RAMSEY LEWIS - Dance of the Soul (1997) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

One of his more memorable GRP dates of the 1990s, Dance of the Soul finds Ramsey Lewis playing mostly acoustic piano on a variety of material. The CD's main focus is accessible, yet creative, jazz-pop, though Lewis detours into gospel on "Mercy and Grace," classical on the acoustic solo piano piece "Cante Hondo (Deep Song)," and jazzy R&B on a remake of Teena Marie's 1981 gem "Portuguese Love" (which features the big-voiced singer Donica Henderson). The Chicagoan has some nice solos on melodic instrumentals like "Sub Dude," "Cancion," and the Joe Sample-ish "Love's Serenade," all of which demonstrate that commercial jazz-pop can be creative as well as highly accessible. In fact, these are the sorts of instrumentals one should use to turn pop and R&B fans on to jazz -- they're easy to absorb, but have a lot more substance than the type of mindless "elevator Muzak" that many pop instrumentalists favored in the 1990s. Although not a masterpiece, Dance of the Soul is a decent effort that has more ups than downs. by Alex Henderson
Tracklist :
1     Baile del Alma (Dance of the Soul) 6:36
Ryan Cohan
2     Fragile 4:09
Sting
3     Sub Dude 4:22
Ramsey Lewis / Kevin Randolph
4     Lullaby 5:30
Ryan Cohan
5     Portuguese Love 3:56
Teena Marie
6     Fire and Rain 4:30
Frayne Lewis / Ramsey Lewis / Kevin Randolph / Lambert Waldrip
7     Cancion 5:55
Ryan Cohan
8     Love's Serenade 4:31
Frayne Lewis / Ramsey Lewis / Kevin Randolph
9     Mercy and Grace 4:04
Frayne Lewis / Ramsey Lewis / Kevin Randolph
10     Cante Hondo (Deep Song) 7:34
Ryan Cohan
Credits :
Backing Vocals – Donica Henderson (faixas: 2), Steve Hardeman (faixas: 2)
Bass – Charles Webb, Maurice Fitzgerald (faixas: 3)
Choir – J.W. James Memorial A.M. E. Church Choir (faixas: 9)
Concert Grand Piano – Ramsey Lewis
Directed By – Gloria Johnson (faixas: 9)
Drum Programming – Lambert Anthony Waldrip II (faixas: 3)
Drums – Oscar Seaton
Flugelhorn, Trumpet – Orbert C. Davis
Guitar – Fareed Haque (faixas: 2), Henry Johnson (faixas: 1, 4, 7)
Keyboards – Kevin Randolph (faixas: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9), Michael Logan (faixas: 1, 4, 7)
Percussion – Alejo Poveda