• Others think that when the 1960s and rock music arrived, jazz music lost its appeal.
• Ramsey Lewis, a talented jazz pianist and one of the genre’s most well-known performers in the country, continued to come up with fresh ideas to keep jazz alive
• Importantly, attracting new audiences to the music.

Depending on the music critic you talk to, jazz “died” when its heyday in the 1920s came to an end. Others think that when the 1960s and rock music arrived, jazz music lost its appeal.

Ramsey Lewis, a talented jazz pianist and one of the genre’s most well-known performers in the country, continued to come up with fresh ideas to keep jazz alive and expanding while, more importantly, attracting new audiences to the music.

Lewis spent nearly 60 years creating original jazz recordings and live performances before scoring a crossover hit with “The ‘In’ Crowd” in 1965. In addition to earning seven gold records and three Grammy Awards, he was recognized as a Jazz Master by the National Endowment of the Arts in 2007, the highest accolade given to jazz performers in the US.

Lewis passed away on Monday at his residence in Chicago, according to his manager Brett Steele. He was 87.

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