On July 16th, I am performing a solo recital at the London Symphony Orchestra St. Luke’s chapel.
You can read more about the venue here.
You can find out more about the July 16th performance here.
Friends, family and fans have been asking about the trip and the performance. I thought I’d address some of those questions here on my blog.
What songs you are planning on performing? I have prepared six or seven original pieces for solo piano. Besides a recent private performance, this is the first time most of them will be performed before an audience. One of them debuted last month at Ravinia, “Softly, She Sings.” It comes from my wife, Jan. It’s a melody that she first imagined as a child. One day she sang it to me in a soft voice, hence the title. I look forward to performing it in London.
Some other songs I’m planning on performing: John Coltrane’s “Dear Lord,” a medley of standards including “Here There and Everywhere,” “In the Still of the Night” and “Body and Soul.” There’s a medley of “The ‘In’ Crowd” and “Wade in the Water,” and another consisting of some other Gospel pieces.
How many times have you performed a solo recital or concert? This is probably only the fourth or fifth time I’ve performed solo in over 50 years as professional musician. I usually play with my trio along with Larry Gray and Leon Joyce. During those concerts, there is usually a solo section but the London performance will be an entire concert of solo piano playing.
What brought about this and other recent requests to perform solo? On my latest album, Songs from the Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey, I recorded four solo pieces and this could have inspired requests for me to perform as a soloist.
How do you feel about performing as a soloist? I love playing solo piano because that is how I was brought up – playing in church and studying European classical music such as Bach and Beethoven. From the ages of 4-15 I performed almost exclusively alone on stage. It wasn’t until I joined the jazz group The Cleffs as a teenager that I began performing regularly with other musicians. But most of all, I feel that while I am performing as a soloist I am not alone. I am on stage with the piano which is my dear, dear friend and has been my friend nearly all my life.
What do you love best about London? London has all the diversity and energy that one would expect and enjoy in a large, international and cosmopolitan city but it still retains its own unique flavor. In the United States, we favor new skyscrapers and structures. In cities like London and Tokyo, while there is that same contemporary growth, they are able to retain their old charm. I also love the cultural traditions – mainly stopping in the afternoon for tea.
Besides the performance, what are you looking forward to the most? The break from my schedule here at home. I love my daily routine of waking up and spending much of the day writing music and practicing piano. But even with a routine that I cherish, one must come up for air. Jan has been very busy with her jewelry and accessory design work and writing her book. We are both looking forward to some rest and relaxation in London. We love to just get out and walk. London is a wonderful city for walking.
I wish to preface this blog entry by expressing my sincere appreciation for all the birthday wishes I received from friends, family, fans and other well-wishers. I was truly touched. I reached my 75th birthday on May 27th. In our society, birthdays that fall on certain numbers are seen as significant. Seventy-five is easily divided by five and is three-quarters of the way to 100. For those reasons, among others, we treat it as a significant occasion. But it is also a number, just like a 30th or 13th or 43rd birthday are numbers. Far beyond the significance of any number is being in the present moment, no matter the day, the week, the season or the year.
Philosophers, religious leaders and other well-known wise people throughout history have espoused the importance of being in the moment. In its truest sense, it is impossible to not be in the moment. You cannot live in the past. You cannot dwell in the future. What is here and now is all there is. Yes, you can live in the past and dwell upon events in your mind. You can project into the future and predict events you think might come to pass. However, in both cases, the mind is reliving the past or projecting into the future. Our true selves are always here in the moment. It is our minds that take us away.
As I mentioned in the last blog entry, time is a concept we as human beings invented in order to organize our lives. It served us well. We marked the passing of the seasons to know when to plant, when to harvest, and when to store up food for the winter. The concept of time continues to serve us in our society today. Without it, we would not know what time to show up at the doctor’s office, what time the workday ends and what time a movie begins at the theater. It can serve us well, if we allow it. But, we must be careful not to allow it to govern us too strictly.
When we value things for how little time they take, when we try to get as much completed in the least amount of time, we are allowing time to rule us, not serve us. I have heard many times throughout my 75 years that the journey is more important than the destination. It took me almost that long to really understand the meaning of that statement. Once we focus too much on completing a task in order to start another, we are projecting into the future and missing the richness of being in the moment.
