Building on Lewis' recent critical and popular successes as a composer, Colors—The Ecology of Oneness is a bold and vibrant seven-movement jazz suite that contemplates the infinite connections that unite individuals, ideas and the natural world. Lewis devotes each movement to a different color, exploring various themes by linking a color to a concept, event or idea relating to struggles and fulfillments of the human condition. Pitched in the musical palettes for which Lewis is well-known—jazz, classical, gospel and blues—Colors expands to encompass a musical language he has termed American Afro—Romanticism, a blending of western art sensibilities with African American idioms.
Chicago-based visual artist Michael Coakes, who has collaborated with Lewis on several projects, is developing striking images to enrich the audiences' perception of the music, while University of Pennsylvania music professor Guthrie P. Ramsey, author of Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop, is providing written notes.
“Much has been noted lately about how the world is growing smaller as time moves on," says Lewis. “The bonds that link us are ever-present: in the instantaneous sharing of digital information; in our heightened sense of interdependence when natural disasters strike; in the consequential fears that occasionally register and sweep through our global financial markets; and in the universal celebration of human achievement. Despite divisive temporal day-to-day realities, historical and spatial distances, or even vehemently opposing political or religious views, people around the globe share meaningful associations. This piece explores links that reach the core of what it means to be a resident of the world at this time."
Lewis has spent more than two years developing the piece, which will be performed with long-time collaborators Larry Gray (bass) and Leon Joyce (drums). Lewis, now 75, has in recent years embarked on a new phase of his career as a composer with the debut of To Know Her, a ballet commissioned by the Joffrey Ballet in 2007, and Proclamation of Hope, a piece for more than 20 musicians, written to commemorate the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial, which debuted in 2009 at the Ravinia Festival and will be presented at the Kennedy Center in November 2010. In 2009, Lewis also released Ramsey plays Ramsey, his first recording of original music.
Lewis has been referred to as “the great performer," a title reflecting his performance style and musical selections that display his early gospel playing and classical training along with his love of jazz and other musical forms. A native Chicagoan born May 27, 1935, Lewis represents the great diversity of music for which Chicago is noted. Lewis first captivated fans with his debut album Ramsey Lewis and The Gentlemen of Swing by the Ramsey Lewis Trio in 1956. By 1965, he was one of the nation's most successful jazz pianists, topping the charts with “The In Crowd," “Hang On Sloopy" and “Wade In The Water." With more than 80 albums on his discography, Lewis is the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award, four honorary doctorate degrees and numerous other accolades including seven gold records and three Grammy Awards.
A North American tour of Colors—The Ecology of Oneness is currently being developed for 2011. Additional details will be released as they become available.
Michael Coakes, a visual artist based in Chicago, splits his time between the worlds of fine and commercial art. His commercial career started early, at the age of 14, and has encompassed art direction, illustration, photography and multi-media design. Much of that work has been for the music industry. Last year Coakes developed the visual elements for Ramsey Lewis' Proclamation of Hope. His recent fine art project, Illusions of Psyche is a digital mixed-media series of prints that has been a part of a number of gallery exhibitions for the last two years. He is currently developing a new series, Fluidity, which will be done in a similar medium.
Guthrie P. Ramsey, is a professor of music at University of Pennsylvania who specializes in African-American and American music, jazz, cultural studies, popular music, film studies, and historiography. He lectures internationally on these topics. Ramsey is the author of Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop, which was named outstanding book of the year by International Association for the Study of Popular Music. His current project, In Walked Bud: Earl 'Bud ' Powell and the Modern Jazz Challenge, is a study of jazz pianist Bud Powell and is forthcoming from the University of California Press. He has also begun a new book on singer/songwriter Curtis Mayfield. Ramsey was a Thurgood Marshall Dissertation Fellow at Dartmouth College in 1993, a DuBois Institute Fellow at Harvard University in 1996, and taught at Tufts University from 1994-1998. Ramsey composes and arranges all of MusiQologY's music, which moves beyond the traditional Jazz idiom, experimenting with R&B, Latin, Hip Hop fusions. The band's first CD, Y the Q? is available through http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/drguysmusiqology.
To obtain tickets to the World Premiere of Colors—The Ecology of Oneness, visit http://www.bluenote.co.jp/jp/index.html.
