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Ramsey Lewis is a jazz pianist, composer and bandleader who has been highly successful and influential in popularising jazz through his crossover chart successes during the 1960s. This excellent-value 37-track 2-CD set focuses very much on his first recordings, when he was still in his early 20s, as leader of his highly-regarded trio which stayed together for the first decade of his recording career. The trio consisted of Ramsey Lewis on piano, Eldee Young on bass and Redd Holt on drums, and this collection comprises most of the titles which they recorded during the first three years of their career together. Those titles were released on the LPs Gentlemen of Swing, Gentlemen of Jazz, Down To Earth and An Hour With The Ramsey Lewis Trio for the Argo and EmArcy labels, and on Argo singles. The repertoire represents a cross-section of interpretations of standards and original compositions which provide a fascinating insight into the development of the trios music during this key formative era, while also underlining the already highly distinctive style which would make them such an effective commercial vehicle just a few years later. REVIEWS “The Ramsey Lewis Trio, consisting of Lewis on piano, Eldee Young, bass and Redd Holt on drums stayed together as a unit for nearly a decade and finally achieved commercial success in the pop charts in the mid Sixties, notably with their version of The In Crowd, for which they were of course roundly condemned by jazz purists for selling out. Listening to this collection, it is something of a surprise that they had to wait that long because this is listener friendly music from the off. This is polite chamber jazz music which is mostly readily accessible , lightly swinging at times and always tasteful. Both the bass player and drummer provide a suitably rhythmic platform for the leader, who only recently retired at the ripe old age of 83.” – Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 330???????) “Covering five-and-a-half years before the trio's big hit with In Crowd, this charts Ramsey's initial development well and brings together four early LPs neatly.” – Alyn Shipton (Jazzwise Issue 243)
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