Ramsey Lewis

Chicago has long been an epicenter for musical development in the United States, a place where genres morph and evolve. But there is something to be said for steady refinement over the course of decades—not merely years. Ramsey Lewis, the jazz pianist born in Chicago in 1935, has recorded more than 80 albums, riding out high and low tides of national interest with music that grows richer with feeling and technique over time. By the mid-’60s, Lewis was one of the most commercially successful jazz pianists on the planet, adopting iconic work by other artists—including The Beatles, whose catalog he transformed on 1968’s Mother Nature’s Son—as well as playing his own compositions. Lewis has not been content to rest on his recording laurels: He’s become a pillar of the Chicago music community, serving on the boards of several organizations dedicated to connecting local youth to music.