Lew Douglas (dir, strings), Oliver Nelson (dir, reeds)
Bell Sounds Studios, New York, August 2+3 1962

11810 Memphis In June
11817 My Bucket's Got A Hole In It

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Universal Recording Studio, February 27-28 1963

12293 Look-a-here

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass, cello; Chris White, bass; Redd Holt, drums
RVG, Englewood, New York, August 20 1963

12559 Lonely Avenue

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass, cello; Richard Evans, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Ter Mar, Chicago, January 31 1964

12971 Travel On

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

13261 Something You Got

Track Listing

Something You Got	Chris Kenner	June 4 + 6 1964
Little Liza Jane	Arranged By – Lewis	February 23 & 24 1960
Memphis In June	Carmichael	August 2+3 1962
Travel On	Eldee Young	January 31 1964
Delilah	Victor Young	1959
CC Rider	Arr. Lewis, Young, Holt	April 22 1959
Lonely Avenue	Doc Pomus	August 20 1963
Look-A-Here	Ramsey Lewis	February 27-28 1963
My Bucket's Got A Hole In It	Clarence Williams	August 2+3 1962
Hello, Cello!	Young, Lewis, Holt	February 16 & 17 1961
Blue Spring	Ramsey Lewis	February 14, 15 1962
Carmen	Arranged By – Ramsey Lewis	April 30 1960
Blues For The Night Owls	Bernard, Thompson	February 16 & 17 1961

Liner Notes

Success in the entertainment business is difficult to achieve and more difficult to hold on to. And for a jazz oriented group this is doubly true. The Ramsey Lewis Trio has managed to get a firm foothold on the cliffs of success and their steady, well-paced climb to the top gives every indication of a long reign of popularity. Ramsey, Eldee and Red have not "lucked up" on anything, they have worked hard to perfect a presentation that combines great musicianship and showmanship.

A pronounced characteristic of Ramsey's playing is the fact that everything he does is touched with at least a tint of blue. It is interesting to note that several of the "best of" tunes in this album are out-right blues or close relatives of the form. There is something eternal and universal about the blues — everyone seems able to relate to the soulful sounds.

How do you pick a baker's dozen "best" tunes from almost twenty record albums of one of your favorite instrumental groups? We tried and ended with an absolutely irreducible list of twenty-two titles. What to do? We decided to ask Ramsey Lewis which tunes are among those most often requested when the trio is performing throughout the country. In effect, you, the fans, picked the tunes in this album. So enjoy!

—Esmond Edwards