WHERE: Sheraton City Centre.
WHEN: Monday night
TICKETS: for the next JazzSLC show, Dee Daniels with the Houston Person Quartet on Oct. 16, are $25. Call 801-278-0411.
BOTTOM LINE: This season's series opened with a jazz classic flanked by two able sidemen.
Pianist Ramsey Lewis called his first album "Ramsey Lewis and His Gentlemen of Jazz." His trio may be different now, four decades later. But on Monday night, the title was just as apt.
Lewis, now playing with Larry Gray on bass and Leon Joyce on percussion, took the stage for a set that felt short (maybe it was the lack of intermission) but touched on much of his past 40 years.
Dressed in suits and looking very dapper, the trio opened with "Sun Goddess," a number Lewis recorded with 1970s band Earth, Wind and Fire. He started off with straightforward, friendly, playful tones and a light touch on the piano but got more dramatic as he went on, showcasing his hallmark versatility.
From then on, the rest of the set largely lay in the hands of Gray and Joyce, who each got plenty of solo time. Joyce got wild applause and lots of audience members standing, but for my money, Gray was the standout. Bass players don't often get this sort of chance to show off their virtuosity, and Gray was clearly relishing his opportunity, moving from classical to hard-edged sounds and showing agility with fingers and bow.
During the show, the trio brought in everything from the "Cinema Paradiso" theme to Chick Corea to show tunes, all the while making lots of eye contact among them to keep things rolling smoothly.
As always, Lewis closed with a gospel medley; this one was long and ranged wide, through a half-dozen recognizable gospel songs with a lot of soul (he apologized for not bringing the choir with him from Chicago). As with earlier parts of the concert, this number allowed him to move melodies into the piano's lower octaves.
While it was just a taste of Lewis's long career, the show was enough to get the crowd clapping and nodding along through two encores. It also no doubt whetted the jazz fans' hunger for the rest of the season.
