Ramsey Lewis, the iconic jazz great and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award winner, brings his 50th Anniversary performance of "The 'In' Crowd" and "Hang on Ramsey" to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's James K. Polk Theater on Saturday, April 25 at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets are on sale now at TPAC.org, by phone at (615) 782-4040, and at the TPAC Box Office, 505 Deaderick Street, in downtown Nashville. Lewis has been an iconic leader in the contemporary jazz movement for over 50 years, with an unforgettable sound and outgoing personality that has allowed him to cross over to the pop and R&B charts. The Ramsey Lewis Trio, with bassist Eldee Young and percussionist Redd Holt, became a fixture on the Chicago jazz scene, releasing their debut album, "Ramsey Lewis & His Gentlemen of Jazz," back in 1956. Lewis earned his first gold record, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance, for their swinging version of "The 'In' Crowd." He returned to the pop charts in 1966 with versions of "Hang On Sloopy" and "Wade In The Water" from his follow up record "Hang On Ramsey."In 1995, Lewis launched the side project Urban Knights, in which he collaborated with a handful of successful crossover jazz stars, including Grover Washington, Jr., Earl Klugh, and Dave Koz. In 1997, Lewis added disc jockey to his resume, hosting a popular show on Chicago's WNUA-FM that ran until 2009. A new show was syndicated in 2006 under the name Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis and was broadcast on jazz radio stations across the country. In 2006, a well-received 13-episode Legends of Jazz television series hosted by Lewis was broadcast by PBS on public TV nationwide and featured live performances by a variety of jazz artists including Larry Gray, Lonnie Smith, Joey Defrancesco, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Kurt Elling, Benny Golson, Pat Metheny and Tony Bennett. Recently he has been touring with Philip Bailey from Earth, Wind and Fire as well as John Pizzarelli.
For over three decades, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center has welcomed more than 11 million audience members and served more than 1.6 million students and educators with performances at TPAC, resources for teachers, classroom residencies, and enrichment programs for adults. Founded in 1980, TPAC serves several hundred thousand audience members each year with the HCA/TriStar Health Broadway at TPAC season, a variety of special engagements, and the productions of the three resident artistic companies -- Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, and Nashville Repertory Theatre. For more information, visit TPAC.org.
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