The same applies to living in the past. We are shaped and informed by our memories of events and interactions. These too can serve us. We learn and grow from them. Still, we must not allow our past experiences to govern our experience of the moment. Memories, painful or joyous, can dictate how we react in the moment. While our past experiences can inform us, what we are dealing with in the moment is never the same situation as a past experience. Have you ever felt yourself react quickly to a situation and realize that you were terribly off base? Why does this happen? It happens when we allow the past to rule the present. Pause, breathe, get back in the moment. It is not always easy, especially when we are caught up in emotions. More often than not, allowing just a few seconds to return to the present moment makes all the difference.
You may be wondering how this relates to my 75th birthday. As I mentioned, living in the past or the future causes us to miss the richness and beauty of the moment. A landmark birthday is a wonderful thing. It allows friends, family and other loved ones to express their appreciation. For this, I am grateful. But for me, 75 years is no greater an achievement than waking up every morning and savoring every moment as I go through my day. I may reach 80, 85, 90 and beyond, if I am lucky. And, if I am lucky, I may receive another batch of wonderful greetings and expressions of appreciation as I reach those landmarks. As I reach them, I may take a moment to look back. I will feel satisfied knowing I have lived a life full of opportunities to be in the present moment, and I have taken advantage of that amazing gift, which presents itself always, everywhere, at any time. But if I do take a moment to look back, I will be sure to keep it brief. Otherwise I will miss being in the present moment, which is a much greater reason to be joyful than any number.
I am working on a new piece of music called “The Ecology of Oneness.” Last month we marked the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to dominate the headlines. I am inspired to think about our Mother Earth and how we as her children take care of her. In today’s society we are expected to take sides in arguments such as “Liberals vs. Conservatives,” “Environmentalists vs. Industrialists,” “Climate Change Believers vs. Climate Change Deniers.” Our Mother Earth knows no such debates. She does not take sides. She does not favor one group over another. Many cultures look upon humanity as the children of our Mother Earth, here to care for her as she provides a home for us. She was here long before we were. But what about our future together? No one can predict the future. But we can exist here in the moment and take a long, hard look at our relationship to our Mother.
We live in a world of nations, states, counties, cities and towns that establish some kind of social order. But our Mother Earth knows no such boundaries. Sometimes, our decisions and behaviors that are based on protecting ourselves within our boundaries, work to benefit humanity. Other times we make decisions based on what is best for those living within those borders, but are not best for those living outside of them. Far too often, the decisions made in the name of country, state, city or town do not consider how they affect our Mother Earth.
We live in a nation divided by political party. Mother Earth knows no such divisions. We came up with those in order to organize like-minded individuals into groups and to achieve certain goals within our own nation. Sometimes political parties help us reach those goals that can be positive, constructive and beneficial. Other times, the goal of a party is simply to prevent the other political party from achieving their goals. They are more focused on the success of the party (or the lack of success of another party) than any other aim. In far too many cases, how our Mother Earth is affected is overshadowed by the potential gain of one political party at the expense of another.
We live in a manner that is divided into seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. While each day is marked by a single rotation of our planet on its axis and each year consists of a full revolution of our planet around the sun, our Mother Earth does not consider time the way we do. We came up with the concept to keep track of our lives and to function as individuals and societies to accomplish what we wish to accomplish. Every culture views and handles time differently. Yet the culture that appears to be growing most rapidly is that which aims to accomplish “more” in “less” time and to use the most resources in order to accomplish it. Sometimes this is useful and achieves positive results for us as individuals and as a society. All too often, we become so wrapped up in the concept of time that we do not consider our Mother Earth. We want to carry more “stuff” from one end of the Earth to another and use more and more of her precious and finite resources in order to do so. As we watch the seconds and minutes tick by, Mother Earth simply continues to carry us with her. Never does she try to get where she is going faster or slower, in more or less time, doing anything other than what she has always done. She simply is Mother Earth, carrying us through space on her journey around the Sun.
