Ramsey Lewis Is Well-Endowed

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 10, 2006 6:30PM

We don’t know what the world’s highest blogging honor is (getting a real job?), but we know we’ve got a long way to go before we’re at the top of our field. Now, jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis? He’s tops. And he’s got the title to prove it. Plus, 25 grand to wave in everybody’s faces like he’s Bad Bad Leroy Brown.

Lewis, one of Chicago’s great musical treasures, was recently named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. He’ll receive the honor January 12 along with $25,000, which sure buys a lot of herbal jazz enhancement listening devices.

Though Lewis’s next scheduled live Chicago performance isn’t until February 2007 when he plays the Harris Theater, you can see him on his "Legends of Jazz" program on WTTW on Fridays at 9:30 p.m. or Saturdays at 11 p.m. Or tune into WNUA 95.5 FM Sundays at 7 – 9 a.m. or 10 p.m. to midnight. Or if you’re truly lazy, visit his website. We’ve been listening to his smooth piano for an hour now, and we haven’t been this mellow since the last time we took a warm bath and had a glass of milk before bedtime.