Ravinia 2022, Issue 1

TODD WINTERS (LEWIS); CORY DEWALD (ELLING) PAVILION 7:00 PM SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2022 Legends of Jazz: Honoring Ramsey Lewis RAMSEY LEWIS KURT ELLING MARQUIS HILL # LIZZ WRIGHT † BOBBY LEWIS with the J.W. JAMES A.M.E. CHURCH CHOIR with members of URBAN KNIGHTS † Ravinia debut # Ravinia Steans Music Institute alum 5:30 PM, CAROUSEL STAGE RAVINIA JAZZ MENTORS & SCHOLARS RAMSEY LEWIS Lifelong Chicagoan Ramsey Lewis began tak- ing piano lessons at age 4, and by age 15 he had joined a fellow church musician’s band and began to learn the language of jazz. That seven-piece group provided the roots for his first trio, which would include bassist Eldee Young and percussionist Redd Holt. The Ramsey Lewis Trio became a fixture on the burgeoning Chicago jazz scene and was soon signed to Chess Records, which issued the group’s debut album, Ramsey Lewis and the Gentlemen of Swing , in 1956. Lewis earned his first Grammy Award in 1965 for his rendition of Dobie Gray’s “The ‘In’ Crowd” and con- tinued to top the charts with his versions of “Hang on Sloopy” and “Wade in the Water.” He teamed with Earth, Wind & Fire for the 1974 crossover hit Sun Goddess , on which he first experimented with electric instruments. Lewis has since joined forces with such art- ists as Nancy Wilson for The Two of Us (1984) and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra for A Classic Encounter (1988). Between 1997 and 2009, he hosted WNUA’s The Ramsey Lewis Morning Show , which spawned the nationally syndicated radio show Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis in 2006. He was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts a year later. The Artistic Director of Jazz at Ravinia from 1993 to 2018, Lewis has cul- tivated a deep partnership with the festival since he first took its stage in 1966. He was crucial to the formation of the Ravinia Jazz Mentor Program, a cornerstone of the festi- val’s Reach Teach Play music education ini- tiatives, and numerous works commissioned from him originated at Ravinia: from the solo piano pieces Clouds in Reverie and Watercol- ors ; to a collaboration with the Turtle Island Quartet, Muses and Amusements ; to his orig- inal score for the Joffrey Ballet, To Know Her , and his symphonic poem for Lincoln’s Bicen- tennial, Proclamation of Hope ; to the vehicle of his 2015 Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut, his Concerto for Jazz Trio and Orches- tra. Lewis’s 2010 album Songs from the Heart features several of these pieces. Breaking a nearly decade-long absence from the record- ing studio, he released his seventh albumwith Urban Knights in 2019. Officially retired from the concert stage since 2020, tonight marks his 44th performance for Ravinia audiences. KURT ELLING One of the foremost jazz vocalists of the past 25 years, Kurt Elling is continuing to gather honors, last year winning his second Gram- my Award among 15 nominations stretching back to his debut on the Blue Note label in 1995 with Close Your Eyes . The newest win- ning disc, Secrets are the Best Stories , joined 2009’s Dedicated to You , a tribute to John Col- trane and Johnny Hartman. Elling’s accolades also include a 14-year run atop DownBeat ’s Critics and Readers polls and 12 Male Vocal- ist of the Year prizes from the Jazz Journal- ists Award, as well as three Prix du Jazz Vocal (France), two Echo Awards (Germany), and two Edison Awards (the Netherlands). In addition to recording and performing with his own combos, Elling has played along- side such artists as Branford Marsalis, Dani- lo Pérez, Stefon Harris, Fred Hersch, James Morrison, and Charlie Hunter, as well as with larger ensembles like the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Bob Mintzer Big Band, BBC Concert Symphony, Holland’s Metropole Or- chestra, Irish Radio and Television Orches- tra, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, and the WDR Orchestra and Big Band in Germany. In the tradition of pioneers Eddie Jefferson and Jon Hendricks, Elling regularly adds to vocal jazz by writing and recording signature lyrics to the music of foundational composers like John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Zaw- inul, often incorporating references to classic poetry and prose. Additionally, he has co-cre- ated multidisciplinary works for the City of Chicago and the Steppenwolf Theatre, and is collaborating on a jazz musical titled The Big Blind , which has been previewed at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Elling has been a trustee and vice chairman of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and a resident artist of the Monterey and Singapore Jazz Fes- tivals. Kurt Elling first performed at Ravinia in 1995 and last summer made his first return since 2009 to feature music from his new al- bum with Charlie Hunter, SuperBlue , which earned a Grammy nomination. Tonight he makes his sixth appearance at the festival. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 31