I am not advocating abandoning all of our political, governmental and economic institutions. We all know the result would be chaos. But can we all slow down and consider how we as individuals use our planet’s resources on a daily basis? Can we consider how our political parties, nations and groups of nations use and abuse our planet’s resources in order to accomplish their goals? The way we organize ourselves can make life better. Yet if we become so wrapped up in using more and more resources to get from place to place, we may not have a planet that is able to sustain us on our journey together. Our Mother Earth has provided a home all these thousands of years, long before there were countries and nations and political parties and seconds and minutes and hours. She was around long before humanity came into being. The question remains: can she continue to provide a home for us in the future as disagreeing nations and political parties with the massive need to consume our planet’s precious resources? The answer is not clear. But can we all take the time to consider the impact on our Mother Earth these groups make, and the impact we make as individuals in our lives today? This answer is clear . . . Yes, we can.
When Bobby Kennedy ran for President, he was asked what he thought America’s greatest threat was. At the time, in the midst of the Cold War, the greatest perceived threat was the Soviet Union. I am paraphrasing, but his response was this: our greatest threat was not from outside the United States, but from within. Our survival as a great nation was more at risk because of what was going on internally rather than externally. The war in Vietnam, Civil Rights and numerous other issues were tearing this country apart. There is little dispute that we are again a nation fraught with internal division and pressures. Yes, they threaten our survival as a country. History has shown many great societies have fallen because of problems not from without, but from within. It happened to the Roman Empire. It happened to the British Empire. All the while, their citizens were unaware the problems from within were leading to the downfall of their societies. It need not happen to us. But it could if we do not take notice and take action.
I see protests on TV. I understand and support peaceful protest. Peaceful protest brought about some of the changes that helped make this country better, namely Civl RIghts in the 1960s. We still have a ways to go with racial tolerance in this country, but it is better than it was, largely because of changes brought on through peaceful protests. While there are few, if any, acts of physical violence or destruction during some of today’s anti-Obama protests and rallies, I challenge the notion that they are actually peaceful. I see signs with swastikas. I see images of our president as Adolph Hitler. I hear comparisons to fascist regimes. “Peaceful protest” means more than a lack of physical violence. It means an expression of ideas in a way that is thoughtful, informed and aims to bring about positive change.
Many of the protestors I see on TV fear that our government is violating the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I believe we are lead by a government that is of the people, by the people and for the people. There is no “them” and “us.” “They” are “us” and “we” are “them.” Our government in Washington is not some sort of monarchy that has been in place for eons that we must purge ourselves of by any means necessary. If any individual or group is unsatisfied with government on a local, state or federal level, it is clearly their right to voice their opinions and concerns. My concern is the lack of responsibility shown with these horrifying images and words that are disproportionate to the situation at hand.
No government is above questioning and challenging. Protests are not out of the question. But the kind of protests I keep seeing serve more to divide rather than unite, to produce further beliefs in “us” and “them” within our own nation. What do I propose? Nothing new. Understanding that if you are dissatisfied with your government the answer is not found with incendiary images and words. It is instead with reasoned debate and discussion among a well-informed populace and participation in the voting process (which is still woefully ignored).
Again, as in many issues, the cause is often ignorance. The remedy is always education. Clearly, if people associate images of Hitler and Nazi symbols along with of our President, there is a lack of understanding and knowledge. There is a lack of knowledge of what swastikas and other Nazi imagery means. There is a lack of understanding of what our President has said and stands for. A person calling the president a “Fascist” shows not that he is one, but rather the person making the accusation does not know what a Fascist is. Knowledge, information and education wielded in a compassionate matter is the remedy to cure such ignorance.
I started this article stating that we need to take notice and take action. I hope by now you have taken notice. What about action? I always like to end on a positive note. Fortunately, all of the remedies to our nation’s internal problems are positive and healthy things unto themselves: being well informed, engaging in thoughtful debate, educating oneself, bettering our education system for our young people, voting, working to end intolerance brought upon by ignorance, being more compassionate. All of these things serve to help us grow as individuals and as a nation. The key is now to go beyond reading about them or thinking about them or talking about them. The key is to do them.
