The 'In' Crowd

A two-CD anthology of Ramsey Lewis’ Chess recordings might seem excessive, but considering how much material he cut for the label in the ’60s, The In Crowd Anthology is actually fairly selective. Certainly it’s good value, with 39 tracks and a running time of two-hours-and-twenty minutes. As for consistency of style and quality, that’s another matter, though generally it’s a worthwhile summary of highlights from the prime of a rare ’60s instrumental musician who combined jazz, R&B, and pop with considerable commercial success. While none of this could be categorized as raw or earthy, some of the tracks (particularly on disc one) are fairly gutsy R&B-jazz fusions, particularly the hits “The ‘In’ Crowd” and “Wade in the Water” (Lewis’ two other Top 40 singles, “Hang on Sloopy” and “A Hard Day’s Night,” are also here). On the other hand, the covers of pop/rock hits (including several by the Beatles) veer toward lounge soul, even though there was no one better than Lewis at that kind of stuff. Occasionally there are flashes of a more idiosyncratic, jazzy originality that sound as if Lewis is playing for himself as well as the marketplace, particularly when he gets into some Latin-influence boogaloo grooves on “Blue Bango” (easily the most uninhibited piece on this collection), “Spanish Grease,” and “Hey Mrs. Jones.” The later cuts, while showing him capable of keeping up with commercial trends by adding funk and touches of psychedelia, also find him losing the distinctive mid-’60s nightclubbish pop-soul sound that had vaulted him to prominence in the first place. – Richie Unterberger