Ramsey Lewis

Ramsey Lewis embodied the idea that jazz can be both serious and joyful. The infectious swing of The In Crowd still moves me, and a catalog of over eighty albums, three Grammys, and five gold records tells you he reached far beyond the genre's usual audience. As a radio personality he opened doors for countless listeners. What I admire most is his generosity of spirit: he never made you feel you needed a degree to enjoy his music. He passed in 2022, but Wade in the Water keeps its quiet, prayerful glow forever.

Name (English)

Ramsey Lewis

Name (Japanese)

ラムゼイ・ルイス

Reading

らむぜい・るいす

Born

May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Boar

Origin

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Occupation

radio personality / jazz musician / pianist / recording artist / musician

High school

Wells Community Academy High School

University

DePaul University

Awards & achievements

• NEA Jazz Masters

• Official sitehttps://www.ramseylewis.com/
• Xhttps://x.com/ramseylewis
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsey%20Lewis
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A9%E3%83%A0%E3%82%BC%E3%82%A4%E3%83%BB%E3%83%AB%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B9
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1936300

Tags

• Illinois
• radio personality
• jazz musician
• pianist

Last updated

2026-06-21

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.