One thing I have learned in my musical career is that predictions about hit records often do not come true. The songs you work the hardest on and have the highest hopes for often do not live up to those hopes. At the same time, the songs you least expect to become top-sellers are the ones that resonate the strongest with the public. This was the case with “Sun Goddess.”
In the mid 70s I was working on a Ramsey Lewis Trio album for Columbia Records. I was recording along with Morris Jennings on drums and Cleveland Eaton on bass at PS Recording, a little studio on East 24th Place in Chicago. I had written some new material. We did a version of Stevie Wonder’s “Living for the City.” The album was shaping up nicely but it took on a whole new character after I heard from my friend Maurice White from Earth Wind & Fire.
Maurice was the drummer for the Ramsey Lewis Trio in the late 60s. After a few years in the trio he came to me and explained an idea for a new group he was forming that blended jazz, R&B, on-stage magic and theatrics, dance and other influences from all over the musical and performing arts spectrum. To be honest, I thought he was crazy and I think I told him, “Take a couple of aspirin and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Fortunately, he ran with his idea and by the mid-70s they were one of the most popular groups in the world. Maurice called from New York to tell me he written a new tune for me. He said it “will make ‘The In Crowd’ look like a pimple.” We met back in Chicago soon after. Maurice brought along his brother Verdine White to play bass, Donald Myrick to play tenor sax, guitarist Johnny Graham and Earth Wind & Fire vocalist Philip Bailey. Since we all thought this new tune was destined to be the next big hit, we spent three solid days on it. Maurice is a brilliant drummer and an equally brilliant songwriter and producer. We perfected every nuance of the song. At the end of the those three days, it was a recording we were proud of and we knew it was “hot.” In fact, that’s what we called it: “Hot Dawgit.”
After those three days of polishing and perfecting, Maurice mentioned that he had another song that might be fun to record. It was a tune that was good for “blowing” as musicians say: a song with a relatively simple form conducive to improvised solos. We spent all of six hours recording this “fun little song.” As promised, it was perfect for “blowing.” Donald Myrick played wonderful saxophone and I had some fun playing Fender Rhodes. The song sounded like it needed voices, but there were no lyrics. Again with little planning and perfecting, Maurice and Verdine White along with Philip Bailey harmonized on some wordless vocals that went “way-oh, way-ay oh, bop-bop way-oh.” After that the song was complete, except for the title. Someone asked Maurice while he was on his way out of the studio, “What should we call this one?” His response was, “I don’t know…how about ‘Sun Goddess?’”
We liked the title well enough that we called the entire LP Sun Goddess. “Hot Dawgit” was released as the debut single, leaving “Sun Goddess” as an album track. “Hot Dawgit” did reasonably well as a single. It received a little bit of airplay, but nothing like the smash we were sure it was destined to be. At the same time, the full-length LP was selling much better than expected. Columbia Records did a little research and found that the moderate airplay “Hot Dawgit” received was not responsible for this. It was something unexpected: word of mouth. People were talking about another song they loved on the new LP. They were walking into record stores and asking where they can find this new song that goes “way-oh, way-ay-oh, bop-bop-way-oh.”
We were delighted to find out people were connecting with this song and pleasantly surprised it was this “fun little tune” we did almost as an afterthought to the big hit single. Columbia Records edited the original seven-minute recording of “Sun Goddess” down to a four-minute radio friendly version and that became a hit single in its own right. Later that year, I went on the road with Maurice and the rest of Earth Wind & Fire as their opening act. I found out what it was like to play for 20-thousand seat arenas. Up until that time, my trio was playing in clubs, theaters and festivals. Yes, it was the mid-70s and we were on tour with Earth Wind & Fire, so we had to wear clothing to keep up with their very prominent stage presence. That was the first and only time I wore a fringed leather jacket on stage, which was not my favorite look upon looking at old pictures. But it was a wonderful period that brought my music to a larger audience. Fortunately, the fringed leather jacket is no longer required to play “Sun Goddess,” but the fans I have been fortunate to have kept and made since the mid-70s still consider this “fun little tune” to be among their favorites.