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URBAN KNIGHTS IV
Urban Knights 
10589 Narada Jazz

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Ramsey Lewis and the hottest young Chicago players break new ground on URBAN KNIGHTS IV. Featuring performances by Norman Brown, Steve Cole, Ron Haynes, Calvin Rodgers, and produced by Frayne T. Lewis.

With the returning Urban Knights lineup, Ramsey Lewis feels strong that the group has reached the next level with the new album.  "I was fortunate in the '50s that my first trio was encouraged by legends who'd come to town like Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, and Duke Ellington.  Just as I felt anointed by their 'touch', it's a joy to see the careers of these young musicians really take off through the Urban Knights."

The Urban Knights core - Ramsey Lewis (piano), Kevin Randolph (piano, keyboards), Sharay Reed (bass), and Calvin Rodgers (drums) - pick up where URBAN KNIGHTS III left off.  Daring into more edgy, street terrain, the Knights are joined by Norman Brown, Steve Cole, and Ron Haynes on the set.  On Hi-Heel Sneakers, Frayne Lewis mentions that "it was a challenge to cover this classic.  But we took a fresh approach to it, thinking of how and R&B street musician might perform it.  The result was this great bluesy melody over an R&B/hip hop rhythm. The same thing happened with Sign Your Name - we wanted to cover it a long time ago, but needed the right approach.  We found it by giving it a sort of rock-reggae feel."  Opal (of the Staple Singers) lends an honest, gospel feel to Alright with her smooth vocals.  B (aka Bobby Lewis) worked as a drummer and producer on previous projects, but, as Frayne recalls,"he started to sing The One and I knew he was it for that song."

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  1 The Message
2 Moving Pictures
3 Slick
  4 Alright
5 Latin Flavor
  6 Pretty
7 Sign Your Name
  8 Thinking About Your Love
9 The One
10 Hi-Heel Sneakers 
11 Clubland
12 Thinking About Your Love (instrumental)
Artists and Instrumentation
Urban Knights

Ramsey Lewis - acoustic piano
Frayne T. Lewis - producer
Kevin Randolph - acoustic piano and keyboards
Calvin Rodgers - drums
Sharay Reed - bass
Danny Leake - engineer
Lambert Waldrip - drum
and keyboard programming

Featuring

Norman Brown - guitar
Steve Cole - saxophone
Ron Haynes - trumpet
B - vocals
Opal - vocals

Musicians

Keith Henderson - guitar
Alejo Poveda - percussion
Junell Davis - background vocals
Pari Mitchell - background vocals
Emoni Wilkins - background vocals
Denise Rutledge - background vocals
Richard Sledge - background vocals
Brian Sledge - background vocals

 

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