美国国家公共电台 NPR--Remembering jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis who has died at age 87

Remembering jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis who has died at age 87

Transcript¹

Legendary² jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis was propelled to fame with his trio's 1965 hit — "The 'In' Crowd." The Grammy-winning Chicago pianist, composer and radio host died peacefully in his home Monday.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Ramsey Lewis has died. A statement on his Facebook page says he spent his last hours peacefully at home in Chicago.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

He was a pianist, and you could say that his legacy³ is extending the life of jazz. In 1965, jazz music seemed to be on the way out of fashion, when Lewis and his trio recorded the song "The In Crowd."

(SOUNDBITE OF THE RAMSEY LEWIS TRIO'S "THE IN CROWD")

INSKEEP: They recorded in front of a live audience at Bohemian Caverns⁴. That's a club in Washington, D.C., on U Street, once known as the Black Broadway. The tune⁵ made an unexpected entry onto the pop charts.

MART?NEZ: In a 2015 interview with NPR, Ramsey Lewis said the trio happened on their biggest hit by chance. They were in a D.C. diner trying to think of more songs to play when a server came by.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

RAMSEY LEWIS: Nettie Gray came over to the table to serve us our coffee, and what are you guys doing? So we told her, and she says, well, have you have you heard this song by Dobie Gray? She had a jukebox - jukeboxes in coffee shops. People don't know about that anymore. But she went over to the jukebox and played - you guys might like this. Listen to this.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE IN CROWD")

DOBIE GRAY: (Singing) I'm in with the in crowd. I go where the in crowd goes.

LEWIS: I said, that's it.

INSKEEP: And after that success, Lewis scored another hit with the spiritual "Wade⁶ In The Water."

(SOUNDBITE OF RAMSEY LEWIS' "WADE IN THE WATER")

INSKEEP: For that recording⁷, his group included Maurice White, later known as the founder⁸ of Earth, Wind & Fire.

MART?NEZ: Those were some of the peaks of Lewis's 87 years. He grew up in Chicago in a public housing project. He began learning piano at age 4 and played the organ at church on Sundays. In 1992, he returned to meet students at his boyhood elementary school.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

LEWIS: I told them that I don't believe in luck. I told them that when constant preparedness meets opportunity, then proper occasions befitting your desires and wills will develop, that one must first dream and one must first have hope and come up with ideas of what he or she wants to be.

INSKEEP: What Lewis became was a jazz master, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, and his fans would agree.

(SOUNDBITE OF RAMSEY LEWIS' "WADE IN THE WATER")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

3 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

4 caverns   

大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Within were dark caverns; what was inside them, no one could see. 里面是一个黑洞，这里面有什么东西，谁也望不见。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• UNDERGROUND Under water grottos, caverns Filled with apes That eat figs. 在水帘洞里，挤满了猿争吃无花果。

5 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

6 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

7 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。