Any successful jazz musician will, at some point in a discussion on the subject, talk about “the lost chord.” Where Ramsey Lewis is concerned, the search has earned him legendary status in the realm of jazz performance. His name alone sends pushes performance ticket sales up, as in the case of his “Sun Goddess Tour” stopping off at the Music Center at Strathmore tonight. Who, among his myriad fans, will ever forget that 1974 golden album cover or the opening bars of its title song?
“I always feel while I’m writing a piece of music that it is exactly what I want; it’s going to be great [and] I’ve captured it,” Lewis explained. “But eventually, there’s always something else that comes into my mind, into my spirit, into my very being and a light comes on. All of a sudden the juices start to flow and here comes the greatest song I ever wrote.”
| Onstage |
| Ramsey Lewis: Sun Goddess Tour |
| Where: Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda |
| When: 8 p.m. Friday |
| Info: $28 to $68, 301-581-5100, strathmore.org |
For Lewis, that “light” has been going on and on throughout his long career and is responsible for the hundreds of songs he has composed, his three Grammy Awards and seven gold records that made him, by the late 1960s, one of the most successful jazz pianists in the nation. “The In Crowd,” “Hang on Sloopy” and “Wade in the Water” were chart toppers of the period. And the music just keeps coming.
“If we all don’t have that lost chord that we’re always looking for, then what’s the point,” Lewis said, softly and contemplatively.
Classically trained, Lewis began taking piano lessons at the age of 4. When he was 15, a friend and fellow musician, Wallace Burton, invited him to join his jazz band, the Cleffs. It was love at first note and Lewis never looked back.
Today, he revisits the “Sun Goddess” years with his electric band — guitarist Henry Johnson, keyboard player Michael Logan, drummer Charles Heath and bassist Joshua Ramos.
“Washington, D.C., is one of the first cities we played when [The Ramsey Lewis Trio] went on the road many years ago in the early ’60s,” Lewis recalled. “Washington continues to be sort of my second home when it comes to my career. I want to come and say hello with my music.”
